Play Euchre Online

Overview

Euchre is a popular trick taking game where players try to win as many tricks as they can. Euchre is played with 4 to 8 players divided into two teams.

Summary

• Players get the option to accept or reject a randomly selected trump suit
• The Jack of the trump suit is the highest trump card, followed by the other Jack of the same color, then the rest of the trump suit. However, if the 2 of Spades is used, it is the highest trump card
• Players also get the option to play alone, that is play without their partner for the round
• Teams score points for winning 3 or more tricks in a round

Presets

• American: During trump making, all players (including the dealer's partner) have the option to 'pass' or 'order it up' and they are not obliged to play alone if they choose to 'order it up'
• British: The 2 of Spades (called the 'best bower') is added and is the highest trump card in the game

The Deck and the Deal

For 4 players, Euchre is played with a deck of 24 playing cards containing the Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, 10s and 9s of all suits. In the British preset, the 2 of Spades is also used. Five cards are dealt to each player. The four remaining cards are known as the 'kitty' and are placed in a pile face down on the table.

For 6 players, Euchre is played with a deck of 36 playing cards containing the Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, 10s, 9s, 8s, 7s and 6s of all suits. In the British preset, the 2 of Spades is also used. Five cards are dealt to each player. The six remaining cards are known as the 'kitty' and are placed in a pile face down on the table.

For 8 players, Euchre is played with a deck of 44 playing cards containing the Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, 10s, 9s, 8s, 7s, 6s, 5s, and 4s of all suits. In the British preset, the 2 of Spades is also used. Five cards are dealt to each player. The four remaining cards are known as the 'kitty' and are placed in a pile face down on the table.

How to Play

One player is assigned the role of dealer. The dealer turns the top card of the kitty face up; this is called the 'up-card'. Starting with the player to the left of the dealer and going clockwise, players get the opportunity to decide to make the suit of the up-card the trump suit for the round.

The dealer's opponents can pass or 'order it up' - 'ordering it up' means accepting the up-card's suit as the trump suit. The dealer then takes the up-card into their hand and discards a card from their hand face down at the bottom of the kitty.

The dealer's partner's options depend on whether the British or American preset is being used. He may pass or 'take it up' in which case the suit of the up-card is accepted and the dealer takes the card into their hand, in return discarding a card from their hand into the kitty.

If all players pass, players have the opportunity to name a trump suit (except for the suit rejected in the first round), again starting from the dealer's left. If all players pass at this point, the role of dealer passes to the next player, a new round begins and the process starts over again.

The highest trump card is the Jack of the trump suit (called the 'right bower'). The next highest trump is the other Jack of the same color (called the 'left bower'). The rest of the trump suit is in descending order from Ace to 9.

Each player then gets the opportunity to choose to play 'alone' for the round. If any player decides to play alone, their partner does not take part in the round.

Play proceeds for five tricks, following standard trick-taking rules.

Scoring

At the end of the round, teams score points.

The making team scores:

• 1 point for winning 3 or 4 tricks
• 2 points for winning all 5 tricks
• 4 points for winning all 5 tricks, if playing alone

The non-making team scores:

• 2 point for winning at-least 3 tricks
• 4 point for winning at-least 3 tricks, if playing alone

Winning

The first team to win a set number of points wins the game. The options are 8, 10, 11 or 15 points.

Alternatively the game can be set to last a number of rounds.

Variations

CardzMania supports several customizable rules and options so you can play Euchre exactly how you like or how you grew up playing with your friends and family. In addition to the classic way of playing, we often have new creative options for you to try to spice up the game if you are interested in trying different spins for fun.

Points

Players determine a set amount of points when the game ends.

Rounds

Players determine a set amount of rounds (also known as hands or deals) that the game will go to (instead of the points selection above).

Timer

Players only have a set amount of time to make their turn after which a turn is automatically played for them and the game proceeds: Fast is 7 seconds, Standard is 15 seconds, Slow is 30 seconds, and Very Slow is 60 seconds. Players can also choose to disable the timer, but that is only for private tables.

Stick the Dealer

When enabled, the dealer cannot pass on the second round of trump selection and must choose a suit.

Benny

When enabled, the 2 of Spades is included in the deck and is the highest trump card in the game (the 'best bower').

Anyone alone

When enabled, any player can go alone (as opposed to only the declarer).

Pass

When enabled and if playing alone, players can pass cards to their partner before tricks start. The available options for the amount of cards passed are: 1, 2, 3, or this variation can be disabled.

