Euchre

Euchre is a trick-taking card game played in many countries, including the United States, Great Britain, Canada and Australia. Though the exact history is unknown, Euchre, from the Greek eucheir meaning 'well in the hand' or 'strong,' likely comes from the game Jucker, formerly played in Alsace.

Euchre uses a deck of 32 playing cards, the cards from 2 to 6 being left out, although 24 card variants (with the sevens and eights left out as well) are also played. There are four players, divided into two partnerships. Each player is dealt five cards, and the next card decides trump. Each player now decides whether or not they want to 'play' the hand. After that, the dealer is allowed to discard one of his cards and take the trump. He does not show which card he discards.

In non-trump suits, the order is the normal A-K-Q-J-T-9-8-7, but in trump the highest card is the jack, while the jack in the other suit of the same colour counts a the second highest trump. The jack of trump is called the 'right bower', while the other jack is the 'left bower'. The name probably comes from the Dutch boer, which means 'farmer', but is also the name for the jack. The goal is for a team to make three tricks out of five. If a team does so, it scores one point, or two if it was their opponents who were playing. Euchre is rapid and decisive.

External Links

• http://www.pagat.com/euchre/euchre.html