Euchre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Euchre (IPA: ['ju.kɚ]) is a trick-taking card game most commonly played with four people in two partnerships with a deck of 24 standard playing cards. It is closely related to the French game Écarté and it may be sometimes referred as "Knock Euchre" to distinguish it from Bid Euchre.
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[edit] History
The British Isles (most notably in the Channel Islands, Cornwall, Devon, Hampshire, and Kent), Canada, Australia and New Zealand all have large followings of the game. Euchre has declined in popularity in the United States since the 19th century, when it was widely regarded as the national card game, but it retains a strong following in some regions. Today, the game is most predominant in the Midwest (especially Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa), as well as Pennsylvania and upstate New York — all areas with significant populations of German-Americans who settled in those areas during the 19th century. In Canada, Euchre's largest following is in Ontario.
Euchre is played differently from region to region, and even within regions. This article describes typical Euchre rules, noting some of the variations that may be encountered.
[edit] Dealing
Conventional Euchre is a four-player trump game, wherein the players are paired to form two partnerships. Partners face each other from across the table so that the play of the cards in conventional clockwise order alternates between the two partnerships.
Conventional Euchre uses a deck of 24 standard playing cards consisting of A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9 of each of the four suits. In some countries, the 7s and 8s are also used to give a 32 card deck. A poker deck can be used, omitting the cards from 2 to 8, and a pinochle deck may be divided in half to form two Euchre decks.
Midwestern and upstate New York players often use a first (black) Jack deals rule when assigning the first dealer. Using the Euchre deck, one player will distribute the cards one by one, face up in front of each player. The player dealt the first jack becomes the dealer for the first hand. In subsequent hands, the deal is rotated clockwise. Out of courtesy, the dealer should offer a cut to the player on his right after shuffling and immediately before dealing.
Each player is dealt five cards in clockwise order, usually in groups of two or three cards each. The dealer may alternate, first giving two cards to the player to his left, three cards to his partner, two cards to the player on his right and three cards to himself. The dealer then repeats, this time giving three cards to the player on his left, two cards to his partner and so on, to give each player the requisite five cards. Some dealers prefer to deal in groups of one and four, however dealing in groups of five and zero or one by one is uncommon.
The remaining four cards are referred to as the kitty, the blind, the dead hand, or buried and are placed face down in front of the dealer toward the center on the table. The top card of the blind is then turned face up, and bidding begins.
When a suit is named trump, any card of that suit outranks any card of a non-trump suit. The highest ranking card in Euchre is the jack of the trump suit and is referred to as the right bower, or simply the right. The second highest ranking card is the jack of the suit of the same color as the trump suit; this card is called the left bower, or simply the left. Remaining cards of the trump suit rank from high to low as A, K, Q, 10, and 9.
In non-trump suits (except for the next suit), the jacks are not special, and the cards of those suits rank from high to low as A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9.
[edit] Example
Assume a hand is dealt and that spades are named as trump. In this event, the trump cards are as follows, from highest ranking to lowest:
- Jack of spades (right bower)
- Jack of clubs (left bower)
- Ace of spades
- King of spades
- Queen of spades
- 10 of spades
- 9 of spades
For the purpose of play, the jack of clubs becomes a spade during the playing of this hand. This expands the trump suit to the seven cards named above and reduces the suit of the same color (sometimes referred to as the next suit) by one card (the jack is "loaned" to the trump suit). The same principles are observed for whatever suit is named trump. Remembering this temporary transfer of the next suit's jack is one of the principal difficulties newcomers have with the game of Euchre.
Once the above hand is finished, the jack of clubs ceases to be a spade and becomes a club again unless spades are again named as trump during the playing of the subsequent hand.
