Poker Euchre

Poker-Euchre In A Nutshell!

What if you could have all the fun of Poker and Euchre in the same game?

This game almost does just that!

Poker-Euchre, as the name implies, is a Euchre-type game which combines elements from Poker and Euchre to make a fun and interesting game.
Consequently, if you are familiar with Poker and Euchre you will find this game very easy to learn.

Although Poker-Euchre may be similar to other trump and trick-taking card games such as Oh Hell!, and Euchre, it does not have teams or partners, each player plays for him or herself, as many as twelve people can play at a time, and players bet on their hands using poker chips!

To play Poker-Euchre you will need:

A Standard Deck of 52 Playing Cards

Two Joker cards (optional)

A Standard Set of Poker Chips (also optional, see Playing Poker-Euchre Without Poker Chips at the end of this post)

Rules Of Poker-Euchre

Object Of The Game

1. When poker chips are used the ultimate goal is to win as many chips as possible so that none of the other players are able to continue playing. Players who win tricks in a deal are awarded poker chips at the end of the hand. Players who win more tricks win more chips. The player who wins the most tricks also wins the chips that players bet on their hands, as well. The ongoing goal then, is to win more tricks than any other player, thereby winning more of the pot to which all players contribute in every deal.

2. When the game is played without poker chips the object is to be the first player to score 100 points. Players who win tricks in a deal score points at the end of a hand. Players who win more tricks score more points, and the player who wins the most tricks scores bonus points. The ongoing goal then is to win more tricks than the other players, thus scoring more points, and win the game by scoring 100 points before anyone else. (see the rules at the end of this post)

Card Ranking

1. The cards are ranked from high to low, starting with the Aces: A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2

2. When a particular suit (Spades, Hearts, Clubs, or Diamonds) is chosen as “Trump” all of the cards in that suit become higher than all of the other suits, and the Jack of that particular suit becomes the highest card in the deck. At the same time the other Jack that is the same colour as the Trump suit (either black or red) becomes one of the Trump suit cards, and also becomes the second highest card in the deck. For example, if Hearts were chosen as Trump then the Jack of Hearts would become the highest card and the Jack of Diamonds would be the next highest card. It would not be considered part of the Diamond suit, but would become the second highest Heart suit card, just above of the Ace of Hearts. The order would go like this: Jack of Hearts (Right Bower), Jack of Diamonds (Left Bower), Ace of Hearts, King of Hearts, Queen of Hearts, 10 of Hearts, 9 of Hearts, 8 of Hearts, etc. (see the Card Ranking Chart near the end of this post)

Joker Cards

The two Joker cards may or may not be used in the game. The decision is made by all of the players before a game begins. If the players decide to include the Jokers in the deck they are considered “Wild” cards and are higher in rank than any other card in the deck, even Trump suit cards, winning any trick in which they are played. However, there are several rules regarding the use of Jokers in the game:

1. A player may not lead with a Joker unless it is the last trick of the deal. In such a case the Joker wins the trick. However, if another Joker is played in that same trick the two Jokers cancel each other out, and the trick is won by the player who played the highest card that was not a Joker. (see point 4, below)

2. Only one Joker may be played in a trick, and then only after the first card has already been played in that trick, and only if the player with the Joker has none of the same suit as the first card played.

3. A player may not use their Joker if another player has already played a Joker in a particular trick. If both Jokers are played in the same trick by mistake, they cancel each other out and the trick is won by the player who played the highest card that was not a Joker. Cards may not be exchanged or retracted once they have been played.

4. The last trick of a deal is the only instance where two Jokers may be played in the same trick. When two different players are each dealt a Joker, both players will be unaware that the other has a Joker, and both players could save their Jokers until the last trick. Then they will have no choice but to play both of them in the same trick. Unfortunately, as always, the two Jokers cancel each other out, and the trick is won by the player who played the highest card that was not a Joker.

Banking

Before the cards are dealt out to any of the players one player must be designated by all of the others to be the banker. After players have chosen a banker all transactions, whether with cash or poker chips, may only be conducted through the banker. Poker chips must then be distributed to all of the players using one of two methods, depending on which type of game the players wish to play.

