I used to play a lot of Euchre when I was younger in many different places from RSLs, to shearer's quarters and from Manly to Brewarrina.
I thought that I might download an Euchre app to waste some time during Covid-19 lockdowns. That's when I saw an almost completely different version of the Euchre rules. That got me wondering 'how do the GNs play Euchre?'. First, the way we played it across NSW:
- 32 cards, 7s to Aces, without a Joker. 32 cards are used so that up to six people can play.
- three, four or six players could play. If three, each person played for themselves. If four, there were two teams of two and the team members sat opposite each other. If six, then the two teams of three players sat in alternate positions to the opposite team.
- dealer deals five cards to each player. Three or two cards during the first round and then two or three cards to total five cards on the second round.
- the dealer then turned up the next card and placed it on the rest of the deck.
- the player to the dealer's left had first choice to either pass or order up the dealer. Thus making the turned up card trump. They also have the chance to 'go alone'. That is, without his or her partners.
- if the player to the left passed, then the next player could either pass or order the dealer to 'turn it down'. If 'turn it down' was chosen then the player would have to 'go alone'.
- the option to make the turned up card trump, would be offered to each player, going clockwise, until it reached the dealer. The dealer could take up the offered card, thus making it trumps, or turn it down. If the dealer made it trumps, he or she would discard a card, unseen to the other players, so that they had five cards to play with.
- if the dealer turned it down then, going clockwise, each player had the chance to make a different suit trumps. He or she also had the option to 'go alone'.
- if each player still passes then the cards are handed in and the player to the left, shuffles and deals the next hand.
- the right and left bauers are the two highest cards followed by the A, K, Q, 10, 9, 8, 7 of the trump suit.
- the person to the left of the dealer leads and each player must follow suit if they can. A player can choose to trump in only if they can't follow suit. Play keeps going around clockwise until each player has played a card. The player who plays the best card, either the highest in the lead suit or the highest trump, wins the hand or 'trick'. That player then leads their next card.
- if the team that made it trumps wins three or more tricks then they win the points.
- if the team that made it trumps doesn't win three or more tricks then they are Euchred and the opposition wins the points.
There are more rules, such as scoring, but these are the basic and I'm wondering what rules you all use?
-- Edited by Buzz Lightbulb on Saturday 1st of January 2022 03:01:45 PM
-- Edited by Buzz Lightbulb on Saturday 1st of January 2022 03:08:15 PM
Possum3 said
03:58 PM Jan 1, 2022
Basically you have it right - although with three players it becomes cut-throat; 2 against the caller of Trumps.
Bobdown said
04:53 PM Jan 1, 2022
Sounds about right, I thought that with teams you called 5 hearts etc so your partner knew you had a good hand of hearts, but just checked and that is for 500, another good game for 2 pairs.
I think we used to play 'No Trumps' as well.
Cheers Bob
Collo said
07:15 PM Jan 1, 2022
Having played both Euchre and 500...500 is the better game.
Collo.
Magnarc said
07:39 AM Jan 2, 2022
Since this is the Digress forum I will digress and say, that in my opinion, Solo is by far the best card game. If you have four players that can play the game well. Having played this game since my old dad taught me the fundamentals way back in time, it is a game where ones ability to remember what has been played, is paramount. Keen Solo players take the game very seriously, if you make a mistake that sends the wrong message, you are made aware of their displeasure immediately. I can personally vouch for that!
In 1967 whilst we were on the good ship Fairstar heading towards our new life here in Oz they held a Solo tournament, wife and I entered and we succeeded in winning it and still have the wallet with two packs of cards with the Sitmar Line monogram on them. I have played Euchre and 500 both very enjoyable games but my weekly game of Solo with my friends is what I really look forward to.
Buzz Lightbulb said
09:48 AM Jan 2, 2022
Possum3 wrote:
Basically you have it right - although with three players it becomes cut-throat; 2 against the caller of Trumps.
Yes, cut-throat was a tough game. One was virtually going alone if one made Trumps.
My favourite was six handed Euchre.
-- Edited by Buzz Lightbulb on Sunday 2nd of January 2022 09:51:31 AM
Clarky 1 said
09:51 AM Jan 2, 2022
Plus 1 for possums comment.
