EUCHRE

card game that in the late 1800s was the most popular family card game in the United States, mainly as the partnership game for four. The game is played with a 32-card deck, the cards ranking from ace down to 7, except that in the trump suit the jack, called the right bower, is the highest trump and the jack of the other suit of the same colour, called left bower, is the second highest trump. Five cards are dealt each player in a threetwo or twothree sequence. The next card is turned face up as trump, which each player can accept or reject (starting with the player to the dealer's left). If any player accepts, the dealer can discard a card from his hand and take the turn-up. If all four reject trump, the turn-up card is placed at the bottom of the pack; then, starting to the left of the dealer, each player in turn can name another suit or pass. If all pass, the hands are thrown in. If trumps are made, the player to the dealer's left leads, but the trump maker can announce I play alone; his partner then lays his cards face down and the lead comes from maker's left. The usual rules of trick making apply, the highest card of the suit led winning or the highest trump. The object is to win three or more tricks (the point), preferably all five (the march). If the maker's side fails to win, it is euchred. The maker's side scores 1 for the point, 2 for the march, or 4 for the march if won by the lone player. Cutthroat Euchre is for three players: the maker plays alone against the other two. Two-hand Euchre is the same as the regular game but is played with a 24-card deck, omitting the 7s and 8s. Railroad Euchre allows various local rules, such as using the joker as a 10th and highest trump. Auction Euchre is played with five, six, or seven hands and a three-card widow (four if a joker is used); highest bidder through one round names trumps and selects one or more partners, after seeing the widow, based on the size of his bid.