[edit] Play
[edit] Objective and scoring
In Euchre, naming trump is sometimes referred to as "bidding," "calling," or "declaring trump". When naming a suit, a player asserts that his or her partnership intends to win at least three of the five tricks in the hand. A single point is scored when the bid succeeds, and two points are scored if the team that declared trump takes all five tricks. A failure of the bidding partnership to win three tricks is referred to as being euchred (also called getting set) and is penalized by giving the opposing partnership two points. A bidder with exceptionally good cards can go alone, in which case he or she seeks to win all five tricks without a partner. The partner of a bidder in a 'go alone' hand does not play, if all five tricks are won by the bidder, the winning team scores four points. If only three or four of the tricks are taken while going alone, then only one point is scored. If euchred while playing alone, the opposing team still only receives two points. (In some places, a euchred loner is worth 3 points.)
The primary rule to remember when playing Euchre is that one is never required to trump, but one is required to follow suit if possible to do so: if diamonds are led, a player with diamonds is required to play a diamond. This differs from games such as Pinochle.
Failure to follow suit is called a renege. A renege is generally detected when a card that should have been played in a preceding trick is played belatedly. The renege would then be evident to any opponent attentively watching the fall of the cards. The infraction actually took place on the earlier trick, when the offending player failed to follow suit. Reneging generally causes the hand to be forfeited, with the maximum amount of points (usually 2 but can be 4 when opposing team is going alone) awarded to the opposing team. Among newcomers to the game of Euchre, failure to identify the left bower as belonging to the trump suit and play it when required is a common cause of a renege.
If a renege is caught by the offending player before the next card is played, the player may correct his error without penalty. However, the offending card is left face up on the table and must be played at the earliest legal opportunity.
[edit] Bidding (naming trump)
Once the cards are dealt and the top card in the kitty is turned over, the upturned card's suit is offered as trump to the players in clockwise order, beginning with the player to the left of the dealer. If a player decides to "call" the up-turned card as trump (which indicates that the bidding team claims they will win at least three tricks), the dealer picks up the top card in the kitty. This is termed picking up or ordering up the top card. In this event, the dealer picks up the top card from the kitty and then selects a card from the hand to discard, face down, so that the dealer only has five cards. There are several regional variations on this. Some areas require the dealer to discard first, and then pick up the card. Others require the dealer to show the discarded card to all players. Once a bid has been made, play begins.
If a player does not want the upturned card's suit to become trump, he or she says "pass" or signifies the desire to pass by knocking on the table. The next player to the left may then order up the card or may likewise pass.
If the upturned card comes around the table to the dealer without being ordered up by any of the players, the dealer may make a bid by picking up the top card and then discarding as described above. However, A player may not call a trump suit if that player does not have a natural card of that suit. For example, if the top card in the kitty is a Jack of Spades, a player cannot call Spades if the only Spade they are holding is the Jack of Clubs, the left bower. Exception: the dealer may pick up the card even if he does not have another card of the same suit. In essence, the dealer is considered to have 6 cards in his hand and always discards one card, either the from the kitty or from the dealer's hand.
The dealer may also decline the upturned card's suit by turning it face down on the kitty. Once this suit has been passed by all four players, it may no longer be chosen as trump.
If the upturned card's suit is not chosen by any of the four players, the players are offered the opportunity to name any of the other three suits as trump, beginning with the player to the dealer's left, and proceeding clockwise. In this case, play begins as soon as a suit is named; no cards enter or leave the dealer's hand. A player may pass as previously described, and if the bidding comes around the table to the dealer without the naming of a suit, the dealer may name a suit. If he or she also declines to name a suit, the cards are collected, no points are scored, and the deal is passed to the left.
In some variations, the following rules are added during the bid. The first two additions are sometimes referred to as "Canadian rules." The others are seen in Western New York.
- If the dealer's partner orders up the dealer, the dealer does not play in the hand and the dealer's partner must play alone against two defenders (described further below).
- If all players pass the bid twice, the dealer is stuck making trump from the remaining three suits (i.e., cannot opt for a redeal. Also, this rule is sometimes known as "screw the dealer" or "stick the dealer").