1. If everyone who wants to play the game are adults who wish to bet money on the game, then each player must exchange any cash they wish to bet for the correct, corresponding amount of poker chips. The recommended minimum amount of poker chips that each player should receive is roughly 5 times the number of cards that will be dealt to each player. For example, in a game with 8 players each player would be dealt 6 cards, and each player would need to buy a minimum of about $30 in chips to be able to play (see Poker Chip Distribution near the end). Each player must carefully count his cash and exchange it with the banker for exactly the same amount in poker chips, one at a time, and each in turn, beginning with the player to the banker's left, and continuing clockwise, until everyone has exchanged their cash for poker chips. After all of the players have exchanged their cash, transactions may only be completed with poker chips, because players may never place cash directly into the pot, and winnings are only paid out in poker chips. Of course there are two exceptions: When players need to purchase more poker chips from the bank, and when players are cashing out at any point in the game.

2. If everyone who wants to play the game are NOT adults, or if everyone agrees that they would rather not bet money, a more playful game suitable for children, where money is not required, may be played. All players must then agree upon a fixed limit of poker chips that each player will receive, and the banker must distribute this same amount of chips to each player before the game begins. The recommended minimum amount of chips that each player should receive is approximately 5 times the number of cards that each player will be dealt in the game (see Poker Chip Distribution near the end). The banker must then give the agreed upon number of chips to each player, one player at a time, in a clockwise direction, beginning with the player to the banker's left.

3. A standard set of poker chips is used in Poker-Euchre with white chips being worth $1, red $5, blue $10, green $25, and black chips being worth $100. To minimize the loss of money during a game white chips may be reduced in value to $0.01, red reduced to $0.05, blue reduced to $0.10, green reduced to $0.25, and black chips may be reduced in value to $1.00. As in all Poker-type games enough chips must be made available throughout the game to accommodate the number of players participating. (see the charts near the end)

Dealing

1. After each player has received their poker chips one player shuffles the deck and deals one card to each player, including themselves, in a clockwise direction, beginning with the player seated to their left, and continuing until someone is dealt a Jack. The first player to be dealt a Jack becomes the dealer.

2. The dealing and playing of hands is always clockwise. The dealer shuffles the deck, the player to dealer's right cuts the deck, and the cards are dealt one at a time, face-down, clockwise, to each player, beginning with the player to the dealer's left.

3. The same number of cards are dealt to each player in every hand, but that number may change from one deal to the next as players retire from the game. The dealer places one card at a time in front each player, each subsequent card overlapping the previous, so that everyone can see exactly how many cards each player has been dealt. Players may not touch or move the cards until the dealer has finished dealing the hand, and players may not look at their cards until after everyone has paid for their hands.

4. The total number of players in a game determines how many cards are dealt to each player. The dealer must make sure that some cards are left over after a hand of cards has been dealt to the players. Depending on the number of players in the game, and whether the Jokers are in the deck, anywhere from 2 to 10 cards could be left over after a hand has been dealt. The goal is to deal as many cards as possible, and deal the exact the same number of cards to each player, but still have a few cards left over. If the two Jokers are NOT in the deck, cards may be dealt out until as few as 2 cards are left, but if the two Jokers ARE in the deck, at least 3 cards or more must be left over after the cards are dealt out to all of the players.

5. The number of cards that should be dealt to each player is easily calculated by figuring out how many times the number of players will evenly divide into the maximum number of cards that may be in play. The maximum number of cards which may be in play is usually 50 cards, regardless of whether the two Jokers are in the deck or not. 50 evenly divided by the number of players equals the number of cards to deal to each player! The only exception is when there are 3 players in a game with two Jokers in the deck. Then 51 cards may be in play so that 17 cards may be dealt to each player. (see the Card Dealing Chart near the end)

6. The standard method for dealing the correct number of cards to each player (and of course the easiest and most fool-proof) is for the dealer to place one card at a time, face-down, in front of each player, beginning with the player to his left, and continuing clockwise, each subsequent card overlapping the previous, until there are only 5 cards left to be dealt. If each player does not have the same number of cards after this, the dealer must either continue dealing, or start taking back one card from each player, in counter-clockwise order, until every player has the same number of cards in front of them, and the correct number of cards are still left over, as outlined in point 4, above. (see the Card Dealing Chart near the end)

7. After the cards have been dealt each player must carefully count his cards face-down, without looking at them, and make sure they have the correct number of cards. If anyone believes that there are any discrepancies then the player to the dealer's left becomes the new dealer, and the deck is shuffled, cut, and re-dealt.

