A “work in progress”

As stated on our main euchre page, and in the back
of the book itself, the Second Edition of The Colum-
bus Book of Euchre is a complete desktop publication
– composed, printed and bound in our small offices just
outside Brownsville, Ky. – and the small press run ena-
bles us to make constant small additions, revisions and
corrections. You can get free printings of anything you
missed in an earlier printing, by mail; or you an get
them on line, right here and now.

Corrections, revisions and additions to Second Edition
since initial publication on March 1, 1999 (additions
to the first edition, incorporated in the second, follow) :

Additions and revisions, pages 8-9 and 72 (March 17, 2009, and February 25, 2006; thanks to J. T. Martin, David Parlett, and Philip R. Neill): Five pages of printed instructions on euchre were found in a book published in 1844, A Whist Player’s Hand Book, by Thomas Mathews (Isaac M. Moss, publisher, Philadelphia). That’s two years earlier than the earliest published reference found by the Oxford English Dictionary, an 1846 reported Mississippi court case (in which the name of the game was spelled “uker”). And Hoyle’s Games, published in 1845 by Henry F. Anners, also of Philadelphia, had a four-page section on euchre (which it called “a German game”), also beating the Mississippi case. Both publications further discredit the notion that the French brought euchre to America, up the Mississippi River; and they further confirm the theory that the game originated in America with the Pennsylvania Dutch (who were not Dutch, but southwest Germanic peoples, including Alsatians, who played the game of Jucker in the Old World).

  Also published in 1844, reported by David Parlett in The Oxford Guide to Card Games, was Thirty Years Passed Among the Players in England and America, a memoir by the English actor Joe Cowell, in which he spoke of seeing both “Poker” and “Uker” being played on a steamboat journeying from Louisville to New Orleans in 1829.

Parlett has written that he thinks the odd spelling “euchre” might have been coined by someone hearing the German word “Jucker” – the name of the Alsatian game from which euchre derived – and comparing it to the sound and spelling of the Eucharist.

Other old books solely about euchre, not previously reported in The Columbus Book of Euchre or in Catherine Perry Hargrave’s History of Playing Cards and Bibliography, have surfaced on the internet: The Game of Euchre, and its Laws (T. B. Peterson & Bros., Philadelphia, 1850, author unsaid); The Law and Practice of the Game of Euchre (title page, but Euchre and Its Laws on the cover), by “A Professor” (134 pp., Peterson, 1862 – an 1877 edition with 10 additional pages was titled The Law and Practice of the Game of Euchre to Which Is Ad­ded the Rules for Playing Draw Poker); Euchre – How to Play It (123 pp., ca. 1886, Grif­fith, Farran, Okeden & Welsh, London and Canberra, author unsaid), and Euchre and How to Play It (34 pp., 1897, United States Playing Card Company, Cincinnati, author unsaid) – in addition to the previously reported John W. Keller’s The Game of Euchre (1887), Berkeley’s Écarté and Euchre (1890), and Progressive Euchre (ca. 1890).

And the “Professor” turns out to be Charles Henry Wharton Meehan, law librarian of the Library of Congress.

Reviews of several new books on euchre also have been added: The Complete Win at Euchre, by Joseph D. Andrews (2004); Euchre Strategies, by Fred Benjamin (2007); Euchre for Dummies, by Barry Rigal (2004); Euchre Anyone?  Euchre Solitaire, by Richard Buchko (2009); The Think System:  A Light-Hearted Guide to Serious Double Deck Bid Euchre, by Bob Baiyor and Kevin Easley (2012); Euchre Explained, by Nick Buzzy (2010); Euchre for Beginners, by “COBER101” (2016,) and Power Euchre, by Eric Zalas (2016).

Revision (February 12, 2009; thanks to Lyle Filkins): On pages 44-45, there was an error in description. The entire section on the “finesse,” initially added to the book on July 5, 2003, was revised to read as follows:

  Finesse:  The dictionary calls a finesse an attempt to win a trick with a card lower than one out against you. More precisely it is a calculated guess that the card that can overtake your candidate is not on your left.

