How to Play Bid Euchre

The Deck

Bid Euchre is played with two decks shuffled together, keeping only the jacks, queens, kings and aces. That makes 32 cards, with two of every card.

Four people play, in two teams of two, partners sitting across from each other the way they do in Euchre. The dealer gives everyone eight cards, which uses the whole deck, so every hand is eight tricks long. The deal moves one seat to the left each round.

Because there are two of every card, you will regularly see the same card twice in one trick. When that happens, the one played first wins. The second copy is worth exactly the same and never beats it.

Bidding

There is no upcard. Instead the table holds an auction, and whoever bids highest decides how the hand is played.

Bidding starts with the player to the dealer's left and goes around once, ending with the dealer. Everyone gets exactly one turn, and a player who passes does not get another chance. Each bid has to beat the one before it. From lowest to highest:

• 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, the number of tricks you promise your team will take
• A two card loner
• A one card loner
• The Moonshot

A number bid names its suit as you say it, the way you would at the table: "4 hearts," or "5 no trump." Everyone hears the suit along with the number. You can bid 6 or 7 and still play with your partner; a big number is not the same thing as going alone.

The two loners are different. You declare one without a word, by laying two cards (or one card) face down in front of you, and you do not name a suit. You only name your suit, or no trump, if nobody outbids you. If somebody does, you pick your cards back up and play the hand normally.

The Moonshot is the top of the ladder: you are going alone with no help at all, and you say so out loud. Nothing can beat it, so the bidding stops the moment it is called, even if some players have not had their turn.

If the first three players all pass, the dealer is stuck. Somebody has to play the hand, so the dealer cannot pass and must bid at least 3.

Going Alone

All three loners play without a partner, and all three have to take all eight tricks. What sets them apart is how much help you get.

• Two card loner: you laid two cards face down, and your partner sends you two cards back
• One card loner: you laid one card face down, and your partner sends you one card back
• Moonshot: you laid nothing down, and you get nothing back

Once you win the bidding with a loner, you name your suit or no trump. Then your partner, knowing what you called, picks which cards to send you. The cards you laid face down stay out for the rest of the hand, so you play your eight tricks with your own cards plus what your partner sent.

After that your partner sits out. They play no cards for the rest of the hand, and it is you against both opponents.

Playing a Hand

The player who won the bidding leads the first trick, whether they are playing with a partner or alone. After that, whoever takes a trick leads the next one.

Play works the way it does in Euchre. Follow suit if you can; if you cannot, play anything, trump included. The highest trump wins the trick, and if no trump was played, the highest card of the suit that was led wins.

In a suit call the jacks behave as they do in Euchre. The jack of the trump suit is the right bower, the highest card there is. The other jack of the same color is the left bower, next highest, and it counts as a trump for the whole hand. From the top, the trump suit runs: right bower, left bower, ace, king, queen, and there are two of each.

No Trump

Any bid can be played in no trump instead of a suit. In no trump there is no trump suit and there are no bowers. Every jack is just a jack, the lowest card of its own suit, and every trick goes to the highest card of the suit that was led.

Scoring

Each round, both teams score. The team that won the bidding is the one taking the risk:

• Make your bid, and you score every trick you took, not just the number you bid
• Fall short, and you lose the number you bid
• The other team always scores the tricks it took, whether you made it or not

An example, since this is the rule that surprises people. Your team bids 4 hearts and takes 6 tricks. You made it, so you score 6, and the other team scores the 2 tricks they took. Next round your team bids 5 and takes only 4. You lose 5, and the other team scores its 4.

Loners score a fixed amount instead. Take all eight tricks and your team scores it; miss even one and your team loses the same amount:

A Game

A game is ten rounds, or fifteen if the table chooses the long game. There is no target score to race to: you play them all, and the higher total wins.

Scores can go below zero. There is no floor.

If the two teams finish level, the game is a tie. These rules have no tiebreak, so we do not invent one.

This is a four player game. Some tables play Bid Euchre with three or two, but the version here is for four players only.