Buying Cards

1. After all of the players have the correct number of cards then each player must place one chip into the pot for each card in their hand. This is very much like paying the initial “ante” in Poker games. Players must pay for every card that they will play in the game and one card is always worth one chip. All cards must remain face-down until every player has paid for their cards.

2. If any player is not able to pay one chip for every card in his hand then he may not play in that particular hand, or contribute any chips to the pot. Even though he has already been dealt a hand of cards he is not permitted to play them because he did not pay for them. He must discard his cards face-down onto the stack of buried cards, and sit-out the deal while the others bet on and play their hands. No other player is allowed to see the cards that he has discarded. He may be allowed to stay in the game but only if he waits until the end of the hand and then buys enough chips to pay for a new hand in the next deal. If not, he must cash out and retire from the game.

3. Placing chips into the pot begins with the player to the dealer's left and continues clockwise, each player in turn, with the dealer being the last to place their chips into the pot. In this way everyone can be certain that every other player has “paid” one chip into the pot for each of the cards in his hand. One card is always worth one chip.

4. After all of the players are satisfied that everyone has paid for their cards then the dealer will announce: “Ladies and gentlemen please sort your cards!” Players are not allowed to view their hand before the ante has been paid, but now each player may examine their cards, sort them into the four suits, speculate on how many tricks they could win with the cards in their hand, and devise a plan to win as many tricks as possible.

Making Trump

1. After players have sorted their cards and taken time to plan their strategy the dealer places the remaining cards face-down, in a single stack in the centre of the table and turns up the top card, placing it face-up, on top of the stack of face-down cards. If a Joker is turned up the dealer must place it face-down on the bottom of the stack and turn up the next top card.

2. Starting with the player to the dealer's left and continuing clockwise, players decide if they would like the suit of the face-up card to be Trump. The bidding at this stage only pertains to this card's particular suit. Choosing another suit to be Trump may be necessary later on.

3. If the player to the dealer's left does not want this suit to be Trump they must say “Pass”, or knock on the table twice, and the bid passes to next player, clockwise. If they DO want the suit of this card to be Trump they must say “Pick it up” or “I order it up” and bidding on the Trump suit is closed.

4. If none of the players tell the dealer to pick up the card (i.e., everyone “passes”) then it is left to the dealer to decide. If the dealer does not want the suit of the face-up card to be Trump he must turn the card face-down, and set it aside with the rest of the stack. These cards are called the “kitty” and are now considered to be “buried” because players will not have any more access to them during that particular deal.

5. If one of the players DOES tell the dealer to pick up the face-up card (or if all of the other players pass on that card and the dealer decides to pick it up himself), then the suit of that card (Spades, Hearts, Clubs, or Diamonds) immediately becomes Trump, and the dealer must add the face-up card to his own hand. The dealer must then discard the lowest non-Trump card in his hand and place it face-down, with the rest of the buried stack, and set the “kitty” aside.

6. If none of the players tell the dealer to pick up the face-up card (i.e., everyone “passes”) and the dealer turns the card face-down, setting it aside with the rest of the kitty, then the suit of the face-up card is eliminated as a choice to be Trump, and Trump bidding opens on any of the other suits. The player to the dealer's left may now choose any suit, other than the suit of the card which was just turned down, to be Trump for that particular deal. For example, if the face-up card was the 8 of Clubs and everyone passed, including the dealer, then the player to the dealer's left could choose Hearts, Spades, or Diamonds to be Trump.

7. However, if the player to the dealer's left does NOT wish to choose the Trump he must say “pass”, or knock on the table twice, and the choice passes to the next player, clockwise. If none of the other players choose the Trump suit, then it is left to the dealer to decide which suit will become Trump. If the dealer does not choose a suit, then it is a misdeal and the player to the dealer's left becomes the new dealer, and the deck is shuffled, cut, and re-dealt.

8. The bidding on which suit should become Trump is determined by the number of cards of each suit each player has in their hands. For example, if a player has a good number of high ranking Spades in his hand, including the Jack of Spades and perhaps the Jack of Clubs, he will want Spades to become Trump. If the dealer turns up a 7 of Diamonds after this player has been dealt such a hand, this player will pass on the face-up Diamonds card and wait, hoping that he will have a turn to bid and make Spades the Trump. If Spades become the Trump suit, this player will have better odds of winning the most tricks in that hand.

