Euchre: Play Free Euchre Online Against the Computer

What is Euchre?

Euchre is a fast, sociable trick-taking card game for four players in two partnerships, and here you can play it free in your browser on phone, tablet or computer. You and your computer partner, Lyra, sit across the table from each other and play against Rigel and Altair. Each hand is just five cards from a short deck of 24, so a hand takes a minute or two and a game to 10 points about fifteen minutes.

The heart of euchre is the bidding. One card is turned up after the deal, and each player in turn decides whether its suit should be trump. Whoever makes trump has to take at least three of the five tricks with their partner, or be euchred and hand the other side two points. The two jacks of trump's colour, the right and left bowers, become the strongest cards in the deck, which is what gives the game its twists.

This version plays the standard rules carefully: only legal plays, the left bower counted as trump, going alone and the dealer's exchange. You can switch on three house rules many tables use: stick the dealer, defending alone and the farmer's hand. There are three levels of computer players, a Daily Deal with the same cards for everyone, hints from a card-counting solver, and your game is saved so you can come back to it.

How to play Euchre

1. 

   1Look at the upcard

   After the deal one card is turned face up on the kitty. On your turn, order it up to make its suit trump (the dealer takes the card), or pass.

2. 

   2Or name another suit

   If all four players pass, the upcard is turned down. In the second round you can name any other suit as trump, or pass again.

3. 

   3Know your bowers

   The jack of trump is the right bower, the highest card. The other jack of the same colour is the left bower, the second highest, and it counts as a trump.

4. 

   4Follow suit

   Cards you are allowed to play rise up and the rest are dimmed. Follow the suit led if you can; if you can't, any card goes, including a trump.

5. 

   5Take three tricks

   The side that made trump needs three of the five tricks for 1 point, and all five for 2. Take fewer than three and you are euchred: 2 points to the other side.

6. 

   6Reach 10 points

   Hands go on, with the deal passing to the left, until one side reaches 10 points. Share your result or open the score sheet to see how every hand went.

The rules in full

1. Euchre uses 24 cards: the 9, 10, jack, queen, king and ace of each suit. You and your partner (the seat across from you) play as a team against the other two players.
2. Each player gets five cards and one card is turned face up on the kitty. Starting at the dealer's left, each player may order up that card, which makes its suit trump and sends the card to the dealer, or pass. The dealer picks it up and discards one card face down.
3. If all four pass, the upcard is turned down and there is a second round: each player may name any other suit as trump, or pass. If everyone passes again, the cards are thrown in and the deal moves to the left, unless you play stick the dealer, where the dealer must choose.
4. Once trump is set, the jack of trump (the right bower) is the highest card and the other jack of the same colour (the left bower) is second and counts as a trump. Then come the ace, king, queen, 10 and 9 of trump.
5. The player to the dealer's left leads the first trick. Everyone must follow the suit led if they can; if not, they may play any card, including a trump. The highest trump wins the trick, or the highest card of the suit led if no trump was played.
6. Whoever won the trick leads the next one. The side that made trump needs three or more of the five tricks: three or four tricks score 1 point and all five (a march) score 2.
7. If the makers take fewer than three tricks they are euchred, and the defenders score 2 points instead.
8. The player who makes trump may go alone: their partner sits out, and taking all five tricks alone scores 4 points. The first side to reach 10 points wins (or 5 or 7 if you choose a shorter game).
9. Tap a raised card to play it; cards you can't play are dimmed. With a keyboard, use the arrow keys and Enter, P to pass, O to order up, A to go alone, and H for a hint.