500 as previously stated is a good game, I like it better than Euchre.
In my opinion and if I may digress even further, the best game is Cribbage. It can be played singles, pairs, or three handed. I like the Pairs game for four players if I have a good partner. or singles if playing for a beer or a dollar.
Buzz Lightbulb said
09:59 AM Jan 2, 2022
@Collo & Magnarc:
I preferred Euchre because each game was quick. That allowed the social part of cards to be had: talking, drinking and joking. Once one was comfortable with the Euchre rules, one could play well and socialise at the same time. I found that we had to concentrate harder on the longer games like 500, Whist, etcetera and that made the cards less sociable. I guess we only played to see who would buy the $2 lottery ticket so there wasn't big money involved.
Buzz Lightbulb said
10:02 AM Jan 2, 2022
Clarky 1 wrote:
Plus 1 for possums comment.
500 as previously stated is a good game, I like it better than Euchre.
In my opinion and if I may digress even further, the best game is Cribbage. It can be played singles, pairs, or three handed. I like the Pairs game for four players if I have a good partner. or singles if playing for a beer or a dollar.
I found that I was too slow in adding up to 15 to play Cribbage. I guess I should have paid more attention during my maths classes.
Buzz Lightbulb said
10:10 AM Jan 2, 2022
Bobdown wrote:
Sounds about right, I thought that with teams you called 5 hearts etc so your partner knew you had a good hand of hearts, but just checked and that is for 500, another good game for 2 pairs.
I think we used to play 'No Trumps' as well.
Cheers Bob
I think that 'No trumps' was a 500 thing, also 'misare'. I've never heard of no trumps being played in Euchre.
Clarky 1 said
10:13 AM Jan 2, 2022
I have heard that many maths teachers would teach pupils to play cribbage during their senior primary classes to sharpen their basic addition skills while scoring.
It is a game that you never forget. I was taught to play it in my late teens and had not played it for at least 15 years until recently when I took it up again when I met a couple of Crib fanatics. There is a real skill in playing it successfully, a lot more than being good at additions with maths.
One of my new found Crib players whips my ar$e almost every time we play.
Hendo said
12:51 PM Jan 2, 2022
Agree with Buz. In regards to Cut-Throat (3 handed), if the maker gets Euchred do the other two players share the 2 points?
Stay safe everyone
Hendo
Possum3 said
12:59 PM Jan 2, 2022
Yep. A point each.
Magnarc said
07:53 AM Jan 3, 2022
Clarky, I am also a Cribbage fan. There is a very good freebie called Classic Cribbage where you play online against a computer. I have spent far too many hours playing it!!
Clarky 1 said
10:02 AM Jan 3, 2022
Magnarc wrote:
Clarky, I am also a Cribbage fan. There is a very good freebie called Classic Cribbage where you play online against a computer. I have spent far too many hours playing it!!
Hi Magnarc,
Great minds must think alike,
I have that very game on my IPad and in my opinion it is the best of the Cribbage Apps.
Continuing on with my questions: Three of us roughly agree on the rules. More importantly, no one vehemently disagrees with the proposed rules. I recently tried to find the Euchre rules and found something like:
- they use only 24 cards (9, 10, J, Q, K & A)
- the dealer gets to pick up the turned up card no matter what
- if no one bids then the dealer has to accept the turned up card.
I thought 'maybe these are just USA rules' and looked up British rules but they included:
- Joker
- usually 24 cards and 'sometimes' 32 card deck
Where did the rules that I learned as a child, and confirmed by other players on this forum, come from? Are these RSL rules from WWII or some Australian idiosincracity?
I think that our rules make a better game. 32 cards not only allows six handed Euchre but it also makes it more interesting in not knowing what cards are sleeping in the deck during four handed Euchre. They also limit the dealer in accessing the upturned card and allows the dealer to hand in a lousy hand of cards.
I'd like to teach some friends how to play Euchre but I'd like to make sure that the way we play is transferable to other players.