9. The player who ends up choosing the Trump suit is openly claiming that he will win most of the tricks in that hand, and is obligated to bet a sizeable amount to back up that claim. If he wins most of the tricks he will receive all of the chips that are added to the pot during the betting round, but if he doesn't win most of the tricks he is “Euchred” and must pay the player who does win, the same amount each player had to “raise” to stay in that particular deal. Therefore, it is very important to bid carefully when choosing the Trump suit.

Betting

1. After a suit has been chosen to be the Trump for a particular deal, and players have taken the time to consider their chances, players will begin betting on their individual hands. Each player bets on their hand by deciding how certain they are of winning the most number of tricks in that deal. The more certain a player is that they will win the most tricks, the more chips they should bet on their hand. Each player's bet indicates to the other players how superior, or inferior, they believe their hand to be.

2. Players bet in clockwise order around the table, beginning with the player to the dealer's left. The betting continues for as many circuits as necessary, skipping any players who have folded and dropped out, until all active players have had a turn, and the number of chips that each active player is ready to place into the pot, is the same.

3. Players must NOT place their chips into the centre of the table during the betting rounds, as they did with the ante, but instead only push the chips that they wish to bet TOWARDS the centre of the table. When all active players have finished betting, and all of the stakes are equal, then the dealer will announce: “All betting is closed!” Only then may players move their chips into the centre of the table.

4. If no bets have been made yet, and/or the value of the chips contributed by all active players is equal, then players have two options when their turn comes:

PASS or CHECK: A player may say “Pass” or “Check” and knock on the table, indicating that they do not wish to bet any more chips at that point, but still wish to remain in the game and reserve the right to take part in future betting. If no one has bet so far in the current betting round a player can remain active without adding any chips to the pot. In the first betting round of a new deal, if no one has opened the betting, players may say "Pass”, which is equivalent to checking.

BET: A player may say “I bet (amount of money)” and push the amount of corresponding chips towards the pot. The amount must be at least $1, but no more than $20, according to the betting limits of Poker-Euchre (see point 6, below). The first player to make a bet “opens the betting”. If a player announces a bet of a certain amount but puts in a different amount of chips, the verbal announcement takes priority and the number of chips must be corrected.

5. If a player has fewer chips pushed towards the pot than some other player because there has been a bet in the current betting round, the player has three options:

CALL: A player may say “Call”, and push enough chips towards the pot to make a total contribution to the pot equal to that of the player who made the last bet or raise, in order to remain an active player, but without increasing his contributions to the pot. Any bet or raise that is made must be at least matched by any other players who wish to remain active. Calling is also known as “seeing” the previous bet or raise, and is also known as “staying”.

RAISE: A player may say “Raise”, and push towards the pot the amount of chips needed to “Call”, plus the amount they wish to “Raise”. The two amounts must be pushed together at the same time. The amount of the raise must be at least $1, but no more than $20, according to the betting limits of Poker-Euchre (see point 6, below). If there is a discrepancy between the verbal announcement and the chips offered, the announcement takes priority. Players are not allowed to raise in two installments, unfairly attempting to mislead opponents into thinking they are “calling” and then observe their reaction, and use that reaction to decide whether or not to raise.

FOLD: A player may say “Fold”, and discard their cards face-down onto the stack of buried cards, indicating that they wish to drop out of the hand and not match the latest bet or raise. No other player is allowed to see the cards that they have discarded. This player will take no further part in the game until the next deal and any chips they have placed in, or pushed towards the pot, will be given to the eventual winner of the pot. (Players should not drop out of a deal too hastily, because predicting whether a hand will win is far more difficult in Poker-Euchre than it is in Poker. However, when a player has very few chips left, and it appears certain that they will not win any tricks, it is definitely wise to fold!)

6. Poker-Euchre has only two limits on betting:

i) A “Spread Limit” minimum of $1 and maximum of $20. Players may bet, call, or raise, any amount between and including these two limits, but players may not bet, call, or raise, above or below these amounts.

ii) A “Raises Limit” maximum of 3 raises per betting round when there are more than two active players in the game. Different individual players may make up to 3 separate raises in each complete circuit around the table, but no one may raise the stakes if 3 raises have already been made, until after the player to the dealer's left has their turn again. This limit is designed to prevent two players from making a long series of small raises which a third player would have no option but to call, if they wish to remain in the game. Therefore this limit is unnecessary and does not apply, if there are only two active players in the game.