Euchre tips and strategy

• Count trump. There are only seven in each hand's trump suit (five plus the two bowers), so once you've seen four or five fall you can often tell who holds the rest.
• A good hand to order up usually has three trumps, or two strong ones with an ace in another suit. Remember that ordering up gives the dealer an extra trump: welcome when it's your partner, costly when it's an opponent.
• When your partner made trump and you get the lead, lead a trump. It draws the opponents' trumps and helps your partner's strong cards win.
• Don't trump a trick your partner is already winning with a sure card. Throw away your weakest card instead and save your trumps for later.
• Being void in a side suit is a strength: when that suit is led, you can trump it straight away. When you're the dealer and pick up, discard to leave yourself out of a suit if you can.
• Go alone with the top trumps and an off-suit ace or two. Three of the top four trumps and two aces is a strong lone hand; a hand that needs your partner's help isn't.
• As a defender, lead aces in side suits early, before the makers run out of the suit and can trump them.
• In round two, the player on the dealer's left often calls next, the other suit of the turned-down card's colour, because the dealer's side has just shown it doesn't want that colour. If the turned-down card was a jack, that suit's left bower is out of play.
• Close to the end of a game, score matters: at 9 points one more point wins, so a safe call can be worth more than a risky loner.

The history of euchre, from Alsace to the American Midwest

Euchre most likely grew from Juckerspiel, a game from Alsace on the French and German border, and came to America with German-speaking settlers around the start of the nineteenth century. Its word for the top jacks, bower, comes from the German Bauer, a farmer, which was the name for the jack.

By the middle of the century euchre was one of the most popular card games in the United States, and the joker was first added to American packs to play in it as the best bower, a trump above both jacks. Today it is a favourite in the Midwest, in Ontario, in Cornwall and Devon, and in Australia.

Its appeal hasn't changed: a short deck, quick hands and a partner to plan with. Tournaments and family games still use the same core rules you'll find here, with house rules that vary from table to table.

Euchre rules and the house rules you can choose

The standard game is what you get by default: two rounds of bidding, the dealer's pickup and discard, going alone, and a game to 10 points. Makers score 1 for three or four tricks, 2 for all five and 4 for a lone march; defenders score 2 for a euchre.

In the new game options you can switch on stick the dealer (if everyone passes twice the dealer must name trump, so no hand is thrown in), defenders may go alone (a lone defender who euchres a lone maker scores 4) and the farmer's hand (a hand of only nines and tens may ask for a redeal). You can also play a shorter game to 5 or 7 points.

The table always shows what you need: who dealt, the upcard and the kitty, a trump chip with who called it and whether they went alone, the tricks each side has taken, and a last-trick button to look back at the trick that just finished.

Euchre strategy: bidding, leading and going alone

Most hands are won or lost in the bidding. Count what your hand is worth with the upcard's suit as trump: bowers and high trumps are sure tricks, an off-suit ace is often a trick, and an empty side suit lets you trump. Think about where the upcard goes, because it strengthens the dealer's side.

In play, the makers usually want to draw trumps early so their high cards in other suits can win, while the defenders want to cash their aces before they're trumped. Keep track of the bowers: once the right bower has gone, the left bower is the highest trump left.

Going alone is the big swing in euchre. A lone march is worth 4 points, but a lone hand that's euchred gives away 2, so save it for hands that can take every trick without help.

Play euchre against the computer: Easy, Normal and Hard

Easy players bid cautiously and unevenly and often play a loose card, which makes them good company while you learn. Normal players weigh every card in their hand before they bid, follow the usual conventions and rarely waste a trump.

Hard players count every card. Before each decision they deal out many possible hands that fit what they've seen (the bids, the cards played and who couldn't follow suit), solve each one and choose the bid or card that does best across them all. All three computer seats play at the level you choose, and every play they make is legal.

Daily euchre: the Daily Deal, stats and hints

Every day there is one Daily Deal, the same for everyone: eight hands against the Hard table with the dealer stuck, so every hand is played. Your score is the points your side takes, and your first result of the day goes on the day's board and towards your daily streak. You can play past days from the calendar.

Stats keep your games won at each level, your winning streak, euchres for and against, marches and how many of your loners you made. A hint shows what the Hard player would do in your seat and why, and the score sheet lists every hand: who called what, the tricks taken and the points.

Free euchre on your phone, with no download

The table is built for phones as well as desktops: your cards sit large along the bottom, the ones you can legally play rise up, and a tap plays them. Sounds and vibration can be turned off, there's a calm motion setting, and four-colour suits make clubs and diamonds easier to tell apart.

There's nothing to install and no account needed. Your game is saved on your device after every card, so if you close the page in the middle of a hand, it's waiting for you when you come back.

Euchre FAQ