Euchre
Players: 4, two teams of 2.
Strategy: Complex
Goal
The goal is for your team to win as many tricks as possible. Hands are played until one team has scored 10 points - the first team to 10 points wins.
Teams
You are teamed with the player across from you.
Scoring
The score for a hand is calculated as follows:
- If a player goes alone, and wins all 5 tricks, 4 points are scored.
- If a team wins all 5 tricks, 2 points are scored
- If the other team makes trump (the "maker" is on the other team), and at least 3 tricks are won, 2 points are scored
- If your team called trump, and 3 or 4 tricks are won, 1 point is scored
Game Play
Euchre is played with a partial deck, containing only cards valued 9 through Ace. Euchre is a trick-based game, each hand is played in three phases.
- Each player is dealt 5 cards, and the top card of the remaining 4 cards is then dealt face up. Each player, beginning to the left of the dealer, is given the option to ask the dealer to pick up the face up card. If a player goes through with this, the dealer is then allowed to drop any card from his hand to bring him back down to 5 cards. The suit of the face up card becomes trump, with the player who initiated the move becoming the "maker". Phase 2 is skipped. Note that if any player asks his partner to pick up the face up card, he must "go alone" - his partner does not play the remainder of the hand.
- If trump is not yet made, players (again beginning to the left of the dealer) are given the option to choose trump from the three remaining suits (the suit of the previously face up card is no longer an option). If a player chooses trump, he becomes the "maker". If no players choose trump, the hand is a misdeal and no points are scored. The dealer rotates and the next hand is dealt.
- Once trump is made, the maker is given the option of going alone to try to get 4 points. If he does go alone, his partner's hand is not played. Now gameplay begins with the player to the left of the dealer. Each player plays a card in sequence, and the highest card wins the trick. The first card plays dictates the suit of the trick, and if a player has a card o that suit he must play it.
Card Sequence
Aces are high. The Jack of the trump suit is the highest card in the deck (known as the "right bower"), while the Jack of the opposite suit (the suit of the same color) is the second highest card in the deck (known as the "left bower"). Only cards played in suit or trump have any value - if the first card played is a spade, and trump is hearts, any diamonds or clubs (other than the jack) played have no chance of winning the hand. Any trump card played on top of a non-trump card wins - if clubs is trump, the 9 of clubs beats the Ace of diamonds.
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