7. Players may only act when it is their turn, and they must clearly state what they are doing by saying “Pass”, “Call”, “Raise”' etc., and making a distinct gesture such as knocking on the table, pushing their chips towards the pot, or discarding their cards, etc.

8. Once a player has indicated what they are going to do, they are not allowed to change their mind. Players especially must never make a “string raise” by matching the previous bet and putting in the chips as though they were calling, then pausing to observe the reactions of the other players, and then raising. [For example: "I'll see your $10... and raise you $20"] If a player attempts a string raise, it will be counted as a call and the extra chips for the raise will be returned to that player.

9. The rounds of betting end when one of the following occurs:

i) All of the active players check

ii) All the other active players call the last bet or raise

iii) There is only one active player remaining

10. If only one active player remains, this player immediately wins the entire pot including the ante, and does not have to play his cards to win any tricks. None of the other players receive any chips from the pot because no one has won any tricks. (This is another very good reason for players to carefully consider whether or not to fold, because if a player stays in the game they can at least win some chips back from the ante, even if they don't win most of the tricks.) The deal is over, the cards are collected, the player seated to the dealer's left becomes the new dealer, and the game continues!

11. If more than one active player remains after all of the players have finished betting, and all of the active stakes are equal, the dealer must announce: “All betting is closed!” Players may not make any more bets after this point. All of the players, whether active or inactive, must then move their chips into the centre of the table and the game continues to the next stage, where the remaining active players play their hands to see who will win the most tricks.

Playing

1. After all of the betting is closed then the game play begins. The first active player to the dealer's left starts the first trick by placing a card from his hand face-up in the centre of the table, followed by each active player doing the same, in clockwise order. Each subsequent card that is laid down in that trick must match the suit of the first card that was laid down unless a player does not have any cards of that particular suit. If a player does not have a card of the suit that was played first, then he may lay down a Trump suit card, a Joker, or a card of another suit.

2. Players must always lay down a card of the same suit as the first card played in the trick if they have one in their hand. If any player suspects that another player may have had a card of the same suit as the first card and didn't play it, whether it was intentional or not, they must stop the game immediately and call a “renege” to allow the other players to investigate the alleged misconduct. This must be done before the tricks are tallied at the end of the deal to ensure that the evidence is not lost or tampered with. If a renege is not called before players begin tallying the tricks they have won, then no one may accuse another player of impropriety during that hand. Even if everyone is certain that a player is guilty, they must be presumed innocent in the absence of evidence to prove otherwise.

3. Whenever a renege is called, the game may continue only after the other players have reviewed the evidence, and decided whether the accused player is guilty or innocent. If it can be proven that a player had a card of the same suit as the first card of the trick and did not play it, even if it was by mistake, then that player is deemed guilty as charged. If the other players decide that the accused is innocent, or if they cannot reach a clear verdict, the charges are dropped and the game continues with the exonerated player fully participating as before.

4. However, if the accused is found guilty of the offence the game will continue, but the accused player will not be allowed to play for the remainder of the hand or keep any tricks they have already won in that hand. The guilty party must discard the cards in their hand, along with any tricks they have won so far, face-down onto the stack of buried cards. No other player is allowed to see the cards that they have discarded. This player will take no further part in the game until the next deal and any chips they have contributed to the pot, will be given to the eventual winner of the hand.

5. If an improperly played card was the winning card of the trick in a renege, then that trick is given to the player whose card would have won, had the improper card not been played. If it is not possible to accurately determine the winner of the trick, then the cards from that trick are placed face-down with the buried cards in the kitty and no one wins the trick. Cards may not be exchanged or retracted once they have been played.

6. The highest Trump card played in each trick wins or “takes” all of the other cards in the trick, unless a Trump card is not played in that trick. Then the trick is won by the highest-ranking card of the suit that was laid down first. Even if a higher card of another non-Trump suit is played it does not win, because only a card of the same suit as the first card, or a Trump card, may win a trick. The only exception is when the two Jokers are in the deck and one of them is played in a trick: a single Joker will always win the trick, regardless of the rank of the other cards that are played in that trick. (also see the rules about Joker cards near the beginning of this post)

7. When a player wins a trick they must collect all of the cards that were played in that trick, turn them face-down, and set them to one side in a little stack, in plain sight. They must neatly stack the next trick they win face-down, overlapping it onto the previous, and so on, carefully keeping track of how many tricks they have won, thereby assuring other players that their cards cannot be tampered with. Each time a player wins a trick he must lead the next trick by laying down the first card of the new trick.

