Beginner Edit Commented [DME1]: I added titles for the different

Euchre rule types

Conventional euchre is a four-player trump game, wherein the players are paired to form two Formatted: Centered
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, out of the original 24.

Game Play Commented [DME2]: I bolded every section to make it

clear to readers that there are different parts in these
Each player is dealt five cards in clockwise order in two rounds. The cards may be dealt in whatever pieces of writing. It also organizes them so the paragraphs/
pattern the dealer chooses, as long as they do not deal all five cards to each player at oncehe or she sections don’t run together

deals at least one card to each player twice. A "cut" is sometimes offered by the dealer where the player Formatted: Font: Bold
to the right of them is allowed to split the cards into two separate decks which are then stacked on top Formatted: Font: Bold
of each other after the shuffling but before dealing has begun.

The remaining four cards are called the kitty and are placed face down in front of the dealer toward the
center re on the table. The top card of the kitty is then turned face up, and bidding begins. The dealer
asks each of the other players in turn if they would like the suit of the top card to be trump, which they
indicate by saying "pick it up" or "pass" (knocking on the table is often substituted for vocalizing a pass).
If the choice comes around to the dealer, the dealer can either pick the card up or flip it over. If the
dealer acquires the top card (either by being ordered to pick it up or choosing to pick it up), the top card
becomes part of the dealer's hand, who then discards a card to the kitty face down to return their hand
to five cards. If no one orders up the top card and the dealer also chooses not to pick it up, each player is
then given the opportunity, in turn, to call a different suit as trump. If no trump is selected, it is a
misdeal, and the deal is passed clockwise. (unless it was agreed upon to play stick the dealer, an option
that involves forcing the dealer to choose a trump).

When a suit is named trump, the Jack in the suit of the same colour as this trump suit becomes a
powerful member of this trump suit. Then any card of that (expanded) suit outranks any card of a non-
trump suit. The highest-ranking card in euchre is the Jack of the trump suit (called "The Right Bower" or
"Right") then the other Jack of the same colour, (called "The Left Bower" or "Left"). The cards are
ranked, in descending order, J (of trump suit), J (same colour as trump suit), A, K, Q, 10, and 9 of the
trump suit.

The remaining cards rank in the usual order (the off-colour Jacks still rank below the queenare not
special) and the cards of those suits rank from high to low as A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9.

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
Here, 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 colour (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.

Depending on regional or house rules, a player may steal the deal from the opposing team. To steal the
deal, the partner of the previous dealer collects the cards, shuffles and deals as normal. If the opponent
team does not notice that they have been skipped before dealing is finished then game play proceeds as
normal. If the opponent team notices, they must say something which indicates this, and the deal is
returned to the player who would normally deal next in the rotation. Normally there is no penalty for
attempting to steal the deal;, successful or not, and the next hand is dealt by the player to left of the
player who stole the deal. In some variations, especially in Canada any player may steal the deal, but
and only if the player who has had the deal stolen from them can call s this ruse. Tare the cards
returned to them, andusually the deal is considered "stolen." The cards and cannot be returned once
the card from the "kitty" has been flipped face up. Deals may be "stolen" as many times as possible and
in any variation or order whether from your teammate or the opposing team.

Overview, objective and scoring

In euchre, naming trumps is sometimes referred to as making, calling, or declaring trump. When naming
a suit, a player asserts that theirhis or her partnership intends to win the majority of 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 to winof the calling partnership to win three tricks after calling trump is referred to as being
euchred, set or "bumped" and is penalized by giving the opposing partnership two points.

The team that selects trump is known as the makers for the remainder of the hand, and the opposing
team is known as the defenders. The makers must take at least three of the five tricks in the hand in
order to avoid being euchred.

A caller with exceptionally good cards can go alone, or take a lone hand, in which case he or she seeks to
win all five tricks without a partner. The partner of a caller in a lone hand does not play, and if all five
tricks are won by the caller the winning team scores 4 points. If only three or four of the tricks are taken
while going alone, then only one point is scored. If euchred or set while playing alone, the opposing
team still only receives 2 points.
The primary rule to remember when playing euchre is that one is never required to play the trump suit
(unless that is the one that is led), 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.