Say you pick up the jack of diamonds to go with ace of diamonds, ace of hearts, and two little clubs, one of which you dump as your partner takes the first trick with the ace of spades. Your partner then leads the queen of diamonds, and the opponent on your right plays the king. If the left bower is on your left, you catch it going up with the right only if it’s unguarded. But if you play your ace, you’ll take the trick if the left is on your right or buried; you’ll take the left on the next trick if your right-hand opponent has it with no second guard, and you’ll sweep if you or your partner has a winning club.

In bridge or spades it’s about 50-50 where the hurter is, without other indications; but in euchre the odds are better because it could be buried. And even if the left comes down on your ace, you’ll get an “end play” on the next trick, and with a tenace if you have two trump left.

A finesse may give you your best protection against a euchre, also; and it can work on defense, too, particular­ly when the maker is on your right. Think of the finesse as an end play with a risk. You’re in the middle.

Correction and addition (December 22, 2008; thanks to Paul McCreary): On page 39 (in later printings; it’s on page 40 in earlier printings, on page 60 in the first edition), under “Don’t go alone with 8 points,” hands to go alone on with 8 points (in games to 10 without “lapping” of points to the next game and without money premiums on points): An excuse for going alone at 8 is having five nearly sure tricks (having five sure tricks is no excuse) and needing to keep your part­ner out of the lead. One example is when you have the lead and the left, ace and king of hearts, in trump, and two aces outside. If your opponents have the right bower, you are not going to sweep anyway; but if your partner has it and no trump to lead back, one of your aces could get ruffed. Another example: As dealer you hold right-left-queen of hearts and ace-king of clubs outside. You don’t want your partner trumping the first trick and un­able (or too unwise) to lead trump to the second. In both examples your partner is more likely to squelch the sweep than to support it.

Footnote to term “Edinburg fault,”
p. 53 (Sept. 19, 2006):

For “Edinburg,” Indiana. It was
Edinburgh, originally, and is a-
gain; but it was Edinburg
(without the “h”) from 1899  to 1978,
and when I played there.

[The photo at right shows how the
Post Office dealt with the change.]

New definitions (since those listed several pages down as of 2003):

“Arkansas loner,” page 18 (May 21, 2006): A call “alone” that puts you at unjustified risk of being euchred when you are tied or ahead (“Oink”).

"Going under," page 17 (2020):   At your turn in the making of trump, swapping three nines and/or tens for the three unseen cards in the stock (a procedure not observed in most jurisdictions).  This procedure stretches the definition of “farmer's hand,” defined also as a “full house” just three definitions prior.  We had never heard of “going under” until we encountered it on Trickster, a fairly new gaming site on line.  Since then we have learned that some engage it even with three queens, called “bottom bitches” for the purpose.  Another twist is that some allow it more than once in a round, in which the second (or even third or fourth) swapper would be going for the cards thrown away by an earlier trader.

Correctional addition (October 8, 2005) to the maxim on page 40, “Never order a bower to your partner (unless you’re going alone), and never turn down a bower”: Well, never say never. There are exceptions, mainly at scores of 8 and 9 points. You don’t need a loner at 8 or 9, and it may be OK to turn down a bower when the opponents have 8 (you don’t want to get euchred).

Correction (June 11, 2005; thanks to J. T. Martin): On page 39 (in later printings; it’s on page 40 in earlier printings), under “Don’t go alone with 8 points,” the money game we play (resulting in a $4.25 payoff at 13 to 0) is for a quarter a point (not a quarter a trick) and a dollar a game.

(Don’t lead the suit turned down) (new, September 17, 2004 – add at end of essay on “What to lead”; page 59, first edition; page 61, early printings of second edition; page 63, later printings of second edition):

(Whatever you lead to open a hand, don’t lead the suit turned down. There’s a reason the dealer turned it down. He doesn’t have any. He will trump it if you lead it. This is so elementary that this whole paragraph is in parentheses. I added it only because there was some space left on this page and I got an e-mail from an expert who mentioned that he had never seen this admonition in any euchre book. So, here it is. Like all rules, this one has exceptions, of course. Don’t ask.)

I have never been comfortable with the term “donation” for ordering up an opponent with the intention, or at least with the likelihood, of getting euchred – in order to hold the opponents to a score of two points on the hand. Not infrequently the order will result in a score for the player ordering.

Where I grew up – in Southern Indiana – this ploy was called the “Columbus coup.” But there are a growing number of euchre players who do not know where Columbus Ohio is, let alone Columbus Indiana. So, obviously, we need a better term for this ploy.

