What Is Euchre?

Euchre is a four-player, partnership trick-taking card game played with a shortened 24-card deck. Two teams of two partners sit across from each other and compete to be the first team to reach 10 points.

What makes euchre stand out among card games is speed. Each player holds only 5 cards, rounds last just a few minutes, and the entire game wraps up in 15–25 minutes. It is one of the most popular card games in the American Midwest, Ontario (Canada), Cornwall and Devon (England), and parts of Australia.

Euchre also has a unique claim to fame: the Joker card was invented specifically for euchre in the 1850s before being adopted by poker and other games.

If you have played other trick-taking games like spades or hearts, you will pick up euchre quickly. If this is your first trick-taking game, do not worry — this guide starts from zero.

What You Need to Play

  • Players: 4 (two teams of two, partners sitting across from each other)
  • Cards: 24 cards from a standard deck — the 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of each suit
  • Goal: First team to 10 points wins

To build a euchre deck from a regular deck of cards, remove every card below 9 (all 2s through 8s). You will have 24 cards left.

Tip: Many stores sell dedicated euchre decks with 24 cards plus a score card. A standard poker deck works perfectly — just pull out the low cards.

Card Rankings — The Key to Understanding Euchre

Before you deal, you need to understand how card rankings work in euchre, because they change every round based on which suit is trump.

Non-Trump Suits

In any suit that is not trump, cards rank in the standard order:

A (high) → K → Q → J → 10 → 9 (low)

The Trump Suit — Bowers Change Everything

The trump suit has a different ranking because of the bower system:

  1. Right Bower — The Jack of the trump suit. This is the highest card in the entire game.
  2. Left Bower — The Jack of the same color as the trump suit. This is the second-highest card.
  3. Ace of trump
  4. King of trump
  5. Queen of trump
  6. 10 of trump
  7. 9 of trump

Example: Hearts Are Trump

Rank Card
1 (highest) J♥ (Right Bower)
2 J♦ (Left Bower — same color as hearts)
3 A♥
4 K♥
5 Q♥
6 10♥
7 (lowest trump) 9♥

Notice that the Jack of Diamonds is no longer a diamond when hearts are trump. It becomes a heart for the entire round. This is the single most important rule for beginners to remember.

For a deeper breakdown of how rankings work across all four trump scenarios, see our euchre card rankings guide.

How to Deal

  1. Choose the first dealer by any agreed method (drawing cards, youngest player, etc.). The deal rotates clockwise after each hand.
  2. The dealer shuffles the 24-card deck and offers a cut to the player on their right.
  3. Deal 5 cards to each player in two rounds:
    • First round: deal 2 cards to each player (or 3 — dealer’s choice), going clockwise.
    • Second round: deal the remaining cards so everyone has exactly 5.
    • Whichever pattern you start with (2-then-3 or 3-then-2), stick with it for the entire game.
  4. Place the remaining 4 cards face-down in the center. This pile is called the kitty.
  5. Flip the top card of the kitty face-up. This card’s suit is the potential trump suit for the first round of bidding.

Quick check: Each player should have 5 cards. 4 cards are in the kitty (top one face-up). 4 players × 5 cards + 4 kitty cards = 24 total. ✓

Calling Trump — The Bidding Phase

Euchre has a two-round bidding process to determine which suit will be trump. This is the most strategic decision in each hand.

Round 1: Order Up or Pass

Starting with the player to the dealer’s left and going clockwise:

  • “I order it up” (or simply “pick it up”) — You want the face-up card’s suit to be trump. The dealer picks up the face-up card, adds it to their hand, and discards one card face-down. Trump is now set.
  • “Pass” — You do not want that suit as trump. The next player gets the same choice.

If the dealer’s partner orders it up, the dealer still picks up the card and discards.

If the dealer is reached and wants to accept, they simply pick up the card and discard — no announcement needed.

If all four players pass, the face-up card is turned face-down and the game moves to round 2.