Calling round (Naming trump)

Once the cards are dealt and the top card on 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 (called the
"eldest"). Team members are generally discouraged or explicitly forbidden to discuss their preferred
choice(s) of trump, categorized as a part of the rules for no table talk. If a player wishes the proposed
suit to be named trump, theyhe orders up the card and the dealer adds that card to theirhis hand. It is
usually more advantageous to the dealer's team to select trump in this way, as the dealer necessarily
gains one trump card. The dealer must then also discard a card face down from their hand in order to
return theirhis hand to a total of five cards. This discard is an important tactical decision, as the dealer
can potentially create a "void" or "short suit" in their hand, where they lack any cards of a particular suit.
That would allow them to play a trump card instead of being forced to follow that voided suit when it is
led. (see the later section on winning tricks and "two-suited" in Terminology). If the player instead opts
to pass, the option proceeds to the player to the left until either a player orders the card up or all
players have passed.

If all players pass, the top card is turned face down and that suit may no longer be chosen as trump.
Trump selection proceeds clockwise beginning with the player to the left of the dealer where the player
may name a suit different from that of the previous up-card as trump, or they may pass. No card is
ordered up in this round. If all players pass again, it is declared a misdeal. The deal passes to the player
on the previous dealer's left who reshuffles and deals a new hand. (A variation called "Stick the Dealer"
also referred to as "hanging" or "screwing" the dealer is sometimes played, where the dealer is forced to
call trump in this situation.)

The team that selects trump is known as the makers for the remainder of the hand, and the opposing
team is known as the defenders. The makers must take at least three of the five tricks in the hand in
order to avoid being euchred.

Winning tricks

The player to the dealer's left begins play by leading any card of any suit. The player may lead with
trump. Play continues in clockwise order; each player must follow suit if they have a card of the suit led.
The left Bower is considered a member of the trump suit and not a member of its native suit.

The player who played the highest card of the suit led wins the trick, unless trump is played, then the
highest trump card wins the trick. Players who play neither the suit led nor trump cannot win the trick.
The player that won the trick collects the played cards from the table, turns the cards face down, 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.

Going alone

If the player bidding (making trump) has an exceptionally good hand, the player making trump has the
option of playing without their partner. If the bidder playing alone wins all five tricks in the hand, the
team scores four points.

A caller with exceptionally good cards can go alone, or take a lone hand, in which case he or she seeks to
win all five tricks without a partner. The partner of a caller in a lone hand does not play, and if all five
tricks are won by the caller the winning team scores 4 points. If only three or four of the tricks are taken
while going alone, then only one point is scored. If euchred or set while playing alone, the opposing
team still only receives 2 points.

"Going alone", "going solo", or "playing a lone hand" is initiated at the time the bidder orders the
upturned card on the kitty to the dealer or names a suit. The bidder signifies their desire to play alone by
saying so after bidding. The bidder must make this call before play begins. During a loner or lone hand,
the bidder's partner discards their cards, and does not participate in play of the hand. In some regional
variants (see below), if the dealer's partner "calls them up"/"orders it up" (on the turned up card), they
are obliged to go alone for that hand.

The odds of success of a lone hand 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.

Scoring

The first team to score 10 (sometimes 5, 7, 11, or 15) points wins the game. Some players choose to play
"win by two" where there is no winner until a team has more than 10 points and 2 points more than 12
pointsthe other team. Winning a game 10–0 is known as “skunking”.

Event Points
Bidding partnership (makers) wins 3 or 4 tricks 1
Bidding partnership (makers) wins 5 tricks 2
Bidder goes alone and wins 3 or 4 tricks 1
Bidder goes alone and wins 5 tricks 4
 Defenders win 3 or more tricks (Euchred) 2
Defender goes alone and wins 3 or more tricks (regional) 4

Score keeping

Scores are kept by using two otherwise unused cards with each team using the pairs of the same colour.
When using the four and six cards, scoring begins using one card face up, covered by the other card face
down. Upon winning points, the top card is moved to reveal the appropriate number of suit symbols on
the bottom card. After all points are revealed on the lower card, the top card is flipped over, showing
pips on both cards to indicate the score.

A variation of score keeping in Western New York and Ontario involves using the twos and threes of the
same suit. Scoring starts with counting the symbols on the cards, for points 1 to 4; at 5, the cards are
turned over and crossed. Crossing the cards indicates 5 points. Points 6 to 9 are counted similarly by
counting the number of suit symbols showing and adding them to the 5, if cards are crossed.

