The deal
The deck has 24 cards: nine, ten, jack, queen, king, and ace in each suit. Everyone receives five cards. The next card is turned face up to begin bidding.
How to play
Euchre
Four players sit in two partnerships, with partners across from each other. Each hand is a quick contest for five tricks. The first team to 10 points wins the game.
Calling trump
Starting left of the dealer, each player may pass or order up the face-up suit. If all four pass, there is another round to name any other suit. If everyone passes again, the hand is thrown in and the next dealer deals.
The bowers
The jack of trump is the Right Bower, the highest card in the hand. The other jack of the same color becomes the Left Bower and is the second-highest trump. Remember: the Left Bower belongs to the trump suit for the whole hand.
Playing a trick
The player left of the dealer leads first. Follow the suit led if you can. If you cannot, play any card. The highest trump wins; if no trump is played, the highest card in the suit led wins. The winner leads the next trick.
Going alone
After calling trump, you may send your partner out for the hand and play alone. A lone sweep is worth more, but you will face both opponents without help.
Scoring
- Callers take three or four tricks: 1 point.
- Callers take all five with both partners: 2 points.
- A lone caller takes all five: 4 points.
- Callers take fewer than three: they are euchred, and the defenders score 2.
Ranked games
A completed game with four human account holders counts toward the public standings. Each winner gains 10 leaderboard points and each loser drops 7. Practice games involving a bot do not affect anyone's record.