The better term is "safety." It is not wholly unlike a "safety" in football (and not only because the opponents are likely to score two points on the play in euchre, as they are guaranteed in football). In fact, the two games should trade terms: "Donation" would be a better term for the football play (since, although it is usually unintentional, it always gives the opponents two points); and "safety" would be a better term for the euchre play (which is always intentional, and is intended to limit the opponents to two points, but sometimes gives them nothing, and scores instead). The issue arose in one of my columns.

Accordingly the item "Columbus coup" in the PLOYS & AXIOMS section of The Columbus Book of Euchre has been rewritten this date, as follows:

The “Columbus coup” is engaged not only
“at the bridge.” It is usually done when a jack
is turned and you believe the dealer is likely to
pick it up and make a lone sweep (or his part-
ner is likely to order alone and sweep). Thus
a player staging the coup typically has a path-
etic hand in the suit turned.

Some good players believe that the lead must
order, regardless of the turned card, when the
dealer’s team has 6 or 7 points and the lead does
not have a sure trick, whether the lead’s team is
“at the bridge” or not. It is high noon at the OK
Corral. Although your hand must be woefully
weak in the suit turned to engage the coup, it is

The coup is almost never properly engaged by
anyone but the lead player (or the dealer, under
the “Blooming­ton corollary”). If you wait for
your partner (in third chair) to decide, it may be
too late. And your partner is entitled to assume
that you have a stop­per if you don’t engage the
coup on lead; so, if he has two likely tricks and
you pass, he can order to score.

The coup is normally engaged only when your
oppo­nents have 6 or 7 points. Their chance at a
loner is nev­er high; and if they have fewer than six
points, you can af­ford their lone sweep. If they
have more than 7, they have no reason to go a-
lone, and a euchre would put them out.

Early in my days I attempted the Columbus
coup in a game in Rushville, Ind., and scored
(I had help, of course). We named this twist
the “Rushville stroke.” It’s not all that unusual
to score on a coup, and it’s a good reason to
call the play a “safety” instead of a “do­nation”
(and why a better definition might be to order

Not nearly so rare, unfortunately, is the
“Gnawbone gaffe.“ The dealer’s partner
must never engage the Co­lumbus coup. An
attempt at the coup by the dealer’s partner is
an all too common form of the gaffe. See
The dealer’s partner is not from Colum-
bus.

The dealer, however, can engage the coup,
particularly when he fears a loner in next on his
left. When the deal­er so invites being euchred
by picking up the turned card, he is said to be
acting on the “Bloomington corollary” (to
the Columbus coup). The dealer should con-

Making the hand on the Bloomington corollary
is not uncommon, and therefore it is not consider-
ed a Rushville stroke (and the Bloomington corol-
lary never amounts to a “Bubinski”). Thus the
Rushville stroke is made only by the lead player
(or, on extremely rare occasion, by the third play-
er). See also The dealer cannot pass.

Making the hand on a Gnawbone gaffe is not
unheard of; but it is not considered a stroke of
any kind, since the gaffe is so stupid. The dealer
is entitled to criticize his partner even when he
makes the hand on the gaffe.

Actually, “revoke” is the proper term.
A “renege” is an election not to follow suit
in a situation in which it is within the rules
not to. For example, you may trump at any
time in 7-up, whether or not you are void in
the suit led (spoil five is another card game

in which you may do that, and may fail to
follow in a couple of other situations). Both
terms – “renege” and “revoke” – are cover-
ed by the generic term “renounce,” which
means to fail to follow suit whether legal or
not. See David Parlett, The Oxford Guide
to Card Games (Oxford University Press,
1990), at the glossary.

Exposing a hand: When a player not go-
ing alone exposes two or more of his cards
prematurely – except in “showing out” or
“showing up” (e.g., leading the top three trump
at once, saying, “Contribute three cards apiece,
please”) – his team forfeits the remainder of the
tricks in the hand (premature exposure of only
one card is either “Leading out of turn” or

[Note: Exposure of multiple cards is an
issue previously not addressed in The Colum-
bus Book of Euchre, and virtually unaddressed
in all major Hoyle encyclopedias. Our thanks
to John McLeod, proprietor of the Card Games
web site, for pointing out the omission.]