In Canada and Michigan, it is common for each team to use two 5s of the same colour to keep score,
making one team red and the other black. The 5s are usually referred to as counting cards in this
situation. The explanation for why a visual score is kept is due to euchre traditionally being a game
played late at night or by people who have been drinking, which is also shown by cheating and stealing
the deal not being discouraged.

Table talk

Communicating with one's partner to influence their play, called table talk or cross-boarding, is
considered cheating, which should be emphasized to new players. This can include code words, secret
gestures, or other forms of cooperative play in which one player can inform theirhis partner what
theyhe holds in theirhis hand or what the partner should play in a trick or call when choosing trump.
Depending on house rules, table talk can result in replaying of a hand or awarding of a point to the team
calling out the infraction.

Some variations allow (or at least accept the inevitability of) the minor non-verbal communication in
that a player may hesitate before passing on trump selection to signal to theirhis partner that theirhis
cards are helpful to the offered trump, but are not sufficient to guarantee a win. Conversely, the player
may pass quickly or blatantly to indicate their cards are very poor for the available trump choice
(possibly indicating their partner should go alone if they select that trump). This adds an additional
element of strategy in that players may bluff a quick pass or hesitation to trick their opponents into
calling or declining the offered trump; however, this can naturally backfire by confusing the player's own
teammate. Depending on the play group, couples or good friends may be purposely split onto opposing
teams because of the perceived advantage they may have reading one another as teammates.

Reneging
If a player does not follow suit when they arehe is able to (usually by playing a trump card instead), it is
considered a renege and cheating., Tand the opposing team is rewarded two points if it is caught in later
tricks of the same hand. However, reneges can also be unintentional, where a player misreads some of
theirhis/her cards;, most commonly by misinterpreting the left Bower as being of its native suit, but are
still callable by opponents as reneging. In some variants reneging when a player or his opponent is going
alone may result in a penalty of four points in order to equalize the potential values of a hand. Usually
reneging on purpose is considered cheating and is strongly discouraged among communities that
consider cheating and/or lying to be unethical. Players caught repeatedly reneging on purpose are often
ostracized from future card playing events. The four- point penalty for reneging should apply equally for
the maker of trump and the opposing team.

Euchre Variationsis a game with a large number of variant versions. They include versions for two to
nine players, as well as changes in cards used, bidding, play, and scoring.

No Trump: After the first round (once the kitty's top card has been turned down), "No trump" may be
called. The first card played for each trick establishes that trick's suit, with normal deck order (ace high)
taking precedence.

Stick The Dealer/Screw The Dealer: The dealer must call trump at the end of the second round and is
unable to declare a misdeal. This variation is often used to keep the game moving quickly.

Farmer's Hand: A player having a hand with at least three 9 or 10 cards of any suit, can exchange three
of these cards with the three unknown cards in the kitty. This must be performed before trump has
been selected.

Farmer's Hand/Poor Man's Hand/Bottom Hand/Grandma's Hand: Certain weak hands (usually those
containing no face cards, 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").

Ace No Face: Similar to "farmers hand". In ace no face the player must have one ace and all nines and
tens in their hand. The player then can call, "ace no face" and exchange three of their cards for the
bottom three (must be called before the first card of the beginning trick has been laid).

Ace no face if someone is felt a hand that contains any number of ace but has no face cards they may lay
their cards on the table and call “Ace no face” this is considered a miss deal and all the cards are
gathered and re-delt

Terminology

Euchre terminology varies greatly from region to region, and is highly colloquial. Some examples include:
Bump/Getting "Set": Occurs when the opposing team wins more tricks than the team who called the
suit.

Euchre Bustle: Name for a tournament of Euchre (used in USA Northern mid-West).

Lay-Down: A hand that will automatically win all five tricks if played in the correct order; ex. a Dutchman
(both Bowers and Ace of trump) plus, the King and Queen of that suit, any other two trump cards, or
one more trump card and an off-trump ace (when that player has the lead). Also called a Loner, or Lone
Wolf, because a player with such a hand will typically opt to go alone. May also refer to any set of cards
that are often played simultaneously when the player knows he will win all the tricks he lays for. This
however may only be done within the same suit without giving up a slight advantage to the other
players.