- A variation of "stick the dealer". If all players pass the bid twice, the dealer may name trump, keep one of the cards in the hand and then exchange the other four with those in the kitty. This is called "chucking".
- A variation of "going alone". The player making trump may declare "partner's best", discarding one card face down, which the player's partner replaces (face down without comment) with a card from his hand.
The team that selects trump is sometimes known as the "makers" for the remainder of the hand. The opposing team is known as the "defenders" for the remainder of the hand.
[edit] Winning tricks
The player to the dealer's left begins play by leading a card. (If any player is going alone, the player to that person's left will lead.)
Play continues in clockwise order; each player must follow suit if they have a card of the suit led. The left bower is a member of the trump suit and is not a member of its native suit.
The player who played the highest trump wins the trick. If no trump were played, the highest card of the suit led wins the trick. The player that won the trick collects the played cards from the table and then leads the next trick.
After all five tricks have been played, the hand is scored. The player to the left of the previous dealer then deals the next hand, and the deal moves clockwise around the table until one partnership scores 10 points and wins the game.
[edit] Going alone
If the player bidding (making trump) has an exceptionally good hand, or if his or her partnership is in danger of losing the game unless they are able to quickly score points, the player making trump has the option of playing without his or her partner. If the bidder playing alone wins all five tricks in the hand, the team scores four points.
"Going alone" is initiated at the time the bidder orders the upturned card on the kitty to the dealer (on the first round of bidding) or names a suit (during the second round of bidding). The bidder signifies his/her desire to play alone by stating "alone" or (for example) "clubs alone" after bidding. The bidder must make this call before play begins.
During a loner, the bidder's partner discards his or her cards, and does not participate in play of the hand.
The player to the left of the bidder will lead the first trick. (Some groups of players forget this change in the lead, and greatly skew the odds in favor of players who go alone.)
The odds of success of a loner bid depend on the lay of the cards and the inactive cards held by the bidder's partner. Nine cards out of twenty-four do not participate in play, making the hand less predictable than otherwise. A hand consisting of the top five cards of the trump suit is mathematically unbeatable from any position; this is sometimes referred to as a lay-down, as a player with such a hand may often simply lay all five cards on the table at once.
A loner bid that fails to win all five tricks is not penalized; the bidding partnership scores at least one point provided that they won three or four tricks.
[edit] Scoring
| Bidding partnership (makers) wins 3 or 4 tricks | 1 point |
| Bidding partnership (makers) wins 5 tricks | 2 points |
| Bidder goes alone and wins 5 tricks | 4 points |
| Bidder goes alone and wins 3 or 4 tricks | 1 point |
| Defenders win 3 or more tricks (known as a euchre, or setting the bidder) |
2 points |
The first team to score 10 points wins the game (sometimes called a round). While score can be kept by using a tally sheet, most Euchre players traditionally use the unused 6 and 4 cards, or unused pairs of 5 cards for one member of each partnership to keep score. In upstate New York, it is traditional to use 2 and 3 cards, crossing them to show scores higher than 5. In all cases, one card is used to cover the other so as to expose the number of pips corresponding to the team's score.
[edit] Variations in play
Variations in game play are generally invoked by agreeing on them before play begins.
[edit] Throw-ins
These variations (and others) allow a player dealt one of several types of poor hands to "throw in" their cards and initiate a redeal. In some circles, these are considered a form of "misdeal", causing the deal to be passed to the original dealer's left. In other circles, these are considered just part of normal play, and the player must play the hand they are dealt, regardless of how bad it might be; in the long run, things will even out.
- Nines & Tens: a hand consisting only of 9's and 10's. It is impossible for more than one player to have such a hand in regular play.
- Ace, No Face: a single ace and nothing else except 9's and 10's containing only non-trump.
- King Nothing: a single king and nothing else except 9's and 10's containing only non-trump.
- Bitches' Hand: three queens and nothing else except 9's and 10's containing only non-trump.
