Equipment:
Plain Paper / Writing Utensil
Euchre Deck – Consisting of 25 cards, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A of each suit and one Joker
Terminology:
Trump: Trump suit is set at the beginning of each hand, and the cards in that suit are the most w powerful cards in the game.
Off Suit: Any suit other than the trump suit
Kitty: Stack of five cards left over after the deal
Bowers: Jack of the trump suit (right bower) and the Jack of the same color (left bower)
Benny: Joker (highest and most powerful card in play)
Round: Completed when each player has played one card
Hand: Five rounds, i.e. when a person has played all cards they were dealt
Pass: Declining the proposed suit as trump or declining to propose a suit as trump
Throwing Off: Playing a card that is not a trump suit and does not follow the suit lead
Stuck: Everyone plays and the dealer is forced to make trump
Trick: A round won by the player with the highest eligible card.
Going Set (Euchred): Failure to meet the minimum qualification for the hand.
Makers: The team ordering up trump – Must take a minimum of 3 tricks
Defenders: The team defending against the makers – Must take a minimum of 1 trick
Loner: Claiming to take all five tricks without the benefit of a partner
Misdeal: An incorrect deal. A violation of proper play regarding dealing (Result: Re-Deal)
No Trump: To become the makers without assigning a suit as trump. Highest card of the led suit
wins trick. See No Trump in Special Rules
Order Up: Make the turn up top card of the kitty the trump suit and allow the dealer to place this
card in his/her hand
Calling Trump: Announcing aloud the name of an eligible suit as trump
Trumping: To play a card of the suit called as trump on an off suit card when eligible to play
Set-Up:
Four players in teams of two sitting every other person facing each other. Partners are picked by drawing a card and matching the card to a person.
Deal:
One player is chosen at random to deal the first hand. Each hand is played and then the deal moves clockwise around the table.
The player who deals must, according to etiquette, offer a cut to the opponent to his/her right. As for actually dealing the cards, the dealer should always deal to the opponent to his/her left, then proceeds clockwise around the table. There should be five cards leftover that form the kitty.
When everyone has the right number of cards and the kitty contains the correct number of cards the dealer turns over the top card of the kitty.
Calling Trump:
The suit of the face-up card in the kitty is the first suit proposed as trump. Beginning with the player on the dealer’s left, each player gets a chance to accept (order up) or decline (pass) that suit as trump.
To accept the proposed suit, a player tells the dealer to pick up the face-up card (order up). The dealer then adds that card to his/her hand and discards one card face down on top of the kitty.
To decline the proposed suit, a player announces aloud “pass” or makes the common hand gesture waving the card down. If the dealer declines the suit, the card is turned over and the kitty becomes a basically moot point.
If every player declines the proposed trump, then each player gets a chance to “call trump/no trump” of any suit except the declined one, beginning with the player to the dealer’s left. However, you cannot call no trump if you have the joker in your hand. As soon as any player “calls trump/no trump”, play begins. If all three players pass a second time the dealer is “stuck” and must call one of the three remaining eligible suits as trump or no trump. Consequently, all other players are also “stuck” and must play the round as they are ineligible to fold.
Note that the trump making process ends as soon as someone accepts or makes trump/no trump (rather than passing). That player’s team becomes the “makers” and the other team becomes the “defenders”.
In the event that the Benny (joker) is turned up as the top card on the kitty, then the dealer’s team is automatically the makers –no one else gets an opportunity. The dealer must choose a trump suit without looking at his/her cards. The dealer then picks up his/her five cards and the Benny and discards one on the cards from his/her hand to the top of the kitty.
Going Alone:
After trump/no trump has been made, but before the first lead, any player may announce aloud that they are playing alone. The partner of a lone player puts his/her cards face-down and takes no part in the play. If the dealer has been deemed “stuck” all four players must play and no one is allowed to go alone.
