Euchre is a popular US and Canadian card game. Its rules are just a little similar to Bridge, but with many notable exceptions. The Euchre is played with 25 or 24-card deck (with or without Joker) by two teams of two players. Here are the rules for the US Euchre, played with 24-card deck (and without the Joker).
The cards order
Normally, the card order is following: A K Q J 10 9, but the trump suit is different: the Jack (called “the Right Bower”) is the highest card, the Jack of the same color suit (“the Left Bower”) is only one step below and is better than the trump Ace, the King, the Queen, 10 and 9. If you play the Canadian version, the Joker is the highest trump, regardless of which suit is the trump one.
Dealing in Euchre
The dealer is chosen randomly. He or she starts from his or her left, first giving each player two cards, then three cards. The remaining cards are put facedown on the table. Only the top one is turned over.
Choosing the trumps
The game is started by the player on the dealer’s left. He or she may declare the card on the table trump or may pass. If the card is declared a trump, it must be taken by the dealer who must discard one of his or her cards facedown. If the player decides to pass, the turn comes to the next player. If the passes reach the dealer and he or she doesn’t want to choose the card on the table as the trump, the dealer must turn this card over and declare any other to be a trump.
Winning euchre hand
The player on the left of the dealer puts the first card (it doesn’t matter who chose the trump suit). It needs not to be a trump! Then other players must put the cards of the same suit if they have them. In this game cheating is forbidden and results in a point loss. The next card is put by the player who won the last trick.
Scoring
1 point for taking 3 or 4 tricks is your team called trump. 2 point for a sweep (taking all 5 tricks). If the team that has chosen the trump don’t score at least 3 tricks, it is Euchered and the other team scores 2 points. The game ends after one team has 10 points.
