Euchre
Euchre Next
Next is the other suit of the same color as the turned-down upcard. If diamonds were turned down, hearts is next. If clubs were turned down, spades is next. It is a tactic, not a rule. Round 2 may name next, name a green (cross-suit) color, or pass.
This page is the kitchen-table version of that choice: order the upcard up in round 1, or pass and wait for next. The full two-round procedure lives on euchre bidding. Walk the same seats with cards face up in the calling trump lesson and open-hand practice. First-night rules: how to play euchre.
What next means
After everyone passes in round 1, the dealer turns the upcard face down. That suit is dead. The remaining three suits are legal. One of them is the other suit of the same color. People call that suit next.
| Turned-down suit | Next (same color) | Green (cross-suit) |
|---|---|---|
| Diamonds | Hearts | Clubs or spades |
| Hearts | Diamonds | Clubs or spades |
| Clubs | Spades | Hearts or diamonds |
| Spades | Clubs | Hearts or diamonds |
Hearts and diamonds are the red pair. Spades and clubs are the black pair. That pairing is the same one that makes the Left Bower hop into trump. Next is that pairing used as a round-2 name, not a law of the game.
Next is not the next player. It is a suit. You may name it. You may name green instead. You may pass. Nobody can make you call next.
Round 1: order up vs pass
Round 1 has one candidate: the upcard's suit. If someone orders it up (pick it up), that suit is trump. The dealer must take the upcard into their hand and discard one card face down. That is an extra trump for the dealer's side.
That extra trump is the whole round-1 tax. Pass unless you want that suit even after the dealer gains it.
- If the dealer sits next to you (an opponent), ordering up hands them the 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.
The next question is whether your real hand is this suit, or the other suit of the same color after they turn the upcard down. If the dealer is an opponent and your strength is the same-color jack plus next-suit cards, pass. Let the upcard die. Name next in round 2, when nobody gets a free trump.
If your holding is the upcard suit itself, and next is junk, order it up when the hand meets the usual bar: three trump, or two trump including a bower. One bower and four side cards is how first-night tables get euchred. Full calling bar: euchre bidding.
Round 2: next vs green
Same order, starting left of the dealer. Nobody picks up a kitty card. Hands stay as they were dealt. You may name next, name green (either cross-suit), or pass.
Next is the default table talk because the same-color jack was already interesting as a Left Bower in round 1. After they turn that color down, that jack is Right of next. That is why people wait. It is still optional.
Name green when next is thin and a cross-suit holding is the real hand: two or three trump in the other color, especially with a bower. Do not name next just because it is next. Name the suit that can take three tricks.
When next is strong
Next is strong when you already held the jack that would have been Left of the turned-down color. After they turn that color down, that jack is the Right Bower of next.
Example: diamonds were the upcard and got turned down. You hold the jack of hearts. If diamonds had been trump, that jack was Left. Now hearts is next, and that jack is Right. Add the ace or king of hearts, or the jack of diamonds (now Left of hearts), and you have a calling hand.
| What you hold after they turn the color down | Usual round-2 call |
|---|---|
| Same-color jack (now Right of next) plus two next-suit cards | Name next |
| Same-color jack plus the turned-down jack (now Left of next) | Name next |
| Same-color jack alone, four side cards | Usually pass, or name green if that suit is real |
| No same-color jack, but three green trump | Name green |
| Nothing in next or green | Pass, unless stick-the-dealer forces a name |
Round 2 also has no extra trump for the dealer. A holding that was too thin to order from an opponent in round 1 can be enough as next, once the upcard is dead.
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.
If you are stuck, next is a common first look, not a requirement. Name green if that is the actual holding. Name next only if the same-color cards can take three tricks.
Walk through one next 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 Queen of diamonds.
Your five cards:
- Jack of hearts
- Ace of hearts
- 10 of hearts
- King of diamonds
- 9 of clubs
If you order diamonds, the jack of hearts becomes the Left Bower and the king of diamonds is a second trump. Two trump including a bower is often a call. East would also take the Queen of diamonds as an extra trump against you. Your hearts would sit idle.
If you pass, and diamonds get turned down, hearts is next. The jack of hearts is then Right Bower, with the ace and the 10: three trump, and nobody got a free card. That is stronger than the diamond order from an opponent dealer.
You pass. West, North, and East pass too. East turns the Queen face down. Diamonds are dead.
Round 2, you speak first again. 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. If you had held no hearts and a real club or spade hand, you would have named that green suit instead.
Play for three tricks, not a pretty story. Lead trump when you named it and hold three of it, so theirs come out. Take three, even if partner takes none, and you still score 1. Full chart: euchre scoring.
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 the thinner call.