How To Play Euchre: A Simple Guide To The Card Game

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Euchre is a fun and fast-paced trick-taking card game that started in the Americas in the 1800s. It’s usually played with 4 players in two teams of 2, with teammates sitting across from each other. The main goal? Win at least 3 out of 5 tricks each round.

Before starting, players agree on a target score 5, 7, or 10 points. The first team to reach that score wins the game.

Setup: Getting the Deck Ready

To play Euchre, you won’t use the full 52-card deck.

• Remove all cards ranked 6 and below.
• This leaves you with a 32-card deck.
• Some versions remove 7s or 8s too, making the deck smaller (28 or 24 cards).
• You can also add a joker, making decks of 33, 29, or 25 cards depending on the version.

Next, players draw cards to decide:

• Who the partners are (highest two cards vs. lowest two).
• Who deals first (the player with the lowest card).

Card ranking (for setup only):
King (high), Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, Ace (low)

Dealing the Cards

The dealer:

1. Shuffles the deck.
2. The player to the dealer’s right may cut the deck.
3. Deals 5 cards to each player, in sets of 3 and 2 cards.
4. Places the remaining cards face down, and turns one card face up in the center.

This face-up card starts the trump selection process.

Declaring Trumps

Starting with the player to the dealer’s left, each player can:

• Accept the suit of the face-up card as trump
• Or pass

If someone accepts, that suit becomes trump, and the dealer can swap one card from their hand with the face-up card.

If everyone passes:

• The face-up card is tucked under the deck
• Players then choose a new trump suit, but not the same as the one just rejected

If no one picks again, the cards are gathered and the next player becomes the dealer.

Playing Alone

If a player calls trump and feels confident, they can choose to go alone.

• Their partner puts their cards face down and does not play this round.
• The solo player tries to win the round on their own.

Card Rankings in Euchre

Card rankings change when a suit is declared as trump.

If playing with a Joker:

1. Joker (highest)
2. Jack of trump suit (Right Bower)
3. Jack of the same color suit (Left Bower)
4. Ace, King, Queen, 10, 9, 8, 7 (in order)

If no Joker, the Right Bower is the highest.

All non-trump suits rank normally:
Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7 (low)

How to Play a Round of Euchre

• The player to the dealer’s left leads the first trick.
• Each player plays one card per trick.
• You must follow the same suit if you have it.
• If you don’t have the suit, you can play any card, including a trump card.

Who Wins the Trick?

• The highest trump card wins.
• If no trump is played, the highest card of the suit led wins.
• The winner of the trick leads the next trick.

This continues until all 5 tricks are played.

Scoring the Game

After five tricks are played, score the round as follows:

How to Win the Game

The first team to reach the target score (5, 7, or 10 points) wins the game.

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