Euchre
Euchre Renege
A renege is failing to follow the suit that was led when you still hold a card of that suit. Penalty is 2 points to the other team, or 4 on a loner. The hand is over. The table fight is almost always the same card: the Left Bower. It is trump, not the suit printed on it. Dumping it as if it followed print is the classic renege.
Why Left hops suits lives on euchre bowers. First-night follow suit lives on how to play euchre. The first card after the call lives on euchre leading. On the practice table with every card visible, an illegal card does not play. This page is the argument after someone already dumped the Left at a Midwest kitchen table.
Follow suit, or it is a renege
You must play a card of the led suit if you have one. If you cannot follow, you may play any card, including trump. Playing off-suit while a legal follower is still in your hand is a renege. People also say revoke. Same thing. Accidental still counts. "I forgot" is still 2.
Call it when you see it. If the next card has not been led, most kitchen tables let you pull the card back and play a legal one. Once the next trick is down, the dump stands as a renege. Do not wait until the pack is shuffled.
The Left dump is the table fight
Left is the jack of the other suit of the same color as trump. For that hand it is a trump card. Why Left is trump: euchre bowers.
| If this suit is trump | Left Bower | Printed suit (it does not follow this) |
|---|---|---|
| Hearts | Jack of diamonds | Diamonds |
| Diamonds | Jack of hearts | Hearts |
| Spades | Jack of clubs | Clubs |
| Clubs | Jack of spades | Spades |
Hearts trump. Someone leads diamonds. You hold the jack of diamonds and a real diamond. The jack is Left. It is a heart. You must play the real diamond. Playing the jack "to follow diamonds" is the dump. That is a renege.
- Trump is led. Left is a legal follower. If it is your only trump, you have to play it.
- Its printed suit is led. Left does not follow. If you still hold a real card of that suit, play that card. Dumping Left is a renege.
- You are void in the printed suit. Playing Left is a ruff. Ugly if you just stomped partner's ace. Legal. Not a renege.
People will say "but it has a diamond on it." The print is lying for one hand. File Left under trump the moment the suit is named.
Penalty is 2, or 4 on a loner
Midwest kitchen tables, Ohio included, mark it the same way as a euchre: 2 to the other team, hand over. If anyone was going alone, mark 4. That is the same number as a loner march, so a dump cannot cheapen a 4-point hand into a 2-point slap. When a loner was even a legal call: going alone in euchre.
| What happened | Who scores |
|---|---|
| Makers renege, partner still in | Defenders get 2. Hand over. |
| Defenders renege, partner still in | Makers get 2. Hand over. |
| Anyone reneges on a loner | The other team gets 4. Hand over. |
| Caught before the next lead | Most tables let you take the card back. |
| Caught after the next trick is down | It is a renege. Mark it. |
Do not finish the remaining tricks and then argue about who made. The renege ends the hand. Full chart for the legal scores: euchre scoring.
What is not a renege
- You are void. No card of the led suit. Play anything. Trumping is legal. Throwing a loser is legal.
- You ruffed with Left because you had no print. Hearts trump, diamonds led, you hold the jack of diamonds and no diamond. That jack is a heart. You trumped. Legal.
- You led the "wrong" card. A bad lead is not a renege. Who leads, and whether makers lead trump, is euchre leading.
- You trumped partner's winner. Ugly. Often correct on defense. Not a renege, unless you still had a follower in the led suit.
Walk through one dump
You are South. Partner sits North, across. West dealt, so North sits left of the dealer and leads trick one. You named hearts. You did not go alone.
Your five cards:
- Jack of diamonds
- Ace of hearts
- 9 of diamonds
- 10 of clubs
- 9 of spades
Hearts are trump. The jack of diamonds is Left. It is a heart. The 9 of diamonds is a real diamond. North leads the ace of diamonds.
Play the 9 of diamonds. You must follow diamonds. Left stays in your hand as trump. North's ace holds unless East or West also ruffs.
The dump: you toss the jack of diamonds onto that ace, because the card has a diamond on it. You still hold the 9. You did not follow diamonds. That is a renege. West calls it. They mark 2. The hand is over. You do not get to "see if you still make."
Flip only one card: take the 9 of diamonds out of your hand and put a 9 of clubs there instead. Now you have no diamond. Playing Left on North's ace is a ruff. Legal. Ugly, because you just ate partner's winner. Not a renege. Play a club instead if you want the ace to cash. That choice is manners and defense, not a penalty.
Flip the lead instead. Same five cards, hearts trump, North leads the king of hearts. Left is a heart. You can follow with the ace or with Left. Playing the 9 of diamonds, or a club, while those hearts sit in your hand is a renege of the other flavor: you refused trump with trump in your hand.
If you had said hearts, alone and then dumped Left on that diamond lead while the 9 was still there, they mark 4. Same dump. Bigger number. Full loner: going alone.
Replay the legal line on the practice table with every card visible. The jack of diamonds will not play on a diamond lead while the 9 is still in your hand. Why that jack is a heart at all is still euchre bowers. First-night rules: how to play euchre.