- Jack Shit: a single jack and nothing else except 9's and 10's containing only non-trump.
- No Ace, No-Face: a throw-in hand determined after the make, containing only non-trump 9's and 10's.
[edit] Farmer's hand
Common in the Midwestern US, certain weak hands (usually those containing either three 10 cards or three 9 cards) are designated as "farmer's hands" or "bottoms". After inspecting the hand dealt, a player may call out "farmer's hand" and is then allowed to show the three cards in question and exchange them for the three unexposed cards in the kitty (also called "going under" or "under the table").
One variation allows that a player with any combination of three 9 cards and 10 cards may exchange them. This is generally referred to as "farmer's hand mixed" while the prior example is called "farmer's hand clean". If more than one player wishes to call farmer's hand, there is generally no structure for determining who will take the cards other than a first-come first-served method, although some players only call "farmers" on the player's turn to bid for trump. Otherwise, the person closest to the deal will sometimes be given priority. Some variations allow for multiple farmer's hands to be called out, but those exchanging cards with those left behind in the kitty after the first exchange are essentially guaranteed very poor cards.
[edit] Making trump
- Stick/Screw/Dick the Dealer: If the trump selection comes all the way back around to the dealer the second time, the dealer must call the trump suit. In other words, there is no option to redeal.
- Club Euchre: Whenever the upturned kitty card is suited clubs, the dealer must "pick it up" and his team must play as the makers, with clubs as trump.
- Wagering: If the top card from the kitty is turned down, the player to the left of the dealer may bid Eucher points to call trump, with a minimum of 2 points required to bid. If the bidding player is Euchered, then their bid determines the number of points the opposing team will receive. The player to the left of the bidder then has the option to raise the Eucher bid and call a different suit as trump. This proceeds until the bid has returned to the initial bidder. The initial bidder then has the final option to raise the bid or concede to the highest bidder. The highest bidding player wins the trump call and play begins.
[edit] Going alone
- Partner's Best: When a maker "goes alone", he and his partner exchange a single card from their hands, concealed from all other players, before trick-taking begins.
- Canadian: When a player orders his partner to "pick it up", he must attempt the hand as a loner. The player says "help" if he wants the partner to pick up the card and not play alone.
- Blind-Double Loner: Before the maker sees his cards, the maker calls "blind double loner". Here, the turn card is automatically trump, and the game is played by normal loner rules. If the Blind-double Loner wins all 5 tricks, 8 points are awarded to the player's team.
- Defending Alone (1): When a maker decides to go alone, one of the opposing players has the option of "defending alone". Here, one of the opposing players calls out "I'll defend alone" right after the loner establishes himself or herself. If the "partner's best" subvariation is invoked, then this "lone defender" also has the opportunity to exchange a single card with their partner before tricks are played. In either case, if the lone defender Euchres the loner, then his team earns 8 points.
- Defending Alone (2): When a defender believes that he is strong enough to take at least three tricks alone, that person may defend alone. If they succeed, they score four points instead of the usual two. If they take all five tricks, they score eight points for their team.
- Nello or Nullo: When a maker "goes alone," attempting to lose every trick rather than to win every trick. This variation may exist only in the area around Louisville, Kentucky. Playing the game with the possibility of nello changes the bidding strategy considerably.
[edit] Scoring rituals
- The scoring is normally done with two fives, with the number of pips showing indicating the number of points to each team. It is also common to use a four and a six, with the six on the bottom.
- Scoring can also be tracked with two 5, 6, 7 or 8 cards (depending on how long the game is intended to last) where again, the number of pips showing is the total score. Two 5 cards is the most common method of score keeping as the game ends when one team has reached ten points.
- Scoring can also be tracked with a two and a three (common in upstate New York). In this scenario the first five points are tracked by revealing the pips normally. The sixth point and onward, however, are marked by turning the bottom card sideways so that it forms a V to signify a Roman Numeral five, so that for six through nine the score is actually five plus the number of pips showing.
