Players may random select a person to be the first dealer, but a more equitable way is to use the rule first black jack deals. One person will deal cards face up in front of each player. The first person to receive a black jack will become the dealer for the initial hand. In subsequent hands, the deal is rotated clockwise. After shuffling the cards, the dealer must offer the player to the right an opportunity to cut the cards. If the dealer fails to offer a cut to the player, the opposing team may call a misdeal as long as the cards are still being dealt or no play on the hand has been made.
The Euchre Table
Euchre is play by four people divided into two partnerships. Partners sit directly across from each other. In the diagram below, North and South are playing against East and West. The first partnership to score at least 10 points wins the game. Euchre players traditionally keep score by using some of the remaining cards from the deck, typically the 6’s and 4’s. Each pip represents a point, and one card is used to cover the other so as to expose the number of pips corresponding to the team’s score. The score cards are placed at the corners of the table, and one partner is assigned to keep track of the score. Below, the scores are 5(spades) to 6(hearts).
| North | ||
| West |
|
East |
| South (Dealer) |
Trump Suit and Card Rank
The trump suit plays the most pivotal role in the game of euchre. When a suit is named trump, any card of that suit outranks any card of a non-trump suit. The highest ranking card in euchre is the Jack of the selected suit, referred to as the Right Bower. The second highest card in euchre is the other Jack of the same color, referred to as the Left Bower. If spades where trump the Left Bower should be treated as a spade throughout the hand. The remaining cards of the trump suit rank A, K, Q, 10, and 9. The other three off-suits rank A, K, Q, J, 10, 9. Please note, if the jack is the Left Bower, it is considered part of the trump suit. Thus, it is not a part of the off-suit. The table below shows the rank of the cards from highest to lowest if that suit is called trump.
| Spades Trump | Clubs Trump | Hearts Trump | Diamonds Trump | ||||
| Right Bower |  |
 |
 |
 |
|||
| Left Bower | |
|
|
|
|||
| Ace |  |
 |
 |
 |
|||
| King |  |
 |
 |
 |
|||
| Queen |  |
 |
 |
 |
|||
| Ten |  |
 |
 |
 |
|||
| Nine |  |
 |
 |
 |
The Euchre Deck
Euchre uses a deck of 24 playing cards consisting of A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9 of each of the four suits.
Euchre
Euchre is a trick-tacking card game where calculation, more often than luck, determines the winner. Euchre is played by four people in two partnerships sitting directly across from each other. The objective of the game is to be the first partnership to score 10 points.