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Euchre guide

Euchre best practices

Tips for playing well, the most useful first.

  1. Count your trump before you order it up. The right bower, the left bower and the ace of trump are your best cards, and three tricks are enough to make it.
  2. The turned card goes to the dealer, so the dealer’s team can order it up on a lighter hand than the other team.
  3. Count the left bower as trump in the suit it joins, not in its printed suit. A hand with two other hearts and the jack of diamonds has three hearts when hearts are trump.
  4. Lead trump when your team made it and you hold a bower. It pulls out the other team’s trump.
  5. Lead an ace of a plain suit early, before someone can trump it.
  6. When your partner is already winning the trick, play your lowest card and save your trump.
  7. Go alone only with a very strong hand, such as both bowers and more trump. Taking all five alone scores 4, but three or four tricks alone still scores only 1, and fewer than three gives the other team 2.
  8. If you are stuck as dealer and must name a suit, name your strongest suit, counting the left bower with it.