- Players in the Midwest often will indicate the next point that they are hoping to score by "sprouting". The team will partially uncover the next pip on the score card so that it looks like the pip is growing up or sprouting.
- For some players in the Midwest, when a team has nine points, players place the score cards next to each other, face down. The team is now "in the barn" (also "on the corner") or "mooing". Some players have also been known to place the two score cards behind their ears upon "entering the barn." A particularly vulgar celebration ceremony involved with "entering the barn" is "milking the cow," whereupon one member of the team that just "entered the barn" interlaces their fingers and points their thumbs downward. This completed, their teammate "milks" the down-turned thumbs just as one would milk a cow's udder. Another action that players sometimes do is known as "Churning the Butter." Players lock fist into palm and move their hands up and down as if "Churning the butter." If the team scores their tenth point then the "barn doors are opened:" the cards are flipped to show all ten pips. Actions such as this, however, are considered insulting.
- On many American college campuses, the players of a losing team which failed to earn any points at all are considered to have been "skunked" by the winning team. Sometimes, the relatively rare event of being skunked implies that the losers must perform some form of ritual penitence such as streaking the campus.
- In Australia, New Zealand and certain parts of the USA the game is typically played to 11 points, rather than the typical 10. The 5 and 6 are usually used as the score cards. Games to 15, using the 7 and 8, are sometimes played as well when a longer game is desired.
[edit] Dealing variations
One variation exists in which the player to win the last trick is the dealer for the next trick.
In some Euchre circles it is considered acceptable to "steal the deal." To successfully steal the deal, one player must finish dealing all the cards in the normal manner and flip the top card of the kitty without anyone else pointing out that it is not actually that player's turn to deal. Once the top card is flipped and the first card is played, the deal becomes legal. There are generally no penalties for being caught attempting this theft, though it becomes annoying when people try too often. Stealing the deal gains a team only a slight advantage, and it can be a fun part of the game in friendly play.
[edit] Pepper or Hasenpfeffer
Pepper is an offshoot of 24-card Euchre popular in the Midwestern U.S., where the entire deck is dealt out, bids are made numerically for the naming of trump, and declarer may name no trump in place of a single suit. A six-player version exists, played with a full pinochle pack and no bowers. Follow the link for complete rules.
[edit] International variations
A common variation played in southwestern England competitive pub leagues uses the standard Euchre deck with an extra card, usually a joker or two of spades, called the Benny. This card is the highest trump no matter what suit is called. When the Benny is turned over by the dealer, the dealer must choose a suit to call as trumps before looking at his or her hand. Bidding then proceeds normally.
In southwestern Ontario (Canada), there is an extension of this style wherein the nines are removed from the deck and up to four "Bennys" are added. These usually take the form of either one or two jokers and/or one or two deuces (of differing colour, usually the deuce of spades and, optionally, the deuce of hearts). This is colloquially known as "Railroad" Euchre and in its simplest form (with only a single joker or deuce), it is identical to the English variant listed previously. As with the earlier description, the additional cards are ranked trump ahead of the right bower, regardless of the suit of trump with deuce(s) outranking jokers. In the case where two jokers are added, some method is achieved for establishing a "high" joker and a "low". Often the cards are differentiated in some way by the manufacturer which makes this easy, for example a coloured joker (high) versus a black-and-white one (low) or by some other mark that distinguishes the two cards (in a pinch, marks can be added manually, but this is discouraged as it may render the card identifiable from the back). In any event, the "high" joker always outranks the low. If one deuce is used, it is always the highest trump in the deck. If two are used, the deuce matching the colour of trump is highest. Turning up a joker or deuce on the deal is handled in the same way as described in the English method above. Although Railroad Euchre is somewhat complicated and often takes a few hands even for experienced Euchre players to grow accustomed to, the addition of up to four higher-ranking trump cards makes a significant strategic impact in the way the game is played. For clarification, assuming the addition of both deuces and both jokers, and if spades or clubs is called trump, the ranking of the four highest trump cards would be 2♠, 2♥, Joker(high), and Joker(low), with the normal progression of trump from the right bower on down thereafter. If hearts or diamonds were trump instead, the ranks of the top four cards would change to: 2♥, 2♠, Joker(high), and Joker(low). The popularity of the Railroad variants appears to decrease as more trump are added with the two and three Benny versions being the most common.