Loner Range: When a team reaches 6 points they are referred to as "In Loner Range" because they need
4 or less points (A successful loner is worth 4 points) to reach 10 points and secure the victory.
Alternatively, it can also be used to describe being 4 points away from the opposing team. For example,
when it is 4 to 8, the losing team is in "Loner Range" from the winning team.

Throwing in: Due to there being no reward for winning four of the five hands it is often customary for
the leading player of the offensive team to throw the remainder of their cards into the centre once
three tricks have been assured but five is impossible because one trick has already been won by the
opposing team or they are certain that all the tricks cannot be won.(e.g. a right Bower was ordered up
but has not been played once three tricks have been won), the cards are thrown face up to show the
opposing team the inevitability of their winning three tricks or the impossibility of winning all.

Farmer's Hand/Poor Man's Hand/Bottom Hand/Grandma's Hand: Certain weak hands (usually those
containing no face cards, 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").

Ace No Face: Similar to "farmers hand". In ace no face the player must have one ace and all nines and
tens in his hand. The player then call "ace no face" and exchange three of his cards for the bottom three
(must be called before the first card of the beginning trick has been laid).

Euchre Bustle: Name for a tournament of Euchre (used in USA Northern mid-West).

Lay-Down: A hand that will automatically win all five tricks if played in the correct order; ex. a Dutchman
(both Bowers and Ace of trump) plus, the King and Queen of that suit, any other two trump cards, or
one more trump card and an off-trump ace (when that player has the lead). Also called a Loner, or Lone
Wolf, because a player with such a hand will typically opt to go alone. May also refer to any set of cards
that are often played simultaneously when the player knows he will win all the tricks he lays for. This
however may only be done within the same suit without giving up a slight advantage to the other
players.
Screw the Dealer or Stick the Dealer: An optional rule that states that if trump is failed to be called it
must be called by the dealer, who is last to act. Mainly used as a method to speed up the game, as it
eliminates throw-in hands.

Trump the Partner: Refers to a situation where the last player plays the card that wins a trick that his
partner would have otherwise won. Usually refers to a situation where the partner has an Ace that
follows suit and the player plays a trump card, but playing a higher trump or non-trump than the
partner's qualifies. It is generally accepted strategy to throw a low off-suit card rather than a trump
when the partner is guaranteed to win the trick otherwise.

Screw the Dealer or Stick the Dealer: An optional rule that states that if trump is failed to be called it
must be called by the dealer, who is last to act. Mainly used as a method to speed up the game, as it
eliminates throw-in hands.

Loner Range: When a team reaches 6 points they are referred to as "In Loner Range" because they need
4 or less points (A successful loner is worth 4 points) to reach 10 points and secure the victory.
Alternatively, it can also be used to describe being 4 points away from the opposing team. For example,
when it is 4 to 8, the losing team is in "Loner Range" from the winning team.

Throwing in: Due to there being no reward for winning four of the five hands it is often customary for
the leading player of the offensive team to throw the remainder of their cards into the centre once
three tricks have been assured but five is impossible because one trick has already been won by the
opposing team or they are certain that all the tricks cannot be won.(e.g. a right Bower was ordered up
but has not been played once three tricks have been won), the cards are thrown face up to show the
opposing team the inevitability of their winning three tricks or the impossibility of winning all.
 Pro EditConventional 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.

Each player is dealt five cards in clockwise order in two rounds. The cards may be dealt in whatever
pattern the dealer chooses, as long as he or she deals at least one card to each player twice. A "cut can
also be offered by the dealer." is sometimes offered by the dealer where the player to the right of them
is allowed to split the cards into two separate decks which are then stacked on top of each other after
the shuffling but before dealing has begun.

The kitty is remaining four cards are called the kitty and are placed face down in front of the dealer
toward the centerre on the table. The top card of the kitty is then turned face up, and bidding begins.
The dealer asks each of the other players in turn if they would like the suit of the top card to be trump,
which they indicate by saying "pick it up" or "pass" (knocking on the table is often substituted for
vocalizing a pass). If the choice comes around to the dealer, the dealer can either pick the card up or flip
it over. If the dealer acquires the top card, (either by being ordered to pick it up or choosing to pick it
up), the top card becomes part of the dealer's hand, who then discards a card to the kitty. face down to
return their hand to five cards. If no one orders up the top card and the dealer also chooses not to pick it
up, each player is then given the opportunity, in turn, to call a different suit as trump. If no trump is
selected, it is a misdeal. , and the deal is passed clockwise (unless it was agreed upon to play stick the
dealer, an option that involves forcing the dealer to choose a trump).

