Euchre: Play Online for Free (Solo & Multiplayer)

Euchre is a fast trick-taking game for 4 players in two teams. Unlike Spades or Whist, it uses a small 24-card deck, so every card counts and hands fly by. Add the unusual trump order and the teamwork between partners, and no two hands feel the same.

Euchre is free to play right here in your browser. You don't need to download or sign up for anything. Play solo against our bots, take a seat against other people, or open a private table for friends and family. Jump in and have fun!

Rules

Here's everything you need to play your first game. If you want the complete reference or prefer learning by doing, our guide on how to play Euchre has the full rules and an interactive tutorial that walks you through a real hand.

Objective

Euchre is a race to 10 points between two teams of 2, with partners sitting across from each other. Each hand has only 5 tricks. The team that calls the trump suit needs at least 3 of them to score, and falling short hands the other team 2 points.

The deal and calling trump

Each player gets 5 cards from a 24-card deck that holds only the 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace of each suit. The next card is turned face up. This is called the up card. Starting left of the dealer, each player may order it up, which makes its suit trump, or pass. If someone orders it up, the dealer picks up the up card and discards one card from their hand. If all four players pass, a second round begins where each player may name a different suit as trump or pass. When everyone passes again, the dealer is forced to choose. That rule is called "Stick the Dealer" and it's the default here.

Trump cards beat everything else, and the trump suit has its own order. The Jack of trump, called the right bower, is the highest card in the game. The other Jack of the same color, the left bower, ranks second and counts as a trump card for the whole hand. After the bowers come the Ace, King, Queen, 10 and 9 of trump. The plain suits rank normally from Ace down to 9.

Whoever calls trump can also choose to go alone. Their partner sits out the hand, and the caller tries to take the tricks single-handedly for a bigger reward.

The play

The player left of the dealer leads the first trick with any card. Play goes clockwise, and everyone must follow the suit that was led if they can. If you can't, you may play any card, including a trump. The highest card of the led suit wins the trick unless trump was played, in which case the highest trump wins. The trick winner leads the next trick, and the hand ends after all 5 tricks.

Scoring and winning

The team that called trump is the maker team, and the other is the defending team. Makers score 1 point for taking 3 or 4 tricks and 2 points for taking all 5. If the defenders take 3 or more tricks, the makers have been "euchred" and the defenders score 2 points. A player who goes alone and sweeps all 5 tricks earns 4 points, while 3 or 4 tricks alone still scores the usual 1. The first team to reach 10 points wins the game.

How to win at Euchre

These tips come from our Euchre strategy guides, most of them backed by experiments we ran with the bots on this site. The two big skills are judging when to call trump and knowing when to lead it.

Calling trump:

• If you're the dealer, order up whenever picking up the up card gives you 3 trump cards, even low ones. When we tested this with the bots over 10,000 hands, the more aggressive dealer team won 82% of the hands where the choice made a difference.
• Remember that the up card goes to the dealer, so accepting it strengthens the dealer's team. Order it up for your partner, and think twice before handing an extra trump to an opponent.
• In general, don't accept a suit unless you hold at least 2 cards of it.
• When all four players pass on the up card and you're left of the dealer, consider calling the "next" suit, the other suit of the same color. Everyone passing suggests nobody is strong in that color. In our next strategy experiments, teams using it won 81% of the hands where it applied.
• As the dealer's partner in the second round, cross the color instead. If your partner turned down a high up card, they probably want the other color, so calling it with as little as the King and 9 of a suit can work. Our reverse next simulations lifted the win rate on those hands from 55% to 69%.
• Going alone pays 4 points for taking all 5 tricks, so take the chance with a near-unbeatable hand. You don't always need the right bower, as our guide on calling loners shows, but a failed call can still get you euchred for 2 points.
• Don't sit on a decent hand waiting for a better moment. Our consider phase statistics from 129,164 hands show trump gets called before the second round even reaches the last two seats about 86% of the time. If you never call, someone else will.

Playing:

• If your partner called trump, lead trump, even your right bower. It strips trump from your opponents so your team's off-suit Aces hold up later. Our guides on clearing trump, part I and part II, show it winning real hands.
• If you called trump yourself, leading your highest trump is usually right too. It forces your opponents to spend their trump cards early.
• Save your off-suit Aces for after trump has been cleared. Led too early, an Ace is easily trumped by an opponent with a void.
• You can usually count on your partner for at least 1 trick.
• If an opponent is going alone, lead a suit you have several cards of. That gives your partner a chance to trump over them.
• Keep track of which cards have been played, especially the two bowers.

Frequently asked questions

What is an euchre?

An euchre occurs when your team chooses the trump suit but fails to take at least 3 of the 5 tricks during a hand. If your team is euchred, the opposing team is awarded 2 points, while your team gets no points.

What is Stick the Dealer (STD)?

Stick the Dealer forces the dealer to name a trump suit when everyone has passed twice. It's the one rule a table owner can change here, and it's on by default. With it turned off, the dealer may pass as well, and the cards are redealt with no penalty. The setting shows as "std" in the list of tables, and you can check any table's setup under its table info link.

Can you lead trump in Euchre?

Yes. Any card can be led on any trick, including trump, and there is no restriction like breaking hearts. If your team called trump, leading high trumps early is often a good way to pull the opponents' trump out of their hands.

What does going alone mean in Euchre?

The player who calls trump can choose to go alone, and their partner sits out the hand. Taking all 5 tricks alone scores 4 points instead of 2. Taking 3 or 4 tricks still scores the standard 1 point, and getting euchred still hands the defenders 2 points.

How do I play Euchre with friends?

Create a private table and tell your friends its name. Click the Menu button, check Private Table, then click Change next to Name and enter a table name. Everyone who enters the same name at their own private table lands at your table. Three friends fill the table, and with fewer you can put bots in the empty seats.

Can I play Euchre against the computer?

Yes. Click the little grey robot next to any empty seat to invite a bot. You can fill all three seats with bots and play entirely solo, which is a good way to learn the game before facing live players.

Can 2 people play Euchre?

Euchre is a 4-player partnership game, so two people can't play it alone. You and a friend can share a private table and fill the other two seats with bots. Sit across from each other to play as partners, or sit on opposite teams and each take a bot partner.

How long does a game of Euchre take?

About 25 minutes on average across the games played on this site. Hands are quick since each one is only 5 tricks, and a game runs until one team reaches 10 points.

Is Euchre free to play here?

Yes. Euchre is free in your browser with no download and no signup. You only need an account if you want to keep long-term stats or play ranked games.

What games are similar to Euchre?

If you enjoy Euchre, try the site's other trick-taking games, such as Whist, Bridge, Pinochle, Double Deck Pinochle and Twenty-Nine.