Turn it down

When enabled, the dealer's partner can turn down trump during trump making; if disabled, the dealer's partner orders it up.

Play all tricks

When enabled, players must play all tricks even if the outcome won't change i.e. one side has already won and will get the same number of points regardless of how tricks play out.

Euchre Strategy

Jacks are special in Euchre, depending on the called trump, the cards rank very differently that other trick games especially two of the jacks i.e. jack of clubs, jack of diamonds, jack of hearts, jack of spades will become highest cards of the called trump and needs to be played when suit led is trump just like you have to follow suit on other led suits. For non-trump suits, aces high still apply. After the cards are dealt, top card is turned and all players in turn get a chance to take the up card. Declaring trump suit happens after no one takes the up card. Trick play commences where player in turn will play one card at a time. More detailed strategy coming soon...

Trick Basics

Trick Taking games center around having the highest ranked card in a draw. Typically, players of trick taking games sit in a circle, sometimes in teams and sometimes playing solo, and are dealt a hand of cards. Given the specific game's card ranking (and trump - special suit that beats other suits), players draw a card from their hand in hopes that it outranks the other cards played. The player who outranks the others wins the trick for that round and gameplay is repeated until the cards are exhausted. Typically the player or team with the most tricks wins the game.

In a trick, each player plays a single card. One player is selected to start, then play proceeds clockwise around the table. If possible, players must play a card which is the same suit as the first card played - this is called 'following suit'. If a player cannot follow suit, then they may play any card in their hand. Based on the cards played, one player is declared the winner of the trick, usually for playing the highest value card of the trump suit, or of the suit of the card which started the trick.

After all cards have been dealt, normal trick taking commences. Remember all cards of the suit declared as trump (trump cards) beats any other suit. Whichever team wins seven tricks out of thirteen wins the round, winning all thirteen tricks is referred to as court. If the dealers team achieves this feat, its called a goon court. In single sir, winning the first seven consecutive tricks constitutes a court.

After cards dealt, depending on the trump, you have to figure out your strategy for the game whether to play trump first or not. In single sir / single sar winning the first seven tricks constitutes as a court or a goon court, so the strategy is very different than double sir / double sar. Whichever team (dealers team or trump callers team) wins seven tricks wins the deal and the opposing team becomes the dealer. In double sir, you have to win two consecutive tricks, so the strategy is totally different as you need to keep another high card to win the pile. Note that the second and the second last trick cannot be won, so you have to be extra careful about that too. This game is played in many variations so you have to be extra careful about the rules.

Based on the cards played, one player is declared the winner of the trick, usually for playing the highest value card of the trump suit, or of the suit of the card which started the trick.

Hand

The cards that a player is dealt forms their hand. Each round, a player selects one of the cards in their hand and plays them into the pile. In most trick taking games, all players are dealt the same number of cards and the hand is hidden from the other players, but in some games, like 500, a player can reveal their hand for bonus points.

Pile

The pile is the spot where players place their chosen card for the round. The player with the highest ranked card receives all of the cards in the pile and sets them to the side. In most trick taking games, the individual cards in the pile have a specific point value that is given to the winner.

Dealer

The dealer is chosen at random and passes out the deck of cards to form each player's hand. In most games, the dealer position rotates to the left once the deck needs to be re-shuffled and re-dealt.

Trump

Arguably the most important part of any trick taking game, the trump suit is the highest ranked suit in the game. Every game has its own method of selecting trump. Some games leave the selection up to the winner of the bid while some games make the suit of the lead card the trump suit.

Order

The ranking of the cards is dependent on the game. Ace is usually considered the highest in trick games, but some games from Europe, like Klaverjassen, have the Jack of trump the highest card.

Auction/Bidding

Most trick taking games contain an auctioning/bidding phase at the beginning of gameplay. During this time, players take turns bidding how many tricks they expect to win in the game. The player with the highest bid leads the first trick and decides the trump suit in most games. Often times, if the winner of the bid, sometimes called the declarer, fails to win the amount of tricks they bidded, they receive a lot of penalty points

Lead Card

The Lead card is the first card in the trick. In most trick taking games, subsequent players need to play the suit of the lead card if they can.

Card Game Basics

A deck of cards consists of 52 cards, with 4 distinctive subgroups. Each of these subgroups is recognised by a symbol and are referred to as suits. They consist of Clubs, Spades, Hearts and Diamonds. Each suit contains 13 cards which, generally, are considered in this order, Ace (A), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jacks (J), Queen (Q) and King (K). Some games include the two Jokers found in a standard deck but most games don't.

Feedback

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