Euchre (four player)

Object: Your partnership tries to capture 3 or more out of the five tricks in a hand. Capturing all five gives you double points.
Partners: Euchre is a partnership game. You and your playing partner (who sits across from you at the table) work together to get 10 points before the other team.

Deal:

Choose one player to start dealing. He offers a cut to the player on his right (who is on the other team) and, after the cut, he begins dealing. Euchre has a special dealing method, and it goes as follows:

While dealing the first round, the dealer gives 2 or 3 cards to each player. (He still deals clockwise). Then, on the second round of dealing, the dealer deals out 2 or 3 cards. (still goes clockwise) If a player was dealt 2 cards in the first round of dealing, he is dealt 3 cards in the second. If a player was dealt 3 cards in the first round of dealing, he is dealt 2 cards in the second. Each player checks to make sure he has five cards. If not, the same dealer redeals. If each player has 5 cards, the dealer flips over the top card of the leftover pile and play begins.

After the hand is finished, the deal goes to the player on the dealer�s left. Any player can try to�steal� the deal, by picking up the deck after a hand, as if he was the player who was suppsoed to deal.

If a player �steals� the deal and gets away with it, he deals normally. If caught, deal goes to the player who is supposed to deal (last dealer�s left) and that player deals normally. Remeber that the dealer has an advantage in this game.

Play:

NOTE: Crossboarding (giving signals to your partner) is against the rules and is punished by giving 2 points to the other team. (When playing informally, you might want to give each player one warning about crossboarding.)

Scorecard sets are placed facedown. Each player picks up their hand. Now look at the flipped-over card. It is time for the naming trump process.

Naming Trump process:

The player to the left of the dealer goes first. If he wants the suit of the faceup card to become trump, he says �I order it up�. The dealer picks up the faceup card and discards one of the cards in his hand facedown. The suit of the card that the dealer just picked up is now trump.

Terms:
order up: Ordering up a dealer from the other team
assist: Ordering up your partner
take up: to pick up the card yourself if you�re dealer

If the first player does not want that suit to be trump, he says �pass� and thus leaves the choice up to the next player (his left). The second and third players may pass also. If all of the first three players pass, the dealer may order himself up. If the dealer passes also, he flips over the faceup card and puts it out of play . If this happens, the first player gets a chance to name trump without anybody picking up any cards. He may pass here too. Then the second player gets a chance to name trump. He may pass to the third playe. The third player may pass to the dealer. If the dealer passes on the 2nd round, the hand is no good and the player on the dealer�s left redeals.

As soon as trump is named, you may start playing.

Strategy:
Notes on naming trump (IMPORTANT):

Having cards in the trump suit is good. Besides the six cards in the trump suit (9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace), there is another card that is considered part of the trump suit: the other Jack of the same color. For example, if Hearts is trump, the Jack of Diamonds is counted as part of the trump suit. The cards in the trump suit are ranked as follows (from highest to lowest) :Jack (right bower), Jack of same color (left bower), Ace, King, Queen, 10, 9.

Also, make sure you have a lot of cards in the trump suit before calling trump- not just one or two (unless maybe those two are the cards that will be the two bowers) You should expect your partner to have some trump suit cards-but it�s not a sure bet. Also, remember that ordering the dealer up gives him one of the 7 trump cards, in addition to any trump cards he already has. This isn�t such a big deal if the card is the 9,10 or Queen, but if it�s the Jack, Ace or King, you could be in deep trouble.

Note: The card that the dealer discards is to be placed facedown and the four extra cards are to be put out of play.

Play:
Note: A player may decide to �go it alone� before the hand starts if he has enough high trump cards. His partner folds in his hand and the game becomes a three-player game. Any points scored by a player �going it alone� count for the entire partnership. If you want to �go it alone�, make sure you have at least the two bowers and the Ace of the trump suit, or else you will get walloped. If you �go it alone� and get all 5 tricks, then you score 4 points.

The player to the left of the dealer goes first, no matter who named trump. He leads a card of his choice. It is a good idea for him to not lead trump unless it is the right bower (Jack) or if he has all of the trump cards that would beat his lead. If he does not do this, another player could beat it with another trump card.