Scoring

1. Game play continues until all of the cards in each of the active players hands have been played. When the hand is finished each player tallies up the total number of tricks they have won and reports to the banker. The banker must pay each player who has won any tricks, one chip from the pot for each card they have won during that hand. For example, if a player wins 5 tricks with 4 cards in each trick, the banker must pay that player 20 chips from the pot when the hand is finished. Or if a player wins 4 tricks with 7 cards in each trick, the banker must pay that player 28 chips from the pot, and so on. As stated earlier, one card is always worth one chip.

2. Trick reporting begins with the player to the dealer's left and continues clockwise, each player in turn, with the dealer being the last to report their total to the banker. Players must clearly state the number of tricks they believe they have won, and present the corresponding cards to prove it.

3. After the banker has paid all of the players who won any tricks in the deal, the dealer must then declare a winner, and a loser, or a tie, for that hand. The winner of the hand is the player who won the most tricks, but the loser of the hand is NOT necessarily the player who didn't win any tricks, or won the least number of tricks. The loser is the player who chose the Trump but did not win most of the tricks, and lost the hand he was supposed to win. In every deal someone must choose the Trump, and because that player is claiming that he will win the most tricks, he is declared the loser and has been “Euchred” if he doesn't.

4. Every hand that is played does not always have a winner and a loser.

There are 3 possible outcomes at the end of each hand:

i. There could be a Winner Without A Loser.

If the player who chose the Trump wins the most tricks he has won the hand, and no one is Euchred. The winner is given all of the chips that are left in the pot, after players have been paid for the tricks that they won.

ii. There could be both a Winner And A Loser.

If the player who wins the most tricks did NOT choose the Trump, or if the player who chose the Trump is tied for the most tricks with one other player, then the player who DID choose the Trump is Euchred, and must pay the winner the same amount that they had bet during the betting round to stay in the game. The winner as always, is given all of the chips that are left in the pot, after players have been paid for the tricks that they won. If only one player is tied for the most tricks with the player who chose the Trump, then that player is the winner.

iii. There could be a Loser Without A Winner.

If there is a tie for the most tricks between players who did NOT choose the Trump, then the player who DID choose the Trump is Euchred, and must pay the same amount that he had bet on his hand during the betting round into the pot, again. If a single player does not win most of the tricks in a particular hand, or tie for the most tricks with the player who chose the Trump, then all wagers made during the betting round, and the Euchred player's extra contribution, remain in the pot to be included in the next deal, because there is no winner to give them to.

5. All of the chips that each player contributes to the pot during the betting round are paid to the player who chose the Trump, IF he wins most of the tricks. If the player who chose the Trump does NOT win the most tricks, then he must pay the player who DID win the most tricks, the same amount that he had bet on his hand during the betting round. These chips are an extra bonus for the winner because he has “Euchred” the player who claimed that they would win. The winner always wins whatever chips remain in the pot, after the players are paid for the tricks they have won, and the loser always pays the same amount that he bet on his hand during the betting round, as a penalty.

6. If more than two players, or two players who did not choose the Trump, are evenly tied for the most tricks, there will not be a winner for that hand, and the remaining chips will be left in the centre of the table to “sweeten” the pot for the next deal. But the player who chose the Trump has definitely been “Euchred” and because there is no winner to pay, he must place the same amount that he had bet on his hand into the pot again, instead.

7. However, if there are only two players tied for the most tricks and one of these players DID choose the Trump, then the player who did NOT choose the Trump wins the hand, and the player who chose the Trump must pay that player the same amount that he had bet on his hand during the betting round. Therefore, when any single player and the player who chose the Trump are tied for the most tricks, the player who chose the Trump is “Euchred” and must pay whatever he bet on his hand to the player that they are tied with, who is now declared the winner.

