Euchre
Euchre Bidding
Euchre bidding is how the table names trump. There are two rounds. In round 1 you either order up the upcard (pick it up) or pass. In round 2 you name a different suit, because the turned-down suit is dead. When you call, you may also go alone. Stick the dealer is a house rule, not an official requirement.
This page is the kitchen-table version of calling, not a copy of the interactive lesson. Use it the night you sit down. Then walk the same decisions with cards face up in the calling trump lesson and open-hand practice. The full first-night rules live on how to play euchre.
Round 1: order up, pick it up, or pass
After the deal, four cards remain as the kitty. The top one is turned face up. That is the upcard. Its suit is the only thing you can make trump in this round.
Starting with the player to the dealer's left, each person gets one chance to speak.
- Order it up (or "pick it up") means the upcard's suit becomes trump. The dealer must take that card into their hand and discard one card face down, out of play. Then you play the hand in that suit.
- Pass means you decline. The next player clockwise decides.
If the first three players pass, the dealer may pick the upcard up for themselves or pass. If all four pass, the dealer turns the upcard face down. That suit is dead for this hand. You now do a second round of calling.
First-night test: pass unless you want that suit even after the dealer gains the extra trump. Ordering from an opponent's left is not the same as ordering when your partner is the dealer.
Round 2: name any other suit
Same order, starting left of the dealer. Now a player may name trump: any suit except the one you just turned down. Nobody picks up a kitty card in this round. Hands stay as they were dealt.
You cannot revive the turned-down suit. If the 9 of diamonds was turned down, diamonds are dead. Hearts, clubs, or spades are legal. Diamonds are not.
If your table uses stick-the-dealer and the first three players pass, the dealer names a suit. If you are not using that house rule, the dealer may pass too, the cards go back in the pack, and the next person deals.
Stick the dealer is a house rule
Stick the dealer (some tables say screw the dealer) forces the dealer to name a trump suit if everyone else passed in round 2. The hand always gets played. Beginners often like it because nobody sits through a thrown-in deal.
It is not official North American euchre. Agree out loud before the first deal. Without it, a dealer who also has nothing may pass, and you throw the hand in. Scoring does not change either way. The house rule only decides whether a trump suit must be named.
Going alone when you call
Say it in the same breath as the call: "pick it up, alone," or "hearts, alone." Your partner places their cards face down and sits the hand out. You play your five cards against the other two players.
A loner that takes all five tricks scores 4 points. A regular march with partner is only 2. Three or four tricks still score 1. Fewer than three, and they score 2 for euchring you. Save alone for a hand that already looks like five tricks. Two bowers and an ace is the classic picture. When that extra risk is actually worth it: going alone in euchre. See euchre bowers if the Left still feels like a magic trick.
Next is a tactic, not a rule
Next means the other suit of the same color as the turned-down upcard. Hearts and diamonds are the red pair. Spades and clubs are the black pair. If diamonds were turned down, hearts is next. If clubs were turned down, spades is next.
People name next in round 2 because the same-color jack was already interesting as a Left Bower in round 1. That is table talk, not a law. You may name next, name the other color, or pass. Nobody can make you call next. When the live choice is order the upcard or wait for same-color next: euchre next.
When to call
Do not call on a single bower. One boss jack and four side cards is how first-night tables get euchred. The usual bar:
| What you hold | Usual call |
|---|---|
| One trump, even a bower | Pass |
| Two trump, neither a bower | Usually pass |
| Two trump including a bower | Often a call |
| Three trump | Usually a call |
| Both bowers plus an off ace | Call, and consider alone |
Three trump, or two trump with a bower, is the usual first-night bar. Off-suit aces help because they can cash after trump is drawn. A 9 and 10 of trump with no bower is still thin.
The dealer getting the upcard matters:
- If the dealer sits next to you (an opponent), ordering up hands them an extra trump. You need a stronger holding than you would in round 2, when nobody gets a free card.
- If the dealer sits across (your partner), ordering up helps your side. Partner takes the upcard and discards a loser. You can call a little thinner.
- If you are the dealer, picking it up is the extra trump in your own hand. Discard a side-suit loser, not a trump, unless you are keeping a void.
Partners always sit across in euchre. "Next to you" means an opponent, which includes the dealer when you sit left or right of them. "Across" is partner, including when partner is dealing.
Seat also changes how much you trust partner. Sitting left of the dealer, you speak first and have heard nothing. Sitting right of the dealer, two people have already passed, including partner. A pass from partner does not mean they are empty. It means they did not want this suit with the dealer gaining the upcard.
Scoring reminder
The team that named trump is trying to take three tricks. Full chart: euchre scoring.
| What happened | Who scores |
|---|---|
| Makers take 3 or 4 tricks | Makers get 1 |
| Makers take all 5 (a march) | Makers get 2 |
| Makers take 0, 1, or 2 (euchred) | Defenders get 2 |
| Loner takes 3 or 4 | Loner team gets 1 |
| Loner takes all 5 | Loner team gets 4 |
You are betting 1 against 2 when you call. A timid pass costs nothing this hand. A thin call can hand the other team a chunk of the race to 10.
Walk through one calling hand
You are South. Partner sits North, across. East dealt, so the dealer sits next to you, not across. You speak first. The upcard is the 9 of diamonds.
Your five cards:
- Jack of hearts
- Ace of hearts
- King of hearts
- Ace of clubs
- 9 of spades
If you order diamonds, the jack of hearts becomes the Left Bower and that is your only trump. One bower is not a calling hand. East would also take the 9 of diamonds as an extra trump against you. You pass.
West, North, and East pass too. East turns the 9 face down. Diamonds are dead.
Round 2, you speak first again. Hearts is next (the other red suit). If hearts are trump, you hold the Right Bower, the ace, and the king: three trump, plus the ace of clubs. That meets the first-night bar. You say hearts. You do not go alone. You are missing the Left Bower (jack of diamonds) and you want partner's five cards in the hand.
Play for three tricks, not a pretty story. Lead trump if you named it and hold three of it, so theirs come out and your club ace has a chance to cash. Take three, even if partner takes none, and you still score 1.
Replay the same layout on the practice table with every card visible if you want to see why the round-1 diamond order would have been a euchre.