Round 2: Name a Suit or Pass

If everyone passed in round 1, a second round begins. Starting again with the player to the dealer’s left:

  • Name any suit except the one that was turned down. That suit becomes trump.
  • Pass — The next player gets the option.

If all four players pass again:

  • Under stick-the-dealer rules (the most common variant), the dealer must call a trump suit. For more on how this affects strategy, see our stick-the-dealer guide.
  • Without stick-the-dealer, the hand is thrown in and the next player deals.

Who Are the Makers and Defenders?

The team that calls trump are the makers. They need to win at least 3 out of 5 tricks to score. The opposing team are the defenders — they are trying to euchre the makers by winning 3 or more tricks themselves.

Going Alone

Before the first trick is played, the player who called trump may declare “alone” (also called a loner). This means:

  • Their partner sits out the round and does not play any cards.
  • The lone player plays all 5 tricks 1-against-2 versus the defenders.
  • If the lone player wins all 5 tricks, the team earns 4 points instead of 2.
  • If the lone player wins 3 or 4 tricks, the team earns 1 point (same as normal).
  • If the lone player is euchred (wins 0–2 tricks), the defenders earn 2 points.

Going alone is a high-risk, high-reward play. You should only go alone with an exceptionally strong hand — typically both bowers plus additional trump or off-suit aces. For an in-depth look at when to go alone, see our going alone strategy guide.

Playing Tricks — Step by Step

Once trump is set, trick play begins. Here is how each trick works:

1. The Lead

The player to the dealer’s left leads the first trick by playing any card from their hand face-up.

After the first trick, the winner of the previous trick leads the next one.

Exception: If someone is playing alone, the player to the left of the lone player leads the first trick (skipping the lone player’s sitting-out partner).

2. Follow Suit

Moving clockwise, each player must follow suit if they can.

  • If the lead card is a diamond, you must play a diamond if you have one.
  • If you have no cards of the led suit, you may play any card — including a trump card to win the trick.

Critical rule: The Left Bower belongs to the trump suit, not its printed suit. If spades are trump and someone leads a club, you do not have to play the Jack of Clubs — it is a spade this round, not a club. Forgetting this is called a renege (an illegal play). See our renege rules guide for penalties.

3. Determine the Winner

The trick is won by:

  • The highest trump card played, if any trump was played.
  • The highest card of the led suit, if no trump was played.

The winner collects the four cards, places them face-down in front of themselves, and leads the next trick.

4. Repeat

Play continues until all 5 tricks have been played. Then count how many tricks each team won and score the round.

Scoring

Euchre scoring depends on who called trump and how many tricks they won.

Scenario Points
Makers win 3 or 4 tricks 1 point
Makers win all 5 tricks (a march) 2 points
Makers win 0, 1, or 2 tricks (they are euchred) 2 points to the defenders
Lone player wins all 5 tricks 4 points
Lone player wins 3 or 4 tricks 1 point
Lone player is euchred 2 points to the defenders

The first team to reach 10 points wins the game.

Keeping Score with Cards

Traditionally, euchre players keep score using spare cards from the deck rather than pen and paper:

  • Using 4s and 6s: Each team takes a 4 and a 6 of the same color. Place the 4 face-up on top of the 6 face-down. As you score points, slide the top card to reveal the appropriate number of suit symbols (pips) on the bottom card. After reaching 4, flip the top card over and continue counting up to 10.
  • Using 5s: Each team takes two 5s. Cross the 5s to indicate reaching 5 points, then count suit symbols for 6–10.

For a more detailed look at all scoring scenarios, see our complete euchre scoring guide.

A Complete Example Hand

Let us walk through one full hand so you can see all the pieces together.

Setup

  • Players: Alice and Charlie (Team 1) vs. Bob and Dana (Team 2). Partners sit across from each other.
  • Dealer: Dana
  • Score: Team 1 has 4 points, Team 2 has 3 points.

The Deal

Dana deals 5 cards to each player. The top card of the kitty is the Queen of Spades, turned face-up.