When a suit is named trump, the Jack in the suit of the same colorour as this trump suit becomes a
powerful member of this trump suit. Then any card of that (expanded) suit outranks any card of a non-
trump suit. The highest-ranking card in euchre is the Jack of the trump suit (called "The Right Bower" or
"Right") then the other Jack of the same colour, (called "The Left Bower" or "Left"). The cards are
ranked, in descending order, J (of trump suit), J (same colour as trump suit), A, K, Q, 10, and 9 of the
trump suit.

The remaining cards rank in the usual order (the off-colour Jacks are not special) and the cards of those
suits rank from high to low. as A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9.

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
Here, 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 colour (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.

Depending on regional or house rules, a player may steal the deal from the opposing team. To steal the
deal, the partner of the previous dealer collects the cards, shuffles and deals as normal. If the opponent
team does not notice that they have been skipped before dealing is finished, then game play proceeds
as normal. If the opponent team notices, they must say something which indicates this, and the deal is
returned to the player who would normally deal next in the rotation. Normally there is no penalty for
attempting to steal the deal, successful or not, and the next hand is dealt by the player to left of the
player who stole the deal. In some variations especially in Canada, any player may steal the deal. Iand
only if the player who has had the deal stolen from them calls this ruse, are the cards are returned to
them. T, usually the deal is considered "stolen" and cannot be returned once the card from the "kitty"
has been flipped face up. Deals may be "stolen" as many times as possible and in any variation or order
whether from your teammate or the opposing team.

Overview, objective and scoring

In euchre, naming trumps is sometimes referred to as making, calling, or declaring trump. When naming
a suit, a player asserts that his or her partnership intends to win the majority of 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 calling partnership to win three tricks is referred to as being euchred,
set or "bumped" and is penalized by giving the opposing partnership two points.

A caller with exceptionally good cards can go alone, or take a lone hand, in which case he or she seeks to
win all five tricks without a partner. The partner of a caller in a lone hand does not play, and if all five
tricks are won by the caller the winning team scores 4 points. If only three or four of the tricks are taken
while going alone, then only one point is scored. If euchred or set while playing alone, the opposing
team still only receives 2 points.

The primary rule to remember when playing euchre is that one is never required to play the trump suit,
(unless that is the one that is led), 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.

Calling round (Naming trump)

Once the cards are dealt and the top card on 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. (called the
"eldest"). Team members are generally discouraged or explicitly forbidden to discuss their preferred
choice(s) of trump, categorized as a part of the rules for no table talk. If a player wishes the proposed
suit to be named trump, theyhe orders up the card and the dealer adds that card to their his hand. It is
usually more advantageous to the dealer's team to select trump in this way, as the dealer necessarily
gains one trump card. The dealer must then also discard a card face down from their hand in order to
return his hand to a total of five cards. This discard is an important tactical decision, as the dealer can
potentially create a "void" or "short suit" in their hand, where they lack any cards of a particular suit.
That would allow them to play a trump card instead of being forced to follow that voided suit when it is
led (see the later section on winning tricks and "two-suited" in Terminology). If the player instead opts
to pass, the option proceeds to the player to the left until either a player orders the card up or all
players have passed.

If all players pass, the top card is turned face down and that suit may no longer be chosen as trump.
Trump selection proceeds clockwise beginning with the player to the left of the dealer where the player
may name a suit different from that of the previous up-card as trump, or they may pass. No card is
ordered up in this round. If all players pass again, it is declared a misdeal. The deal passes to the player
on the previous dealer's left who reshuffles and deals a new hand. (A variation called "Stick the Dealer"
also referred to as "hanging" or "screwing" the dealer is sometimes played, where the dealer is forced to
call trump in this situation.)

The team that selects trump is known as the makers for the remainder of the hand, and the opposing
team is known as the defenders. The makers must take at least three of the five tricks in the hand in
order to avoid being euchred.

Winning tricks
The player to the dealer's left begins play by leading any card of any suit. The player may lead with
trump. Play continues in clockwise order; each player must follow suit if they have a card of the suit led.
The left Bower is considered a member of the trump suit and not a member of its native suit.