The end play is not unique to euchre – it is
common to all trick taking games – bridge,
spades, Rook and the rest. But its under-
standing contributes to an easier understan-
ding of the “finesse” – another play not u-
nique to euchre, but one that works a little
better in euchre than it does in other games.

It’s called an “end play” because it means
you get to play last on a trick – you’re on the
end (the first trick of every hand is an end
play for the dealer, if his partner is not going
alone). The idea – when taking just one trick
is crucial – is to engineer the lead to the oppo-
nent on your left, to force him to lead into your
“tenace” – two cards of a suit (usually trump)
two or more ranks apart, e.g., a right bower
and ace, or even a left and ten. If you’re on

Say each team has a trick; you hold right
bower and ace of trump; your partner leads
a ten of diamonds to your void, and your
right hand opponent ducks. Don’t trump.
The opponent on your left may be sitting on
you with the left bower. If you duck, too,
and your partner’s ten does not take the
trick, your left hand opponent will have to
lead into your right-ace, and you’ll have
your three tricks: On defense it’s euchre.
And on offense you should look for an
“end play” when you have no real hope
of taking all five tricks.

You may set up an end play also with
a low lead from your own hand, to bait

Spankings (June 21, 2001):

By “spanking,” we are talking not about a
decisive whipping administered by one team
to another, but about actual spankings the au-
thor received from his mother while learning to
play euchre as a child.

I once ordered a bower into my partner’s
hand, and my mama spanked me. I once
turned down a bower when I was dealing,
and my mama spanked me. See page 40:
Don’t order a bower to your partner unless
you are going alone yourself. If you are the
dealer, don’t turn down a bower unless you
have all three other suits stopped.

High / low [p. 48; new, Sept. 20, 2000]:
If your partner has made trump, you have two
trump, and you can trump the first trick at sec-
ond or third hand (without trumping your part-
ner’s ace, play your higher trump (to guard
against being overtrumped on your left) and
lead the lower (to put your partner in charge).
You can trump in even with the left or right
bower in this situation; you can assume your
partner has the other bower.

Second hand low [p. 48; revised Sept.
20, 2000]: But don’t trump a weak lead just
because you can. Say hearts are trump; you
hold the Ace-Ten of Diamonds, King of
Spades, and Ten-Nine of Hearts, and the
player on your right leads the Queen of Clubs.
Consider throwing the King of Spades. Your
partner may have the Ace of Clubs, or he may
be able to trump too. If the player to your left
is void in clubs, he can overtrump; and your
trump would be wasted without forcing his.
Ditching the king gives you a void; and one of

If the dealer (your partner) made trump and
you have only one trump, do not trump any-
thing but an ace or a king at second hand.
Better to let your partner take the trick if he
can; you would be left without a safe lead if
you took it. Your ace is apt to be trumped,
likely by an opponent. And if your partner has
to trump your lead, he may lose a trump he
needs to gather opponents’.

Second hand low does not apply when you
can trump an opponent’s ace or king or use an
unguarded left bower. It has significantly less
application after the first trick. It does not
mean exactly the same thing it does in bridge.
But it’s a useful maxim, especially for novices.

“Call ace” euchre is a game of floating part-
nerships, and can be played by more than
four. Trump is made as in regular euchre; but
the trump maker calls an off suit as well, and
his partner is the holder of the highest card in
that suit. The partnership is not revealed until
that card is played. If the maker goes alone,
or inadvertently holds the high card called, all
other players are partners. [revised]

Lead trump [pp. 58-59; insert at bottom
of section on p. 59, March 16, 2000]:

Many a marginally good player will not
lead trump, thinking, “I have to cash my ace(s)
while I still have the lead,” or, “I need to find
my partner’s ace.” No! No! No, no, no!

Next for my partner [pp. 51-53; insert
p. 52, March 16, 2000]:

Lead low trump when going next:
When you sit at the dealer’s left and call
“next,” lead trump, and lead low. This is a
time even to unguard the left bower: What-
ever you lead usually will draw the right. Al-
though you can count on your partner for
strength when you go next, you cannot count
on him for length; and you do not want both
bowers falling on one trick.