Once the first player leads, the second player plays a card and must follow suit if possible. Same goes for the third and fourth players- you must follow suit if possible. You follow suit on the card that was lead. If you cannot follow suit, you may play any card you want. This is the time where you can �trump�, or play a card of the trump suit. The trick belongs to the player who trumped, unless it is beaten by a higher card of the trump suit.

Note: You must always follow the suit of the card that was led, if possible. This applies even if the trick has already been trumped. If the trick has been trumped and you have no cards in the original suit, you may play a higher trump card.

The highest trump card wins the trick. If there are no trump cards in the trick, the highest card in the suit that was led takes the trick. Remember, the left bower (the Jack in the same color as the trump suit) counts as being in the trump suit. Also, except for the trump suit, Jacks are in their normal place above 10�s and below Queens. You want to take tricks no matter what. The player that takes the trick leads another card to begin the next trick. Play still goes clockwise.

 Repeat this process five times (five tricks), so there are no more cards left in anyone�s hand.

SCORING:
If a partnership takes 3 or 4 tricks between them, they receive 1 point. If a partnership takes all 5 tricks, they are awarded 2 points.

Term: Marching is another word for taking all 5 tricks.

EXCEPTION: If the partnership that did not call trump takes 3,4 or all 5 tricks, they have �Euchred� the partnership that called trump and get 2 points no matter what. Also, remember if a player �goes it alone� and gets all five tricks, he gets 4 points.

Also, two points are awarded if the other team crossboards.
You may use a device specifically designed for scoring Euchre. (These do exist) Or you can use the two-and-three scorecards.

How to use the 2 and 3 scorecards(It actually makes sense)

1 point- One of the �pips� (suit symbols in the center of the card) of the 2 is stuck out from under a facedown 3.
2 points- Two is faceup on top of facedown 3.
3 points- Three is faceup on top of facedown 2.
4 points- One pip on the 2 is sticking out from under a faceup 3. The cards are straight.
5 points- The cards are arranged facedown in a V. (Roman numeral 5)
6 points- Cards are arranged in a V, but one pip of the 2 is sticking out while under the facedown 3.
7 points- Cards are arranged in a V, 2 is faceup, 3 is facedown
8 points- Cards are arranged in a V, 3 is faceup, 2 is facedown.
9 points- Cards are arranged in a V, 3 is on top, one pip of faceup 2 is sticking out.

First team to 10 points wins.

Strategy:
1. Don�t order the Jack into your partner�s hand. If your partner has a decent hand, he�ll take the Jack when it�s his turn.

2. Please, don�t play a higher card on a trick your partner has won. This would be a waste of one of your good cards. However, you must do this sometimes if the higher card is the only thing you can play under the following-suit rule.

3. If the faceup card was flipped down, remember what it is. Then you don�t have to worry about it being out against you.

4. There is obviously more.

Variations:
7-Ace deck or 8-Ace deck: Add the 7s and 8s to your Euchre deck, or just the 8s. The 7�s and 8s will be in their normal positions below 9�s.

Farmer�s Hand: If you are dealt solely 9�s and 10�s, you may throw your hand in and demand a redeal. (Applies to a 7s and 8s hand with a 7-Ace deck and to 8s and 9s with a 8-ace deck)

Screw the Dealer: The dealer cannot pass twice during the naming trump process. He must call something as trump. He can still pass the first time.

Two-Player Euchre: You can play Euchre as a two- player game. After making the 24-card Euchre deck and taking out the two sets of scorecards out, deal five cards to each player normally. The same rules apply, except that there are only 2 players on each trick, instead of 4. [It is my opionion that Two-Player Euchre kinda sucks, though.]

Cutththroat Euchre: You can use this variation to play Euchre as a three-player game. The normal rules apply, except that the person who called trump plays alone against the other 2 players.

Scoring for Cutthroat Euchre: Each player has separate scorecards. If the player who called trump gets 3 or 4 tricks, he gets the normal 1 point. However, when you take all five tricks, you get 3 points as opposed to two. The two players playing against the trump caller score two points each when they Euchre the trump-caller. First individual to 10 points wins, like usual. Caution! You may have situations where you would not want to Euchre the trump-caller because the two points you and your partner will get will cause your partner to win.
(This has happened to me before)