Bobdown said
11:55 AM Jan 4, 2022
We always played with a 32 card deck.............7 upwards
Buzz Lightbulb said
11:47 AM Jan 7, 2022
Bobdown wrote:
We always played with a 32 card deck.............7 upwards
So did we. The first I heard of 24 cards, 9 upwards, was with the Android Euchre app. From then on, each time I searched for the Euchre rules, 24 seemed the norm and 32 the exception. I was flabargasted.
Ivan 01 said
12:38 PM Jan 7, 2022
I have played the game all my life.
What is this 9 up deck of which you talk?
The entire world will change one day because a new app said it would.
The app designer suffers if no one takes it up.
Possum3 said
01:07 PM Jan 7, 2022
9 up was always the case with Tournament Rules. (Going back to 50's) - 2,3,4, players - 7 up for 6 players (social game).
Ivan 01 said
01:12 PM Jan 7, 2022
Thanks Possum,
I have never played comp, only ever social.
Learn something every day.
Buzz Lightbulb said
11:54 AM Jan 9, 2022
Possum3 wrote:
9 up was always the case with Tournament Rules. (Going back to 50's) - 2,3,4, players - 7 up for 6 players (social game).
Cards have always been a social activity for me. Why spoil it with competition?
Having said that, what are the 'competition' rules in Australia?
Possum3 said
11:48 PM Jan 15, 2022
When we played tournaments it was always the host club/venue that outlined main rules and variations to same on a notice board or blackboard - An MC always went over the "rules" prior to commencement of games, and asked "Any Questions"?
The Arncliffe Scots Club was the main venue I played at in the 60's. St George area.
I used to play a lot of Euchre when I was younger in many different places from RSLs, to shearer's quarters and from Manly to Brewarrina.
I thought that I might download an Euchre app to waste some time during Covid-19 lockdowns. That's when I saw an almost completely different version of the Euchre rules. That got me wondering 'how do the GNs play Euchre?'. First, the way we played it across NSW:
- 32 cards, 7s to Aces, without a Joker. 32 cards are used so that up to six people can play.
- three, four or six players could play. If three, each person played for themselves. If four, there were two teams of two and the team members sat opposite each other. If six, then the two teams of three players sat in alternate positions to the opposite team.
- dealer deals five cards to each player. Three or two cards during the first round and then two or three cards to total five cards on the second round.
- the dealer then turned up the next card and placed it on the rest of the deck.
- the player to the dealer's left had first choice to either pass or order up the dealer. Thus making the turned up card trump. They also have the chance to 'go alone'. That is, without his or her partners.
- if the player to the left passed, then the next player could either pass or order the dealer to 'turn it down'. If 'turn it down' was chosen then the player would have to 'go alone'.
- the option to make the turned up card trump, would be offered to each player, going clockwise, until it reached the dealer. The dealer could take up the offered card, thus making it trumps, or turn it down. If the dealer made it trumps, he or she would discard a card, unseen to the other players, so that they had five cards to play with.
- if the dealer turned it down then, going clockwise, each player had the chance to make a different suit trumps. He or she also had the option to 'go alone'.
- if each player still passes then the cards are handed in and the player to the left, shuffles and deals the next hand.
- the right and left bauers are the two highest cards followed by the A, K, Q, 10, 9, 8, 7 of the trump suit.
- the person to the left of the dealer leads and each player must follow suit if they can. A player can choose to trump in only if they can't follow suit. Play keeps going around clockwise until each player has played a card. The player who plays the best card, either the highest in the lead suit or the highest trump, wins the hand or 'trick'. That player then leads their next card.
- if the team that made it trumps wins three or more tricks then they win the points.
- if the team that made it trumps doesn't win three or more tricks then they are Euchred and the opposition wins the points.
There are more rules, such as scoring, but these are the basic and I'm wondering what rules you all use?
-- Edited by Buzz Lightbulb on Saturday 1st of January 2022 03:01:45 PM
-- Edited by Buzz Lightbulb on Saturday 1st of January 2022 03:08:15 PM
Sounds about right, I thought that with teams you called 5 hearts etc so your partner knew you had a good hand of hearts, but just checked and that is for 500, another good game for 2 pairs.