Either a member of the makers and/or defenders may play alone. It is even possible that a maker and a defender choose to play alone, in which case there will be only two active players.
In the event the person who would have lead the hand is out of play the next player in rotation begins play, otherwise the hand is played as normal, minus one person.
When playing alone the player is claiming to take all five tricks…failure to do so will result in being Euchred.
Play:
The player to the left of the dealer leads; they can play any card from their hand. Play then proceeds clockwise. The next player must play a card of the same suit, if able. If not, they may either “trump” or “throw off”. The two remaining players, in turn, play a card, following the leader’s suit if they can.
Trumping is accomplished by playing any card of the trump suit. A trump card will always beat a card of an off suit. REMEMBER: if you can follow suit, you must follow suit.
Once each player has played a card...
The person that played the highest trump card takes the trick. If no trump was played, then the trick goes to the person that played the highest card of the suit led. In off suits, aces are high.
The player who took the trick leads the next round. The rest of the rounds are played in a similar fashion, with the winner of each round leading the next.
Finishing the Hand and Scoring:
Once all five rounds have been played, each team totals their tricks. The team which takes the most tricks wins the hand.
When all four players are playing, each trick will be assigned one point. The makers must take three tricks to avoid being Euchred and the defenders must take one trick to avoid being Euchred. Any team getting Euchred does not add any points for the tricks they took during the current hand and looses five points.
If a member of the makers’ team is playing alone and wins all 5 tricks, the team scores 10 points.
If a member of the defenders’ team is playing alone and succeeds in winning at least 3 tricks,
thereby Euchring the makers, the defenders score 10 points.
If the defending team chooses to play the lone member of the making team the defending team will
receive one point for each trick they take.
Any team Euchred by a lone player goes set 5 points.
Special Rules and Adaptations:
Just Junk: If a player is dealt a hand without a face card the player may call a misdeal before their first turndown opportunity.
Joker-n-Two: If your hand contains the joker and two cards of the same suit you must call a suit trump on your second making ability. (If your hand contains four individual suits and the joker on your second making ability you are exempt from calling trump…example: club, spade, heart, diamond, joker)
No Trump: To make the highest card of the suit lead the winning card without a trump suit being called. Eligibility: to call no trump you must not hold the Benny (Joker) in your hand and can only be called during the second making ability. During no trump the Benny (Joker) becomes the highest card of any suit designated but only after your hand no longer contains any of the suit it is being called to represent.
Folding: One team volunteering to give the opposing team five points without playing the hand. Eligibility: The possibility of folding must be called before the first card of the round is played. A 15 second window will be extended to the folding team, however, no discussion is allowed to take place during this time other than asking “Are we staying or folding?” Etiquette: When folding occurs all cards are thrown in without intentionally disclosing or reveling cards to any players .
Winning the Game:
The game is played to 21 points – that is, the team who first reaches 21 or more points over several deals wins the game provided they have out scored their opponents by 2 or more points. Points are only tallied at the end of a hand.
Tournament Play Summary:
1. Play will take place with a random drawn partner
2. Teams will be placed in brackets by random draw
3. Format will be standard double elimination
4. Player substation will not be allowed…you must play and finish with your original partner
5. To determine the first deal of the game, cards will be dealt face up to each player one at a time
until a jack is turned. That player deals first with the deal moving clockwise.
6. Card’s will be dealt by however the dealer wants to deal them.
7. The bottom card may not be examined before the deal
8. A player may order, assist, or pick up anything (a natural trump is not required)
9. The dealers partner may assist and is not required to go alone
10. One player from each team will keep score – comparing scores for discrepancies
11. Scoring: See Scoring Section
12. All games will be played to 21 with a win by 2 in place: (See Winning the Game)
13. Tricks must be taken in and racked in a criss-cross fashion to facilitate review
14. Breaks: will be dictated according to game play
15. The Zobel Family Euchre Tournament Rule Guide will serve as the official rules of play for
the tournament.