Lead away from your king [insert p. 50,
March 16, 2000]: Sometimes you can estab-

B there [p. 61; revised March 16, 2000]

It is presumed that the dealer will discard a
singleton, if possible, and that what he keeps
will include two cards in one off suit. If the
third player takes the first trick off suit, he may

The same principle applies when the third
hand takes a later trick off suit after a round of
trump has been taken, weakening the dealer’s
partner’s power to overtrump the first player
(and this is one reason the first player might
lead trump at the outset, even against the team
that made it, if he has a bunch himself).

It is usually not a good idea, especially
when you are defending, to lead a suit twice,
because it will be trumped, and you know
who probably has the most trump. The “B
there” is the exception that proves the rule,

It works in mirror image, too, but not quite
as well. That is, if the dealer’s partner has
made trump, and the lead’s suit goes through,
he should lead it again (but the second lead of
the same suit is less likely to catch the dealer
shy of trump than his partner). B. Woods
advocates the second lead either way, and
wants his partner at third hand to trump low
on the second lead because of the probability
the dealer had a doubleton off suit.

Playing out of turn [p. 28; sub for addi-
tional language, March 12, 2000]: Once
the correct player has led, the only play out of
turn that can gain an advantage to the offender
is second play by the player fourth in turn (or
by third in a lone hand when the loner leads).
In that case the offender’s team loses the

Squeeze play [p. 20; definition revised,
October 12, 1999]: Forcing an opponent to
choose between two or more potential winners
to discard (e.g., aces) by continued lead (2)
of trump (1) or other good suit.

Lead your longest suit – or lead next –
against a loner [p. 60, earlier printings; p.
62, later; added, April 17, 1999]: This will
give your partner a chance to stop the loner
with a trump, or may force a lone hand with
minimal trump to use one to get into the lead.
If you have a singleton ace, it will almost as
likely be good later. Only if you have two

[added October 7, 2004] You must lead
“next” especially against a player go­ing alone
at “third hand,” and particularly if he has or­d-

AUTHOR’S PREFACE [insert after first full paragraph on second page] –

Yet another scholar, David Parlett, author of the Oxford Guide to Card Games,
states, “Underlying Euchre is the Alsatian game of Jucker [pronounced about the
same as “euchre”] or Juckerspiel,” implying yet another – this time, German – source
of the word euchre. This is a much more satisfying etymology than the strained con-
clusion that euchre was both a misspelling and a mispronunciation of écarté, and it is
consistent with the German derivation of the word “bower.”

Another clue: Scholars tend to agree that
euchre gave birth to the joker, as a third and
“best” bower. So, an extended hypothesis
(extrapolated from Parlett’s): First came the
Bauer (the jack), predating both Jucker and
euchre. Then Bauers, upon their rise above
aces, came to be called also “Juckers”, from
the name of the game. Then, as Bauer was
Anglicized to bower, and Jucker (with a lit-

DEFINITIONS

B there – A lead back, by the third hand,

Batter – The player to the left of the deal-
er. He’s up: To order; to name trump if the
card goes down; to lead (unless his partner
goes alone). See Pitcher.

Brownstown maneuver – When the third
hand orders and goes alone, and the dealer
waits for his partner to lead before he dis-
cards. There's a rule observed by some to
prevent this, but it's not observed in Browns-
town, or by most players in Columbus. See
Never discard early in PLOYS & AXIOMS.

Chris's trick – The fifth trick in a hand in
which the score is 3 to 1. It has no value, no
meaning. But our friend Chris always insists
on claiming it if it's his.

Green – The “wrong” color. E.g., the first
player, if the dealer turns the card down, is
expected to go “next” – i.e., to name the oth-
er suit of the same color trump (see Next for
my partner in PLOYS & AXIOMS). If he
names a suit in the opposite color, he is go-

Pitcher – The dealer. See Batter.

PLOYS & AXIOMS

Bull [addition to text on this subject at p.
32] – None of which is to say that euchre is
inferior to bridge as a card game. It is be-
yond question that the basics of bridge are
harder to learn than the basics of euchre, and
that bridge is more complicated and techni-
cal. By the same token, bridge is more for-
mulaic; and euchre is more intuitional. This

Competence at euchre is of no help to a
bridge player (and could even work as a han-
dicap). An understanding of bridge might
be an asset to a euchre player, but it’s not
essential. My dad is a brilliant bridge player
(and no slouch at poker). He’s good at eu-
chre, but that’s all.