Bidding — Round 1

  • Alice (left of dealer): Looks at her hand, sees J♠ (Right Bower if spades are trump), A♠, K♥, 10♦, 9♣. She says “I order it up.”
  • Trump is spades. Dana picks up the Q♠ and discards a card from her hand.
  • Alice’s team (Team 1) are the makers. Bob and Dana are the defenders.

The Bower Check

  • Right Bower: J♠ (Alice has it — the highest card this round)
  • Left Bower: J♣ (the other black Jack — whoever holds it has the second-highest card)

Trick 1

  • Alice leads the J♠ (Right Bower — the strongest possible lead).
  • Bob has no spades, plays 10♥.
  • Charlie plays 9♠ (following suit).
  • Dana plays Q♠ (the card she picked up from the kitty).
  • Winner: Alice (Right Bower beats everything). Team 1: 1 trick.

Trick 2

  • Alice leads A♠. She is pulling trump from the opponents.
  • Bob plays K♦ (no spades).
  • Charlie plays 10♠.
  • Dana has no more spades, plays Q♦.
  • Winner: Alice (A♠ is highest trump remaining). Team 1: 2 tricks.

Trick 3

  • Alice leads K♥ (switching to an off-suit).
  • Bob plays A♥ — this wins unless someone trumps it.
  • Charlie plays 9♥.
  • Dana plays 10♥.
  • Winner: Bob (A♥ is highest heart, no trump played). Team 2: 1 trick.

Trick 4

  • Bob leads A♦.
  • Charlie has no diamonds, plays J♣ — wait, is this the Left Bower? Yes. Spades are trump, so J♣ is a spade. Charlie is not following suit in diamonds — he is playing a trump card.
  • Dana plays K♣.
  • Alice plays 10♦.
  • Winner: Charlie (J♣ is the Left Bower, which outranks everything except the Right Bower). Team 1: 3 tricks.

Trick 5

  • Charlie leads his last card, Q♣.
  • Dana plays 9♦.
  • Alice plays 9♣.
  • Bob plays J♦.
  • Winner: Bob (J♦ is highest club — remember, J♣ is not a club this round). Team 2: 2 tricks.

Scoring

Team 1 (makers) won 3 tricks. That earns them 1 point. Score is now Team 1: 5, Team 2: 3.

Quick Reference: The 7 Rules That Matter Most

  1. 24 cards — 9 through Ace in each suit. 5 cards per player. 4-card kitty.
  2. Trump changes the rankings. The Right Bower (Jack of trump) is the highest card. The Left Bower (Jack of same color) is second-highest.
  3. The Left Bower belongs to the trump suit, not its printed suit.
  4. Follow suit if you can. If you cannot, play anything.
  5. Makers need 3 tricks to score. Getting all 5 is a march (2 points). Failing to get 3 means being euchred (opponents get 2 points).
  6. Going alone risks your partner sitting out for a chance at 4 points.
  7. First team to 10 wins.

Common Beginner Mistakes

Learning the rules is the first step. Here are traps that catch almost every new player:

  • Forgetting the Left Bower’s suit. If spades are trump, the Jack of Clubs is a spade. You must play it when spades are led, and you cannot play it when clubs are led (since it is not a club right now).
  • Calling trump too aggressively. Having one or two trump cards is usually not enough. Getting euchred gives the other team 2 free points.
  • Never going alone. If you hold both bowers and an ace, going alone is often correct. Missing 4-point opportunities adds up.
  • Leading low trump. The 9 of trump rarely wins a trick. Lead your strong cards first.
  • Ignoring your partner. Euchre is a partnership game. If your partner called trump, they likely have strong cards in that suit — feed them tricks.

For a deeper dive into these and more pitfalls, see our common euchre mistakes guide.

What to Learn Next

Now that you know the rules, here are the best next steps:

Or skip the reading and play euchre online free right now — our game handles all the rules automatically, so you can learn by doing.