How to play Euchre: card game rules & interactive tutorial
Euchre is a 4-player "trick-taking" game. The game is played by two teams of two, with partners sitting across from each other.
The rules of the game are pretty straightforward. Below you'll find a complete guide on how to play Euchre. If you prefer learning by doing, you'll find an interactive tutorial above that'll guide you through how to play the game.
After you've learned the rules, you can play Euchre online directly at World of Card Games. We recommend a game against bots first. Once you feel comfortable with that, you can switch to multiplayer against other people online or with your friends.
So prepare to dazzle your friends and confound your foes as you become a master of this classic card game!
Euchre at a glance
A fast team game with a five-card hand and a trump suit that changes every deal.
- Players: 4, in two teams of 2
- Deck: 24 cards, only the 9 through Ace of each suit
- Type: trick-taking with a trump suit
- Objective: call trump and take at least 3 of the hand's 5 tricks
- Winning: first team to 10 points
- Average game: 14 minutes
- Strategy guides: Euchre strategy
Rank of cards
Cards are ranked from Ace (high) down to 9 (low) except for cards in the trump suit which rank in this order from high to low.
- Jack of trump suit
- Jack of the other suit of the same color, which counts as a trump card for the whole hand
- Ace of trump suit
- King of trump suit
- Queen of trump suit
- 10 of trump suit
- 9 of trump suit
Objective
The objective is to be the first team to reach 10 points.
Deal
A random player is chosen to be the dealer.
Each player is dealt a hand of 5 cards from a deck of cards containing only A K Q J 10 9 of each suit.
The player to the dealer's left goes first.
Consider up card
A card is dealt from the deck face up for all to see.
Starting with the start player and proceeding clockwise around the table, each player has the option to "Accept" the up card as the trump suit or "Pass".
If any player accepts the up card, that card is given to the dealer, who must then discard a different card and then normal play begins.
If all 4 players choose to "Pass", then we move to the consider suit phase.
Consider suit
Starting with the start player and proceeding clockwise around the table, each player has the option to choose the trump suit or they can "Pass". The suit of the turned-down up card can't be chosen, so there are three suits to pick from.
If 3 players pass, the dealer is then forced to choose a suit to become the trump suit. This is known as "sticking the dealer".
"Stick the dealer" is the default option for Euchre at the site. A table can turn it off by setting "Stick the dealer" to "No". Then the dealer may pass instead of being forced to make a choice for trump suit. Passing has no penalty. New cards are redealt and the choosing phase begins again. Ranked tables are the exception: they always use "Stick the dealer", so that every game on the Euchre leaderboard is played by the same rules.
Play
The start player starts the trick by playing any card from their hand. The other players then each play a card in clockwise order until all 4 players have played a card. Whichever player played the highest card with the same suit as the lead card takes the cards. This is known as "winning a trick".
The trick winner starts the next trick.
Players must play a card with the same suit as the lead card. If they do not have a card with that suit, they may play any card.
Normally the highest card with the same suit as the lead card wins the trick. However, if a card in the trump suit is played on the trick, then the highest trump suit card will win the trick instead.
Score
After each hand, scores are calculated for each team.
The player that chose the trump suit is part of the "maker" team.
The other team is the "defending" team.
If the "maker" team takes 3 or 4 tricks, they will receive 1 point.
If the "maker" team manages to take all 5 tricks, they will receive 2 points.
If the "defending" team manages to take 3 or more tricks, then they will receive 2 points.
Going alone
When considering the up card and suit, the players can also choose to "Go alone".
When choosing this option, your teammate will discard their cards and will not play this hand.
Instead, you are all on your own when it comes to taking tricks.
If the dealer's partner goes alone, the dealer sits out and does not pick up the up card. Nobody discards.
If the player to the dealer's left sits out, the dealer's partner leads the first trick.
If you manage to take 3 or 4 tricks when "going alone" your team will receive the standard 1 point.
If you take all 5 tricks, your team will receive 4 points!
If the "defending" team manages to stop you by taking at least 3 tricks, they will receive the standard 2 points.
Game end
The first team to reach 10 points wins!
The rules in practice
The trump ranking trips up every new player, so here's an example. Say hearts are trump. The Jack of Hearts is the right bower and beats every other card. The Jack of Diamonds, the other red Jack, becomes the left bower, the second-highest card. It counts as a heart for the whole hand. If hearts are led and the Jack of Diamonds is your only heart, you must play it. Only after the two bowers come the Ace, King, Queen, 10 and 9 of Hearts.
A trick goes to the highest card of the suit that was led unless trump lands on it. Suppose spades are trump and the Ace of Diamonds is led. A player with no diamonds may throw the 9 of Spades and that lowly 9 beats the Ace. If another player is also out of diamonds and plays the 10 of Spades, the 10 wins instead. You must follow suit whenever you can, so being void in a suit is what frees you to trump.
Calling trump is a commitment. Say you're the dealer's partner and the up card is the King of Clubs. If you accept it, clubs become trump, your partner picks up the King and discards a card, and your team is now the makers. Take 3 or 4 of the 5 tricks and you score 1 point. Taking all 5 scores 2. If the defenders take 3 tricks instead, you've been euchred and they score 2 points. That risk is why players pass on middling hands.
Strategy basics
A few habits will win you points from your first game. Our strategy guides back each one with statistics from real hands played on this site.
- As the dealer, order up whenever the up card gives you 3 trump cards. Our dealer experiments show it turning mostly losing hands into mostly winning ones.
- If everyone passes on the up card and you're left of the dealer, consider calling the other suit of the same color as the up card. That's the next strategy. It won 81% of the hands where our bots could apply it.
- As the dealer's partner in the second round, call the opposite color instead. That's the reverse next strategy. The King and 9 of a suit can be enough.
- When your partner calls trump, lead trump. Our guides on clearing trump, part I and part II, show how it protects your team's off-suit Aces.
- Go alone when you can realistically take all 5 tricks, since that's worth 4 points. Our loner guide shows you don't always need the right bower.
- Call trump when you get a fair chance. Per our consider phase statistics, trump is called before the choice reaches the last two seats in round two about 86% of the time.
History
Euchre was first known to exist around 1850. Euchre was the game responsible for introducing the Joker. The version of Euchre here on World of Card Games is the USA version of the game, which does not use the Joker.
Frequently asked questions
What are the right and left bowers?
The right bower is the Jack of the trump suit and it's the highest card in the game. The left bower is the other Jack of the same color and it ranks second. The left bower counts as a trump card for the entire hand, not as its printed suit.
Does the dealer get the up card?
Yes, if anyone accepts it. The up card goes into the dealer's hand and the dealer discards a card, so accepting strengthens the dealer, even when an opponent made the call. The one exception is when the dealer's partner goes alone. Then the dealer sits out and nobody picks up the up card.
What happens if every player passes twice?
By default the dealer is stuck and must name a trump suit, which is known as "stick the dealer". If a table has turned that option off, the dealer may pass too and the cards are redealt with no penalty.
What happens when I go alone?
Your partner folds their cards and sits out the hand, so you play the tricks on your own. Taking all 5 tricks scores 4 points, taking 3 or 4 scores the normal 1 point, and the defenders still score 2 points if they euchre you.