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Euchre!

Euchre is a card game originally played by the Pennsylvanian Dutch in the 19th century. The version I play uses 24 cards, the 9s, 10s, Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Aces of all 4 suits. This is a four-player game played in a closed circle. The player sitting across from you is your partner, and the two players on your sides are your opposing pair. The object of the game is to score 10 points, an you score in hands consisting of 5 tricks.

Each player is dealt 5 cards with the remaining cards placed in the center of the playing area face-down. The top card is then revealed, and calling starts on the left of the dealer. Each player can choose to say "Pick it up" or "Order it up," in which case the suit of that card is now trump and the dealer must place the card in her or his hand and then choose 1 card to discard, face down, into the pile, or that player can pass, allowing the next player to choose. If the card is passed all the way to the dealer, he or she can also choose to replace a card in his hand with the revealed card, or he or she can flip the card over and remove the pile from the game. If the dealer does not pick up the card and the pile is removed, then, starting with the player left of the dealer, any suit besides the suit of the passed card can be called trump. If all players choose to pass again, the hand is redealt. The player that calls the trump is known as the "maker," and this is very important in scoring.

Once a suit is called trump, the player left of the dealer leads. Players must play a card of the lead suit unless they do not have a card of corresponding suit, in which case any card can be played. The value of cards, in ascending order, is:

The same-color, non-trump Jack is known as the "left bower," and the trump Jack is the "right bower." These two cards are the most powerful in the game; the right bower wins any trick, and the left bower only loses to the right bower. Each hand is known as a "trick," and scoring goes as follows:

Now, before the hand is led, a player can choose to play the round alone, in which case her or his partner lays her or his hand face down and does not participate in the round. As said above, if the lone player can win all 5 tricks, the lone player's team earns 4 pts. A team wins once it reaches at least 10 pts.; it can earn more than 10 pts. The way I learned to score was with 2 5s; for 1-5 pts., one 5 is placed face down on the other and the number of points you have is represented by the number of symbols revealed. For 6-9 pts., both 5s are face up and again the number of symbols visible dictates the team's points.

You can play Euchre online at Yahoo! Games. If you'd ever like to play a game with me, contact me or find me there as mystile_sm.


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The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.