In Guernsey (Channel Islands) the game is played with a 33 card deck incorporating 7 to Ace plus a joker as Benny. In addition, where the Benny is turned up, the dealer not only has to name the suit, he must then pick it up and play (although he may still choose whether to play alone or with his partner). Unofficial rules require the wearing of a "dealing hat" when dealing (usually a Fez) alternatively a 'dealing duck' may be placed in front of the dealer and referring to the Ace of Spades as the Death Card, regardless of trump. Tradition dictates that the Death Card should not be led on the first trick unless defending against a lone attacker as it will otherwise invariably be trumped. A cleverer lead is known as the "Brisey" which involves leading the left bower in an attempt to trick one of your opponents into a renege (a failure to correctly follow suit)if any particular player consistently reneges throughout an evenings play he / she is referred to as a 'habin'. The Brisey lead itself is named after Brian Mauger, a famous Guernsey Euchre player. If a defender has won two tricks and still has possession of the Benny then he must slap it onto his forehead as a sign of the guaranteed euchre. In an attempt to improve a poor hand a player may call a 'kezza' with what would appear to be little chance of success in the hope that his partner may assist in winning the majority of the available tricks.
[edit] Extra cards
Players can also play with the extra cards 8 and 7, which adds more uncertainty to which trump cards can still be in opposing players' hands.
[edit] Two players
A two player variation exists where a normal hand is dealt out to each player along with a 3-card dummy hand to each player. Obviously, there are no partners in this game and each person picks up their dummy hand after trump has been called. Each player must make their best five card hand out of the eight cards available. Going alone is still an option and occurs when the calling player opts not to pick up the dummy hand.
Another two player variation exists which involves 11 tricks being played per hand which makes it almost impossible to take all 11 tricks. Also, going alone is not possible in this variation because there are no partners or dummy hands. Three cards are dealt to each player to form their "hand" followed by four face down cards for each player and four face up cards for each player on top of the face down cards. Any card can be played by the player as long as he or she can see the card (meaning it is in the hand of the player or in front of the player face up). When a face up card is played, the face down card below it is revealed and is not eligible to be played. Play resumes for the current hand until all of the cards have been played. This can also be played where five cards make up each players hand with 3 sets of face up/face down cards in front of each person. First person to ten points wins.
[edit] Three players
A common three player variation is played by dealing out four hands, but with the fourth hand acting as a dummy hand. The player who calls trump on the current hand picks up the dummy hand and makes the best five-card hand for themselves out of his or her hand and the dummy hand. The player will now play alone against the other two players, who will play as partners for this hand. The two non-calling players will always play as partners which means that partners will switch from hand to hand depending on who calls trump. The calling player will score one point for winning the hand and 2 points for taking all five tricks. The calling player can still elect to "go alone" by choosing not to pick up the dummy hand. Taking all five tricks here results in four points. Each player keeps their own score.
Variations on the dummy hand also exist because being able to make a best hand out of ten cards is sometimes viewed as being too powerful. The other variations are:
- A three card dummy hand where the calling player makes their best hand out of 8 cards instead of 10.
- A five card dummy hand where the calling player picks 3 random cards in their attempt to make the best hand.