The player who played the highest card of the suit led wins the trick, unless trump is played, then the
highest trump card wins the trick. Players who play neither the suit led nor trump cannot win the trick.
The player that won the trick collects the played cards from the table, turns the cards face down, and
then leads the next trick.

After theall 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.

Going alone Formatted: Font: Bold

If the player bidding (making trump) has an exceptionally good hand, the player making trump has the
option of playing without their partner. If the bidder playing alone wins all five tricks in the hand, the
team scores four points.

The partner of a caller in a lone hand does not play, and if all five tricks are won by the caller the winning
team scores 4 points. If only three or four of the tricks are taken while going alone, then only one point
is scored. If euchred or set while playing alone, the opposing team still only receives 2 points.

"Going alone", "going solo", or "playing a lone hand" is initiated at the time the bidder orders the
upturned card on the kitty to the dealer or names a suit. The bidder signifies their desire to play alone by
saying so after bidding. The bidder must make this call before play begins. The During a loner or lone
hand, the bidder's partner discards their cards, and does not participate in play of the hand. In some
regional variants (see below), if the dealer's partner "calls them up"/"orders it up," (on the turned up
card), they are obliged to go alone for that hand.

The odds of success of a lone hand 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.

Scoring Formatted: Font: Bold

The first team to score 10 (sometimes 5, 7, 11, or 15) points wins the game. Some players choose to play
"win by two" where there is no winner until a team has more than 10 points and 2 points more than the
other team. Winning a game 10–0 is known as skunking.
 Event Points
Bidding partnership (makers) wins 3 or 4 tricks 1
Bidding partnership (makers) wins 5 tricks 2
Bidder goes alone and wins 3 or 4 tricks 1
Bidder goes alone and wins 5 tricks 4
Defenders win 3 or more tricks (Euchred) 2
Defender goes alone and wins 3 or more tricks (regional) 4

Score keeping Formatted: Font: Bold

Scores are kept by using two otherwise unused cards with each team using the pairs of the same colour.
When using the four and six cards, scoring begins using one card face up, covered by the other card face
down. Upon winning points, the top card is moved to reveal the appropriate number of suit symbols on
the bottom card. After all points are revealed on the lower card, the top card is flipped over, showing
pips on both cards to indicate the score.

A variation of score keeping in Western New York and Ontario involves using the twos and threes of the
same suit. Scoring starts with counting the symbols on the cards, for points 1 to 4; at 5, the cards are
turned over and crossed. Crossing the cards indicates 5 points. Points 6 to 9 are counted similarly by
counting the number of suit symbols showing and adding them to the 5, if cards are crossed.

In Canada and Michigan, it is common for each team to use two 5s of the same colour to keep score,
making one team red and the other black. The 5s are usually referred to as counting cards in this
situation. The explanation for why a visual score is kept is due to euchre traditionally being a game
played late at night or by people who have been drinking, which is also shown by cheating and stealing
the deal not being discouraged.

Table talk Formatted: Font: Bold

Communicating with one's partner to influence their play, called table talk or cross-boarding, is
considered cheating, which should be emphasized to new players. This can include code words, secret
gestures, or other forms of cooperative play in which one player can inform his partner what he holds in
his hand or what the partner should play in a trick or call when choosing trump. Depending on house
rules, table talk can result in replaying of a hand or awarding of a point to the team calling out the
infraction.

Some variations allow (or at least accept the inevitability of) the minor non-verbal communication in
that a player may hesitate before passing on trump selection to signal to his partner that his cards are
helpful to the offered trump, but are not sufficient to guarantee a win. Conversely, the player may pass
quickly or blatantly to indicate their cards are very poor for the available trump choice (possibly
indicating their partner should go alone if they select that trump). This adds an additional element of
strategy in that players may bluff a quick pass or hesitation to trick their opponents into calling or
declining the offered trump; however, this can naturally backfire by confusing the player's own
teammate. Depending on the play group, couples or good friends may be purposely split onto opposing
teams because of the perceived advantage they may have reading one another as teammates.

Reneging Formatted: Font: Bold

If a player does not follow suit when he is able to (usually by playing a trump card instead), it is
considered a renege and cheating., Tand the opposing team is rewarded two points if it is caught in later
tricks of the same hand.. However reneges can also be unintentional, where a player misreads some of
his/her cards, most commonly by misinterpreting the left Bower as being of its native suit, but are still
callable by opponents as reneging. In some variants reneging when a player or theirhis opponent is
going alone may result in a penalty of four points in order to equalize the potential values of a hand.
Usually reneging on purpose is considered cheating and is strongly discouraged among communities
that consider cheating and/or lying to be unethical. Players caught repeatedly reneging on purpose are
often ostracized from future card playing events. The four- point penalty for reneging should apply
equally for the maker of trump and the opposing team.

