Euchre or Eucre ( ) is a trick-taking card game played in Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, particularly in Michigan, Upstate New York and the Midwest. It is played with a deck of 24, 25, 28, or 32 standard playing cards. There are normally four players, two on each team, although there are variations for two to nine players.

Euchre emerged in the United States in the early 19th century. There are several theories regarding its origin, but the most likely is that it is derived from an old Alsatian game called Jucker or Juckerspiel. Euchre was responsible for introducing the joker into the modern deck of cards, first appearing in Euchre packs in the 1850s.

Euchre has a large number of variants and has been described as "an excellent social game".

Origins and popularity

thumb|"Euchered", an 1884 lithograph from the Library of Congress

Eucre is briefly mentioned as early as 1810, being played in a gaming house alongside all fours, loo, cribbage, and whist. In 1829, uker was being played with bowers on a steamboat in the American Midwest. The earliest written rules appeared in 1844.

The mode of play and terminology of Euchre have resulted in several theories which suggest that it has an origin in Spanish Trionfo, French Ecarté or Triomphe,

Other words or phrases that reflect a German origin are: "maker" from Macher, short for Spielmacher i.e. "game maker", the person who determines the type of game to be played; "euchred" from gejuckert; "having a dog from every county" from aus jedem Dorf ein Köter i.e. "a mongrel from every village", a common expression in German card games; "cards away" from Karten weg or Kart' ab, an expression in games from the Palatinate/Saarland region for the same announcement, "bridge" possibly from Pritsche, a plank bed, hence a place of safety.

The earliest known treatise is an 1839 lost book called Game of Euchre and Its Laws, by an unknown author. The earliest surviving rules appeared in 1844, in which there is no Joker. 32 cards are used. The Right Bower, the trump Jack, is the "commanding card" with the Left Bower, the Jack of the same color, as the second-highest card. As the Joker had not yet been introduced, the Right Bower was also known as the Best Bower. According to Parlett, the Joker was added to a 32-card pack in the 1850s specifically for the game of Euchre

In the late 19th century, Euchre was regarded as the national card game of the United States. It has since declined in popularity, although it retains a strong following in regions such as the Midwestern United States. With the rise of 20th century games such as Contract Bridge and Spades, Euchre has declined in popularity, though it is still played as a social game in the US Midwest, the Canadian province of Ontario, Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain, especially Cornwall.

Earliest rules (1844)

The earliest surviving rules were published in America by Thomas Mathews in his 1844 work, The Whist Player's Hand-book, in which a four-hand version of Euchre is described right at the end. The following is a summary:

Players and cards

Euchre is a four-player game using a pack of 25 cards with a joker and four suits comprising AKQJT9. Card ranking is as per the 1844 rules with the exception that the top trump is the Benny or Best Bower represented by the joker or . Deal and play are clockwise.

Deal

The first dealer can be chosen by any random method. The dealer shuffles and deals each player a packet of 2 or 3 cards in any order and then a second packet making the hands up to 5 cards. The next card is turned as a potential trump. Often, it is customary to offer a cut of the deck to the player on the dealer's right before passing out the cards.

Making trump

The process of making trump is as follows:

  • Eldest opens by passing or saying "I order it up" (or just "up" or 21.
  • Dealer's partner may play with a partner by ordering up and is not forced to go alone.

Deal

Deal and play are clockwise. The face-down pack is spread on the table and players draw a card each. The players with the two lowest cards play together against the others and the player with the lowest card deals first. For this purpose only, suits are irrelevant, aces rank low and jacks rank immediately below the queens. The dealer then shuffles the pack and offers it to the right for cutting.