I think we used to play 'No Trumps' as well.
Cheers Bob
Having played both Euchre and 500...500 is the better game.
Collo.
Since this is the Digress forum I will digress and say, that in my opinion, Solo is by far the best card game. If you have four players that can play the game well. Having played this game since my old dad taught me the fundamentals way back in time, it is a game where ones ability to remember what has been played, is paramount. Keen Solo players take the game very seriously, if you make a mistake that sends the wrong message, you are made aware of their displeasure immediately. I can personally vouch for that!
In 1967 whilst we were on the good ship Fairstar heading towards our new life here in Oz they held a Solo tournament, wife and I entered and we succeeded in winning it and still have the wallet with two packs of cards with the Sitmar Line monogram on them. I have played Euchre and 500 both very enjoyable games but my weekly game of Solo with my friends is what I really look forward to.
Yes, cut-throat was a tough game. One was virtually going alone if one made Trumps.
My favourite was six handed Euchre.
-- Edited by Buzz Lightbulb on Sunday 2nd of January 2022 09:51:31 AM
Plus 1 for possums comment.
or singles if playing for a beer or a dollar.
500 as previously stated is a good game, I like it better than Euchre.
In my opinion and if I may digress even further, the best game is Cribbage.
It can be played singles, pairs, or three handed.
I like the Pairs game for four players if I have a good partner.
@Collo & Magnarc:
I preferred Euchre because each game was quick. That allowed the social part of cards to be had: talking, drinking and joking. Once one was comfortable with the Euchre rules, one could play well and socialise at the same time. I found that we had to concentrate harder on the longer games like 500, Whist, etcetera and that made the cards less sociable. I guess we only played to see who would buy the $2 lottery ticket so there wasn't big money involved.
I found that I was too slow in adding up to 15 to play Cribbage. I guess I should have paid more attention during my maths classes.
I think that 'No trumps' was a 500 thing, also 'misare'. I've never heard of no trumps being played in Euchre.
It is a game that you never forget. I was taught to play it in my late teens and had not played it for at least 15 years until recently when I took it up again when I met a couple of Crib fanatics. There is a real skill in playing it successfully, a lot more than being good at additions with maths.
One of my new found Crib players whips my ar$e almost every time we play.
Stay safe everyone
Hendo
Clarky, I am also a Cribbage fan. There is a very good freebie called Classic Cribbage where you play online against a computer. I have spent far too many hours playing it!!
Hi Magnarc,
Great minds must think alike,
I have that very game on my IPad and in my opinion it is the best of the Cribbage Apps.
Continuing on with my questions: Three of us roughly agree on the rules. More importantly, no one vehemently disagrees with the proposed rules. I recently tried to find the Euchre rules and found something like:
- they use only 24 cards (9, 10, J, Q, K & A)
- the dealer gets to pick up the turned up card no matter what
- if no one bids then the dealer has to accept the turned up card.
I thought 'maybe these are just USA rules' and looked up British rules but they included:
- Joker
- usually 24 cards and 'sometimes' 32 card deck
Where did the rules that I learned as a child, and confirmed by other players on this forum, come from? Are these RSL rules from WWII or some Australian idiosincracity?
I think that our rules make a better game. 32 cards not only allows six handed Euchre but it also makes it more interesting in not knowing what cards are sleeping in the deck during four handed Euchre. They also limit the dealer in accessing the upturned card and allows the dealer to hand in a lousy hand of cards.
I'd like to teach some friends how to play Euchre but I'd like to make sure that the way we play is transferable to other players.
We always played with a 32 card deck.............7 upwards
So did we. The first I heard of 24 cards, 9 upwards, was with the Android Euchre app. From then on, each time I searched for the Euchre rules, 24 seemed the norm and 32 the exception. I was flabargasted.
What is this 9 up deck of which you talk?
The entire world will change one day because a new app said it would.
The app designer suffers if no one takes it up.
I have never played comp, only ever social.
Learn something every day.
Cards have always been a social activity for me. Why spoil it with competition?
Having said that, what are the 'competition' rules in Australia?
The Arncliffe Scots Club was the main venue I played at in the 60's. St George area.