Euchre, the partnership card game
Euchre is a quick, friendly trick-taking game for four players in two teams. You sit across from your partner, North, and play against West and East, all three played by the computer. Each hand uses only 24 cards and five tricks, so a hand takes a minute or two, and the first team to 10 points wins. It is the card game of kitchen tables across Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Ontario, here with large, clear cards that read well on a tablet or a phone. There is nothing to sign up for and nothing to install, and your game is saved in this browser if you need to stop halfway.
How to play
Each player gets five cards, and the next card is turned face up. The full rules, with pictures and tips.
- The cards. Only the 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace of each suit are used.
- Choosing trump. Starting on the dealer’s left, each player may order up the turned-up card, making its suit trump, or pass. The dealer then picks it up and puts away one card. If all four pass, the card is turned down, and each player in turn may name any other suit as trump, or pass. If everyone passes again, the cards are thrown in and the next player deals.
- The bowers. The Jack of the trump suit, the right bower, is the highest card. The other Jack of the same colour, the left bower, is the second highest, and it counts as a trump, not as its own suit.
- Playing. The player on the dealer’s left leads. Everyone must follow the suit led if they can; if not, they may play any card, including a trump. The highest trump wins the trick, or if none was played, the highest card of the suit led.
- Scoring. The team that chose trump needs three of the five tricks: 1 point for three or four, 2 for all five. If they fail, they are euchred, and the other team scores 2.
- Going alone. Whoever chooses trump may play without their partner. Take all five tricks alone and your team scores 4.
Controls
When it is your turn to bid, use the buttons under the table: Order up (or Pick it up when you dealt) or Pass, and in the second round the suit you want as trump. Tick Go alone first to play without your partner. When you deal and the card is ordered up, tap the card you want to put away, then press the button. During play, tap or click a card to play it. Cards you are not allowed to play are shaded, and if you tap one anyway, the game tells you why. With a keyboard, Tab and the arrow keys move between your cards and Enter plays one. H asks for a hint, U takes back your last card and N starts a new game.
Hint suggests a bid, a card to put away or a card to play, with one plain sentence that says why: how many trumps you would hold, which card is the highest left, when to let your partner take the trick. Undo takes back your last card within the hand. Trumps in your hand carry a small dot in the corner, the left bower included, and the score sheet under the table keeps every hand.
A fair computer partner and fair opponents
North, West and East see only their own cards, the turned-up card and the cards already played, just as you do. Nobody looks at anyone else’s hand or at the cards left under the turned-up one. They bid by counting the tricks their hand should take, play the best trump first when their side chose trump, cash their Aces, leave a trick to a partner who is already winning it, and trump in when they cannot follow suit. Your partner plays the same way for you.
For the full rules, scoring and the tips that win more hands, read how to play Euchre. Prefer every player for themselves? Try Hearts against three computer players, or a game on your own of Klondike Solitaire or FreeCell.