In upstate New York, a three player variation called "Dumpling" is played. Four hands are dealt out, one to each player and one face down on the table. The dealer turns up the top kitty card, as usual, and this card is automatically trump; there is no bidding for trump. Instead, each player has the option, in clockwise order starting at the dealer's left, of playing the dealt hand or the blind hand on the table. If the player picks up the blind hand, he places his hand face down on the table and that becomes the new blind hand. Interesting play results if two (or more) players pick up the blind hand because the original owner of the hand knows what they have. When bidding gets to the dealer, the dealer picks up the trump card and play begins. Normal Euchre play now applies, with each player on their own. At the end of the hand, each player gets one point for each trick taken. If a player takes no tricks, he loses five points. A game of "Dumpling" is typically played to 21 points.
A slightly less common version of three person Euchre is played by removing the nines from a standard deck and playing without a dummy hand. In this version, the calling player always goes alone where four points will always result from taking all five tricks.
Another uncommon version of three person Euchre is to deal out three hands of seven cards with a three-card kitty. The 4-hand rules apply, except that the calling player must always go alone.
[edit] Five players
A five player variation exists. This game is generally referred to as Five-Handed Euchre. The major differences are a dynamic partner system and the addition of two permanent trump cards.
[edit] Tournaments
Some tournaments (known in Philadelphia as "euchre orgies") are run with tables of four players each. Winners of each game (typically to 10 points) stay at their table and are split apart so that they are no longer a team. Note: splitting winning players may cause friction due to someone giving up their hot seat. Losing pairs of players are sent to other tables to team with other winners from the previous round. The player with the most wins during the tournament is the champion.The current Ohio Championship Pair are Jared Pritchard and David Smith.
[edit] Strategy
Many sources for Euchre strategy exist, and one popular and humorous version are the Ten Commandments of Euchre by noted Euchre master Harvey Lapp. The commandments are:
- Thou shalt not pass a biddable hand.
- Thou shalt counteth upon thy partner for one trick.
- Thou shalt not trumpeth thy partner's ace.
- Thou shalt trumpeth thy partner's king.
- Thou shalt leadeth trump to thy partner's order.
- Thou shalt not leadeth trump to thine opponent's order.
- When thou hath ordered trump, leadeth thy right bower to smite thy foes.
- Ordereth not the right bower unto thy partner's hand unless thou canst go alone.
- Goeth alone whenever thou canst, unless thy team hath eight or nine points.
- Thou shalt not complaineth about the cards the Lord thy Euchre God hath bestowed upon ye.
[edit] Cheating
Unscrupulous partners are known to increase their chances of winning tricks by cooperative communication which is not allowed in play. To know these illegal methods you can detect their use by opponents:
- Innocuous code words to tell what cards are in the player's own hand or to query what cards are in the partner's hand or what trump to declare. E.g. "You look so LOVELY tonight." Translation: I have a lot of hearts in my hand. Call hearts as trump. This is commonly known as table talk or "crossboarding".
- Secret gestures. Some examples: Loud cough means partner should pass; Scratching the right side of your face tells your partner you have the right bower (similar for left side); Placing your cards face down during bidding is an invitation for your partner to go alone.
- 'Stealing the deal' is another popular semi-sanctioned cheat. When it is your opponent's turn to deal (and hence get the slight advantage awarded to the dealer) you shuffle and deal the deck yourself. If you are not caught before the bids begin, you have effectively 'stolen the deal'.
[edit] Some Euchre Terms
- bare left - having the left bower and no other trump in the player's hand; the left bower might fall to a right bower lead
- bower - a Jack of the same color as the trump suit
- bullet - an Ace; the highest card in the suit (except for bowers)
- Dutchman - having both bowers and the Aces of trump in the same hand; this is a guarantee of winning at least three tricks
- guarded left - having the left bower and another trump card in the player's hand; the left bower is protected because the player can play the other trump on a right bower lead
- left bower - the Jack of the non-trump suit of the same color as the trump suit; the second-highest card in a given hand
- left guarded - same as guarded left
- loser - a card that probably will not take a trick; the number and quality of losers in a hand often determines if the hand should be played alone or not
- no brainer - a hand that cannot be misplayed, for example: a hand with the five highest trump cards
- right bower - the Jack of the trump suit; the highest card in a given hand