Calling trump: What to order, when to
order; what to name, when to name [new] –

But your position matters also. Suppose
you’re at first hand with Jack-Ace of Hearts,
Ace of Diamonds and two clubs; and a heart
turns. You have one sure trick and two pro-
bable additional tricks. Do not order. If
the opponents pick hearts, you have a good
chance to euchre them, at two points for the
price of one. If the dealer turns it down, you

The second player should rarely order up
on the first round (lest he squelch a loner in
the hand of the dealer, his partner). But he
should name trump if there’s any way on the
second round, to “find” his partner, or to
squelch a loner in third hand. And the third
player must be surer of his hand, before or-
dering or naming trump, than any other play-
er, as he has no control of the first lead. He
will not choose the suit led, and the lead will

And not only do your cards and your po-
sition matter, but the score matters also. See
The Columbus coup and Safe at 8, in trouble
at 9. There are numerous examples; but, in
short, use your head. See also The dealer
cannot pass, The dealer’s partner is not from
Columbus, Go alone, Help from my partner,
Never order up anything you can’t catch, and
Next for my partner.

The Columbus coup [addition to text on
this subject at end of first paragraph, pp. 32-

[addition to text after third full paragraph
at p. 33] – There is a similar play, called the
Bubinski, which is ordering to be euchred
when the opponents have fewer than six
points. It is highly intuitive, as it depends
on a “sense” of a loner in the opposition.
But often it is a good move. The most
appropriate time for the Bubinski is when
you have at least 6 points and your oppo-
nents have fewer than 4. In that case, you
will retain your lead even if euchred, and the

[addition to text in last paragraph, at p.
34, after words “. . . the Bloomington co-
rollary (to the Columbus coup).”] – The
dealer must engage the Bloomington corol-
lary when his opponents are at 6 or 7 and he
has no sure trick, but he may engage it at any
time. His decision never amounts to a “Bub-
inski”; and he is entitled, more than any oth-
er player, to rely on his intuition.

The dealer cannot pass [addition to text on
this subject beginning at p. 35] – In some re-
gions – and particularly in Michigan – the

This is a bullshit rule. It negates the Bloo-
mington corollary; and, there are hands that
almost demand the pickup of a lone trump –
e.g., two lone black aces and three mediocre
diamonds with the Jack of Hearts turned.
With the diamond holding, a call in “next”
to the left is unlikely; and the dealer's aces
would be sitting ducks to a call in “green.”
If the dealer is allowed to pluck the heart,
however, he has one sure trick, and probably
at least one other with one of the black aces,
leaving a third trick to partner, if necessary.
As a defensive technique – i.e., the Bloom-

To deny the dealer the right to pick up a
lone trump is to deny him the right to dare
to be great, and even to deny him a defense
to slaughter from the left.

Don’t sort your cards (or . . . ) [new] – If
you don’t sort your cards in bridge or spades,
you’re asking for trouble (and maybe sub-
conciously hoping to renege). But if you
sort your cards in euchre – both on the deal
and then again when trump is made – you
are exposing the left bower. Some expert
euchre players never sort their cards.

If holding five unsorted cards confuses
you, or you’re obsessive/compulsive, al-
ways sort twice – both on the deal and on
the making of trump. You won’t give a-
way a thing.

Go alone [addition to text on this sub-
ject ending at p. 44] – Because of this ad-
vantage, some players (I know of such in

Don’t trump your partner’s ace [additions
to text on this subject beginning at p. 47] – It
is OK to trump your partner’s ace also when
you are defending against a lone hand.

Lead now [addition to text on this subject

Never discard early [addition to text on
this subject at p. 49] – If you are the dealer
and the third player has ordered you up to go
alone, you must wait for your partner to lead
before you discard. And your partner must
lead before you discard: This is how he can,
quite legally, give you information on what
to discard, and one reason it is so hard to
make a loner from third hand. This ploy is
known as the Brownstown maneuver. Some
versions of Hoyle prevent it by shifting the

But even where the lead does not shift to
the loner’s left, the Brownstown maneuver
is subject to hot debate. It's not allowed in
Michigan, and not even in some parts of In-
diana. But find me a rule in Hoyle forbid-
ding it (besides the variant shifting the lead).

