Guides

Euchre rules and what the terms mean

The rules of euchre in plain words, then what every term means, from the left bower to stick the dealer and a farmer's hand. House rules vary, so check your club's before the first deal.

The basics

Euchre is a trick-taking game for four players in two partnerships, with partners sitting across from each other. It uses 24 cards: the 9, 10, jack, queen, king and ace of each suit.

The dealer gives each player five cards. The other four cards go face down, with the top one turned face up.
Players take turns deciding whether to make a suit trump.
The player to the dealer's left leads, and everyone plays one card to each of five tricks.
The team that called trump needs at least three tricks. If it falls short, the other team scores instead.
The deal passes to the left. The usual game ends when a team reaches 10 points.

The cards

In the trump suit, the cards rank from highest to lowest: right bower, left bower, ace, king, queen, 10, 9. In the other suits, they rank ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9.

Trump: The suit chosen for the hand. Any trump card beats any card of another suit.
Right bower: The jack of the trump suit, and the highest card in the game.
Left bower: The other jack of the same color as trump, and the second-highest card. For that hand it counts as a trump card, not part of the suit printed on it. If hearts are trump, the jack of diamonds is the left bower and it's a heart.
Next: The other suit of the same color as the card that was turned down. Calling next means making that suit trump in the second round.
Kitty: The four cards left over after the deal. Only the top card is ever seen.

Calling trump

Bidding starts with the player to the dealer's left and can go around the table twice.

Turn-up: The face-up card on top of the kitty.
Order it up: In the first round, telling the dealer to pick up the turn-up. Its suit becomes trump, and the dealer adds the card to their hand and discards one.
Pass: Declining to call trump. If all four players pass, the dealer turns the card face down.
Turned down: The turn-up was refused. In the second round, players can name any suit except the one that was turned down.
Makers: The team that called trump.
Defenders: The team that didn't call trump.

Playing a hand

Trick: One card from each player. The highest trump wins it. If no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins.
Lead: The first card of a trick. The winner of a trick leads the next one.
Follow suit: Playing a card of the suit that was led. You must do this if you can. If you can't, you may play anything, including trump.
Renege: Failing to follow suit when you could have. The usual penalty is 2 points to the other team, but clubs differ. The classic mistake is forgetting that the left bower counts as trump.
Going alone, or a loner: The player who calls trump can play without their partner, who puts their cards face down and sits out the hand.
Table talk: Telling your partner anything about your cards, by words, tone or gestures. It isn't allowed.
Misdeal: A deal that went wrong, such as the wrong number of cards or a card exposed. The hand is dealt again. Clubs differ on who deals it.

Scoring

What happened	Points
Makers take 3 or 4 tricks	1 to the makers
Makers take all 5 tricks	2 to the makers
Going alone, 3 or 4 tricks	1 to the loner's team
Going alone, all 5 tricks	4 to the loner's team
Makers are euchred	2 to the defenders

Euchre, or euchred: The makers took fewer than three tricks. The defenders score 2 points.
March: Taking all five tricks.

House rules

These aren't part of every game, so settle them before play starts.

Stick the dealer: If everyone passes in both rounds, the dealer must name trump and can't pass. It's also called screw the dealer. Without this rule, the hand is thrown in and the deal passes to the left.
Farmer's hand: A very weak hand, usually one with nothing higher than a 10. Some clubs let the player swap three of those cards for three from the kitty. Others treat it like an ace, no face, and allow a redeal. The exact rule varies, so check yours.
Ace, no face: A hand with one ace and no kings, queens or jacks. Clubs that allow it let the player show their cards and call for a redeal. The cards are thrown in, the dealer reshuffles and deals a new hand, and no points are scored. A stricter version, no ace, no face, no trump, covers a hand of only 9s and 10s.
What a loner pays: A loner that takes all five tricks usually pays 4 points, but some clubs pay 5. Some also give the defenders 4 points for euchring a loner.
One in the barn: A team one point short of winning is in the barn. Under this rule, if that team then scores more than one point, it counts all of them. Playing to 10, a team on 9 that takes all five tricks finishes on 11, and with a 4-point loner it finishes on 13.
Canadian loner: In this variation, a player who orders up their partner, the dealer, must go alone.
Benny: A joker added to the deck as the highest trump, above the right bower. It's more common outside the United States.

Tournament terms

Progressive euchre: A tournament where players change partners every round and each keeps their own score. Read how progressive euchre works.
Sit-out: A round a player misses when the numbers don't divide by four. A make-up round evens things out. The rotation charts take care of this.
Euchre jar: Players who get euchred pay a set amount into a jar, which is added to the prizes or goes to the last-place finisher.
Booby prize: A prize for last place.
Side pot: An optional extra prize that players pay into, separate from the main prizes.

Ties and prize money have their own guide: euchre tiebreakers and payouts. For how often the hands above come along, read euchre statistics and odds.

Your house rules in Euchre Clubhouse

Write your club's rules into the app once, and players can read them on their phones. You set the target score and what a loner pays, and the app checks each score against them. Watch it run or try the sandbox.