Euchre, ready for the table.

PiQ Euchre house rules

PiQ Euchre follows familiar Midwest rules. This plain-language guide covers the table conventions used for a game; everyone at the table plays clockwise, so the next play and next deal move to the left.

The deck, partners, and deal

Euchre uses a 24-card deck: the 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of every suit. Four players sit in fixed partnerships, with partners across from one another. Each player receives five cards, leaving a four-card kitty; the top kitty card is turned up for the first trump decision.

Choosing trump

In the first round, beginning with the player left of the dealer, players may order up the turned card's suit as trump or pass. When a player orders it up, the dealer takes that card and discards one. If everyone passes, the card is turned down and a second round lets players call any other suit as trump, or pass.

Stick the Dealer is an optional mode: if the decision comes back to the dealer, the dealer must call trump. Without that option, the dealer may pass; the cards are thrown in and the deal moves to the player on the left.

Bowers, tricks, and going alone

The Jack of trump is the right bower, the highest card. The Jack of the same-color suit is the left bower, the second-highest trump. The left bower counts as trump for following suit, not as its printed suit. The player left of the dealer leads the first trick, and the winner of each trick leads the next one.

Players must follow the suit led when they can. The highest trump wins a trick; if no trump is played, the highest card in the led suit wins. The player who calls trump may go alone, asking their partner to sit out while they try to take all five tricks.

Scoring and winning

• The calling team earns 1 point for taking three or four tricks.
• The calling team earns 2 points for taking all five tricks, called a march.
• A player who goes alone and takes all five tricks earns 4 points for their team.
• If the defenders take three or more tricks, they euchre the calling team and earn 2 points.

The first partnership to 10 points wins the game.