Another rule commonly observed in Mi-

Playing with people from Michigan is, in
some respects, almost as frustrating as play-
ing with Kentuckians (who are so slow).
Michiganders are such sticklers for protec-
tionism. I mean, if they need laws to protect
them, why are they playing euchre? Real
euchre players use guns and knives.

Play cards [new] – I.e., PLAY CARDS!
Good euchre players can play a whole game
– even a 10-9 game in which neither team
scores more than one point in a hand – drink
a six-pack, tell seven jokes, trash-talk their
opponents, decide grave issues of religion

Southerners cannot seem to do this. I
used to play with a pretty, little Kentucky
hippie chick who even remarked once that
she liked to play euchre because it was a
good platform for conversation! And al-
though she could walk and chew gum at the
same time, she could not seem to “converse”
and play cards at the same time. And she
and her redneck boy friend needed “time
out” to roll and smoke their dope (and talk
about how “mellow” it was). The game
took forever.

God gave us hands, voices and brains. We
play cards with our hands. We talk with our

Except for naming trump on the second
round, or to go or defend alone, you do not
even need your voice to play a game of eu-
chre; you can order or pass by gesture; you
can even name trump on the second round,
if you have the lead, by leading it. So, why
can’t you Southerners talk and play cards at
the same time? Including the bullshit refer-
red to in Bull and “That’s the first time I’ve

You don’t go alone with 8 points [addition
to text on this subject at p. 60] – There is
one additional excuse for going alone at 8
or 9: That’s when you’re playing for money
with premiums on tricks. For example, my
friends and I sometimes play for a quarter a
trick, a dollar a game. If we can push our
score from 9 to 13 with a lone hand, we can
earn an additional 75 cents (and that’s why
we call a 13-0 skunk a “$4.25 game”).

THE LEAD on the first trick in a lone
hand, according to some references, is made
by the player to the left of the loner, regard-
less of who dealt. Other references – e.g.,
the Official Rules of Card Games published
by the United States Playing Card Company
– do not call for shifting the lead (except to
the second hand when the first hand is put
out of play by a third hand loner).

Two-handed euchre [see p. 67]

In another popular form of two-handed eu-

Each player then has eight of his 12 cards
exposed to himself (and four of those eight
exposed also to his opponent). Trump –
or no trump, which is permissible in this
form of two-handed euchre – is established
by bidding. The player opposite the dealer
bids first, the number of tricks he will take if
he is allowed to name trump (or no trump).
The dealer may then overcall the first bid;
then the first player may rebid, etc., until a

The player opposite the dealer leads – ei-
ther from his hand or from one of the four
cards face up in front of him. The dealer
may play either from his hand or from one of
the four cards face up in front of him. At the
end of a trick, any face-down cards that have
been uncovered must be exposed, and thus
become playable. The winner of the trick
leads the next trick. And so forth.

The scoring is one point for each trick ta-
ken. Both players can score, not just the
successful bidder. If the maker of trump (or

Game is 24 points. A player can “go a-
lone” or “shoot the moon” by bidding and
taking all 12 tricks; and, if he does, he wins
the game, regardless of the score.

In another version of this form, there is no
bidding. The first player either names trump
or passes; if he passes, the dealer either calls
trump or throws in the hand and passes the
deal. Whoever names trump must take sev-
en tricks; if he does not, he is euchred for

Some players allow “no trump” and “low
trump” calls in some or all versions of two-
handed euchre.

Some (I know of such a group in Alabam-

Computer Euchre [new] –

Euchre has become popular on line,
through various world wide web sites such
as Yahoo!, as well as in computer programs

As of the printing of this book, no one has
developed a good computer game. Pro-
grammed players have no balls, no imagina-
tion. They almost never make trump with-
out a bower, and they do not recognize the
value of “next.” If all four players were
programmed (leaving out the guy with the
mouse or the keyboard), a third to a half of
all hands would be “pass hands” if not for the
“Stick the dealer” option.

The values of “next” and good hands short
of bowers may be programmable, but the
programming of the intuition required for
good euchre play probably awaits further

The on-line games are a little more satis-
fying, as you are playing in “real time” a-
gainst real players – some of whom are
pretty good. It’s a good way to learn re-
gional differences in the game; but those
differences create frustrating questions and
arguments, slowing the game. It’s not nearly
as satisfying as sitting around a table with
people who know (or should know) the
rules you play by, yelling, slapping, swinging