Euchre

4 players (2 × 2), 25 cards

Besides being the ‘national’ game of the West Country,

especially Cornwall, Euchre is widely played in Canada, some
north-eastern States in the USA, and New Zealand, while Five
Hundred, its close relative, is the national game of
Australia. It was especially popular in America in the
nineteenth century, having been brought thither by those
German immigrants still referred to as the ‘Pennsylvania
Dutch’. Its ultimate origin appears to lie in an Alsatian game
called Juckerspiel, referring to its two top trumps. (Jucker
means Jack. So does Bower, which rhymes with ‘flower’, and
comes from the German Bauer = ‘farmer’ or ‘peasant’.) Despite
its spelling, which one can only guess to have been
inexplicably influenced by ‘eucharist’, Euchre and Jucker are
pronounced almost identically – the J like an initial Y, and
the whole probably rhyming better with ‘cooker’ than with
‘snooker’. The word Jucker may also have influenced the choice
of the term Joker, an extra card introduced in the 1860s to
act as the topmost trump or Jack, originally in a variety of
designs, but only from about 1880 in the now well established
guise of a court jester. Our modern Joker therefore has
nothing to do with the card called the Fool in Tarot packs, as
so often claimed. Rather, it is a fifth Jack, and was
specifically invented for the game of Euchre. Another of this
great game’s legacies is the verb ‘to euchre’, meaning to
force someone into a situation or action they would rather
avoid.

Euchre is and has been played in many different versions for

various numbers of players. We start with the four-hand
partnership game as played (with minor variations) on a
tournament basis in the West Country.

Preliminaries
Four players sitting crosswise in partnerships receive five
cards each (3+2 or 2+3) from a 25-card pack consisting of
AKQJT9 in each suit, plus one Joker. Lacking a Joker,
substitute a black Two. Lay the other four face down and turn
the top card for trump preference. If it is the Joker, the
dealer must announce trumps before looking at his cards. Game
is any agreed number of points (such as 10, 11, 21) over as
many deals as necessary.
Rank of cards
Trumps cards rank downwards as follows:

Benny, or Best Bower (Joker)

Right Bower (Jack of trumps)

Left Bower (other Jack of same colour as trumps)

A-K-Q-T-9

In other suits, cards rank AKQ(J)T9.

Bidding
Unless the Joker is turned (see below), there is a round or
two of bidding to decide which side will undertake to win at
least three tricks with the turned suit trump, or, if all
decline, with another suit. A bidder who thinks he can win
three or more from his own hand may offer to play ‘alone’.

Each in turn, starting with eldest, either passes or accepts

the turned suit as trump by saying ‘Up’ (short for ‘I order it
up’) and adding ‘alone’, if applicable. Any acceptance ends
the bidding. In some circles the dealer’s partner may only
order it up if playing alone.

If all pass, the turn-up is turned down and each in turn may
now either name another trump suit or pass. (Choosing the
other suit of the same colour is to ‘make it next’; choosing
either of the other two is to ‘cross it’.) If anyone names a
suit, the bidding ends. As before, a bidder may offer to play
alone. If all pass, the hand is annulled and the deal passes
on.

Whichever side chose trumps are the ‘makers’. If they are

playing in the turned suit, the dealer may, before play, take
the turn-up into hand and make one discard face down in its
place (unless his partner is playing alone).

If the Joker is turned, the dealer’s side automatically

becomes the makers, and the dealer must name a suit before
looking at his hand.

Play
Before play, either of the defenders may offer to defend
alone, whether or not one of the makers is doing so. In a lone
bid, the loner’s partner lays his cards face down before the
opening lead, which is made by the player at loner’s immediate
left, or his partner if the latter is playing alone.
Otherwise, the opening lead is made by the eldest hand.
Players must follow suit if possible, otherwise may play any
card. The trick is taken by the highest card of the suit led,
or by the highest trump if any are played, and the winner of
each trick leads to the next.

Score
The makers score 1 point for winning three or four tricks, 2
for the ‘march’ (all five), or 4 for the march if played
alone. If they fail to win three they are ‘euchred’, and the
opponents score 2, regardless of any lone hands.

Variations In North America the Joker is usually omitted. In

New Zealand, and occasionally in America, Euchre is still
played with its original 32-card pack (AKQJT987, Joker
optional).