8. After all of the players have been paid for any tricks that they have won, the remaining chips left in the pot are always given to the single player who won the most tricks, regardless of whether the winner of the hand chose the Trump or not. The player who finally decides which suit is to be Trump has the strongest incentive to win the most tricks, because if he does not win the hand he has been “Euchred” and must either pay the player who did win, or if players are tied and there is not a winner, the player who chose the Trump must pay the same amount that he bet on his hand into the pot, one more time. (see the Poker Chip Scoring Chart near the end)

9. On the extremely rare occasion when one player wins all of the tricks, but did not choose the Trump, he has won what is called a "March" and is awarded the entire pot, including the ante and all wagers that were made, plus the same amount that he bet on his hand during the betting round, from the player who chose the Trump and was "Euchred". However, if a player chooses the Trump and then wins all of the tricks in that hand, he has won what is called a "Grand March", and not only wins the entire pot, but because there is no Euchred player to give him an extra bonus, all of the other active players must each give him the same amount that they had contributed during the betting round, as an additional bonus! These rules for a “March” and a “Grand March” only apply when other players actually play their hands. If all of the other players fold during the betting round, then all contributions are given to the winner anyway, because he wins the entire pot by default.

10. After the banker has dispersed all chip payments and winnings, the player seated to the dealer's left becomes the new dealer, and the deck of cards are handed to him. If any player needs to buy more chips, or wishes to retire from the game and/or cash out, they must do so at this point. The new dealer shuffles the deck, the player to dealer's right cuts the deck, and the cards are dealt one at a time, face-down, clockwise, to each player, beginning with the player to the new dealer's left. (see “Dealing”, points 3 to 6)

11. After all players have the correct number of cards, each player must again place one chip into the pot for each card in his hand. Players must again sort their cards, decide which suit is to be Trump, bet on their hands, and play their hand of cards.

12. The game continues, deal after deal, until one player has won most, or all, of the chips, and/or every player but one, bows out of the game, leaving an uncontested winner!

Card Ranking Chart

If the two Jokers are included in the deck they are considered “Wild Cards” and are the highest ranking cards in the deck, even higher than Trump suit cards, winning any trick in which they are played. Please see the rules about Joker cards near the beginning of this post.

	Right Bower (highest card)	Left Bower (2^nd highest card)	Trump Cards (higher than the other 3 suits)	Cards lower in rank than Trump suit cards
If Spades are Trump	Jack of Spades	Jack of Clubs	Ace of Spades King of Spades Queen of Spades 10 of Spades 9 of Spades 8 of Spades, etc.	Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, 10's, 9's, 8's, 7's, etc., of Hearts, Clubs and Diamonds
If Hearts are Trump	Jack of Hearts	Jack of Diamonds	Ace of Hearts King of Hearts Queen of Hearts 10 of Hearts 9 of Hearts 8 of Hearts, etc.	Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, 10's, 9's, 8's, 7's, etc., of Spades, Clubs and Diamonds
If Clubs are Trump	Jack of Clubs	Jack of Spades	Ace of Clubs King of Clubs Queen of Clubs 10 of Clubs 9 of Clubs 8 of Clubs, etc.	Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, 10's, 9's, 8's, 7's, etc., of Spades, Hearts and Diamonds
If Diamonds are Trump	Jack of Diamonds	Jack of Hearts	Ace of Diamonds King of Diamonds Queen of Diamonds 10 of Diamonds 9 of Diamonds 8 of Diamonds, etc.	Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, 10's, 9's, 8's, 7's, etc., of Spades Hearts and Clubs

Poker Chip Distribution

The recommended minimum number of poker chips that should be distributed to each player is approximately 5 times the number of cards that will be dealt to each player in that particular game. Of course any player may buy as many more chips as they would like! This is only included to show the absolute minimum each player needs to be able to play the game.

number of players	number of cards each player is dealt	minimum number of chips with which each player must start	Blue Poker Chips each worth 10	Red Poker Chips each worth 5	White Poker Chips each worth 1
2	25	128	8	8	8
3	16 (17)	96	6	6	6
4	12	64	4	4	4
5	10	48	3	3	3
6	8	42	3	2	2
7	7	36	2	3	1
8	6	30	2	1	5
9	5	25	1	2	5
10	5	25	1	2	5
11	4	20	1	1	5
12	4	20	1	1	5

Poker Chip Values

Colour	Dollar Value	Penny Value
White	$1	$0.01
Red	$5	$0.05
Blue	$10	$0.10
Black	$100	$1.00