  • Cut. Trump a led ace with the second card of the trick. (Indiana, Ohio).
  • Dealing in packets. Cards are dealt in packets of twos and threes, but there is no requirement to follow a system.
  • Point on partner. When a partner steals their own partner's deal successfully, in addition to retaining the deal, the team is also awarded one point. This Euchre Varriant was popularized by Bill Rome, winner of several Michigan and North Eastern Euchre championships including 2016 and 2018 'Michigan Traveling Euchre Tourney', as well as winner of the 2016 and 2017 'Euchre Great Lakes Euchre Extravaganza', and 2018 third place finisher in the 'Tri-State Euchre Championship'.
  • Robson rules. When a team wins all five tricks (normally or by going alone), they may choose to reduce the opposing team's score (by two or four, respectively) instead of adding to their own score. Additionally, if the dealer turns up a jack on the kitty, they may elect to go alone without seeing the rest of their hand. If all tricks are won via this "blind loner" hand, five points are awarded instead of the usual four; but a failure to win all tricks earns the defenders one point. This rule was named after four-time Northern Michigan regional tournament runner-up champion James Robson.
  • Screw the Dealer. If trump is not called it must be called by the dealer. Used to speed up the game, as it eliminates throw-in hands.

It can also be played by either three or four players competing as individuals (Indiana). In this variation, there are no undealt cards. Players start at 21 and try to be the first to zero, reducing their score by one point for each trick taken. The player winning the bid names either a trump suit or elects a "no trump" alternative which can either be high (A, K, Q, J, 10, 9) or low where 9's are the best card of the sequence. Following the bidding, each player can elect to remain in the hand or fold. There are no penalties when a player folds, but their score is not reduced as no tricks were taken. Any player remaining in the hand must win at least one trick or is "set" five points which are then added to their total. If the maker fails to meet their bid, they are set five points. Other variations exist.

Set-Back Euchre

Set-Back Euchre is recorded as early as 1843 in Arkansas. Its rules first appear in William Brisbane Dick's 1864 edition of The American Hoyle. The main difference is in the method of scoring. Although it can apply to games with 2, 3 or 4 players, in Dick's example, four players agree a pool of $1 and each antes 25¢. Players begin with a score of 5 points each and play for themselves aiming to be first to zero. The trump maker plays alone against three defenders. A player who fails to take a trick adds 1 point. Anyone who is euchred adds 2 points and pays a stake of 25¢ to the pool. Australia, and parts of New Zealand, if the dealer's partner would like to order up the dealer in the suit turned up on top of the kitty, the dealer's partner must play alone. Common practice in the US allows the dealer's partner to "assist" and thus play in partnership with the dealer as the maker.

Competitions

The World Euchre Championship is held annually in New Glarus, Wisconsin. The competition's prizes are donated by the event's sponsors.

==See also==<!-- New links in alphabetical order please -->

  • Euchre variants - other forms of Euchre
  • Euchre variations - minor changes to standard Euchre
  • Glossary of card game terms

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

;Books

  • Bumppo, Natty (1999). The Columbus Book of Euchre. Brownsville, KY: Borf.
  • Kansil, Joli Quentin (2001). Bicycle Official Rules of Card Games. Cincinnati: USPCC.
  • Keller, John William (1887). The Game of Euchre. NY: F.A. Stokes
  • Parlett, David (1991). A History of Card Games. Oxford: OUP.
  • Parlett, David (2007). "The Origins of Euchre" in The Playing-Card, Vol. 35, No. 4 (April–June 2007), pp.&nbsp;255–261.
  • Porter, Ian (2010). "Classifying Non-standard Playing Cards" in The Playing-Card, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Jan–Mar 2010). pp.&nbsp;203–208.
  • Piomingo [John Robinson] (1810). The Savage. Philadelphia: Thomas S. Manning

;Websites

Historical rulesets

  • History at parlettgames.uk
  • <!-- quote=euchre. --> The Law and Practice of the Game of Euchre - Philadelphia, 1862

Current rulesets

  • Euchre at pagat.com.
  • Rules at bicyclecards.com
  • Rules at Ohio Euchre.Com
  • CCA Euchre Rules at ccasports.com
  • Rules of the Chicago Sport & Social Club.