Euchre Variations is a game with a large number of variant versions. They include versions for two to Formatted: Font: Bold
nine players, as well as changes in cards used, bidding, play, and scoring.

No Trump: After the first round (once the kitty's top card has been turned down), "No trump" may be
called. The first card played for each trick establishes that trick's suit, with normal deck order (ace high)
taking precedence.

Stick The Dealer/Screw The Dealer: The dealer must call trump at the end of the second round and is
unable to declare a misdeal. This variation is often used to keep the game moving quickly.

Farmer's Hand: A player having a hand with at least three 9 or 10 cards of any suit, can exchange three
of these cards with the three unknown cards in the kitty. This must be performed before trump has
been selected.

Ace no face if someone is felt a hand that contains any number of ace but has no face cards they may lay
their cards on the table and call “Ace no face” this is considered a miss deal and all the cards are
gathered and re-deltFarmer's Hand/Poor Man's Hand/Bottom Hand/Grandma's Hand: Certain weak
hands (usually those containing no face cards, 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").

Ace No Face: Similar to "farmers hand". In ace no face the player must have one ace and all nines and
tens in his hand. The player then calls "ace no face" and exchange three of his cards for the bottom
three (must be called before the first card of the beginning trick has been laid).

Screw the Dealer or Stick the Dealer: An optional rule that states that if trump is failed to be called it
must be called by the dealer, who is last to act. Mainly used as a method to speed up the game, as it
eliminates throw-in hands.
Terminology Formatted: Font: Bold

Euchre terminology varies greatly from region to region, and is highly colloquial. Some examples include:

Bump/Getting "Set": Occurs when the opposing team wins more tricks than the team who called the
suit.

Farmer's Hand/Poor Man's Hand/Bottom Hand/Grandma's Hand: Certain weak hands (usually those
containing no face cards, 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").

Ace No Face: Similar to "farmers hand". In ace no face the player must have one ace and all nines and
tens in his hand. The player then call "ace no face" and exchange three of his cards for the bottom three
(must be called before the first card of the beginning trick has been laid).

Euchre Bustle: Name for a tournament of Euchre (used in USA Northern mid-West).

Lay-Down: A hand that will automatically win all five tricks if played in the correct order; ex. a Dutchman
(both Bowers and Ace of trump) plus, the King and Queen of that suit, any other two trump cards, or
one more trump card and an off-trump ace (when that player has the lead). Also called a Loner, or Lone
Wolf, because a player with such a hand will typically opt to go alone. May also refer to any set of cards
that are often played simultaneously when the player knows he will win all the tricks he lays for. This
however may only be done within the same suit without giving up a slight advantage to the other
players.

Screw the Dealer or Stick the Dealer: An optional rule that states that if trump is failed to be called it
must be called by the dealer, who is last to act. Mainly used as a method to speed up the game, as it
eliminates throw-in hands.

Trump the Partner: Refers to a situation where the last player plays the card that wins a trick that his
partner would have otherwise won. Usually refers to a situation where the partner has an Ace that
follows suit and the player plays a trump card, but playing a higher trump or non-trump than the
partner's qualifies. It is generally accepted strategy to throw a low off-suit card rather than a trump
when the partner is guaranteed to win the trick otherwise.

Loner Range: When a team reaches 6 points they are referred to as "In Loner Range" because they need
4 or less points (A successful loner is worth 4 points) to reach 10 points and secure the victory.
Alternatively, it can also be used to describe being 4 points away from the opposing team. For example,
when it is 4 to 8, the losing team is in "Loner Range" from the winning team.
Throwing in: Due to there being no reward for winning four of the five hands it is often customary for
the leading player of the offensive team to throw the remainder of their cards into the centre once
three tricks have been assured but five is impossible because one trick has already been won by the
opposing team or they are certain that all the tricks cannot be won.(e.g. a right Bower was ordered up
but has not been played once three tricks have been won), the cards are thrown face up to show the
opposing team the inevitability of their winning three tricks or the impossibility of winning all.