Card Dealing Chart

If you calculate how many times the number of players will evenly divide into 50, you will have the number of cards that should be dealt to each player. 50 evenly divided by the number of players, equals the number of cards to deal to each player! The only exception is when 3 people are playing a game with two Jokers in the deck. Then 51 cards may be in play, and 17 cards may be dealt to each player.

number of players	number of cards each player is dealt	number of cards in play	number of cards buried without -Jokers- with
2	25	50	2	4
3	16 (17)	48 (51)	4	3
4	12	48	4	6
5	10	50	2	4
6	8	48	4	6
7	7	49	3	5
8	6	48	4	6
9	5	45	7	9
10	5	50	2	4
11	4	44	8	10
12	4	48	4	6

Poker Chip Scoring Chart

	Chose the Trump	Did not choose the Trump
Won all of the tricks	(Grand March) wins the entire pot, plus the amount bet on the hand from each active player, again	(March) wins the entire pot, plus the amount bet on the hand from the Euchred player, again
Won most of the tricks	wins chips for the tricks they won, plus the remaining chips that are in the pot	wins chips for the tricks they won, plus the remaining chips in the pot, plus the amount that was bet on the hand from the Euchred player, again
Tied for the most tricks with 2 or more players	wins chips for the tricks they won, and places the amount bet on the hand into the pot again	wins chips for the tricks they won
Tied for the most tricks with 1 player who DID choose the Trump	N/A	wins chips for the tricks they won, plus the remaining chips in the pot, plus the amount that was bet on the hand from the Euchred player, again
Tied for the most tricks with 1 player who did NOT choose the Trump	wins chips for the tricks they won, and gives the amount bet on the hand to the winner, again	wins chips for the tricks they won
did NOT win the most tricks or didn't win any tricks	If there IS a winner: wins chips for the tricks they won, and gives the amount bet on the hand to the winner, again If there is NOT a winner: wins chips for the tricks they won, and places the amount bet on the hand into the pot again	wins chips for the tricks they won

Playing Poker-Euchre Without Poker Chips

Surprise! Even though it's far more fun to play with poker chips, if for some reason you can't use them, Poker-Euchre may be played without using any poker chips! This is how people play the game on planes, trains, and buses!

The rules are basically the same as regular Poker-Euchre, but you can ignore any of the rules that mention the banker and poker chips, and add the rules below:

1. Before the cards are dealt out to any of the players one player must be designated by all of the others to be the scorekeeper. The scorekeeper must be equipped with a pencil, eraser, and notepad. After players have chosen a scorekeeper, all tallying of tricks and scores may only be processed by the scorekeeper. Players may not discuss and compare tricks or scores with any other player.

2. When a player wins a trick they must collect all of the cards that were played in that trick, turn them face-down, and set them to one side in a little stack. They must neatly stack the next trick they win, face-down, overlapping it onto the previous, and so on, carefully keeping track of how many tricks they have won, and assuring other players that their cards cannot be tampered with.

3. When a deal is finished and all of the cards have been played, each player tallies up the total number of tricks they have won and reports to the scorekeeper. Trick reporting begins with the player to the dealer's left and continues clockwise, each player in turn, with the dealer being the last to report their total to the scorekeeper. Players must clearly state the number of of tricks they believe they have won, and present the corresponding cards to prove it.

4. After the scorekeeper records the total number of tricks won by each player he awards one point to each player for every card they have won in that hand. One card is always worth one point. Then the scorekeeper awards as many bonus points as there are players in the game to the player who won the most tricks. For example, if there are 7 players in the game the scorekeeper awards 7 bonus points to the player who won the most tricks.

5. The player who wins the most tricks “wins the hand” and if he chose the Trump he also receives the bonus points. If the player who chose the Trump did NOT win most of the tricks then he has been “Euchred” and he LOSES one point for every player in the game, and the player who DID win most of the tricks RECEIVES one point for every player in the game. Of course, if the player who chose the Trump DOES “win the hand” he is awarded one point for each card he won in that hand, and one point for every player in the game for winning the most tricks.

6. If more than two players end up evenly tied for the most tricks, regardless of whether the player who chose the Trump is one of them, or if only two players are tied and the player who chose the Trump is not one of them, there will not be a winner and bonus points will not be awarded for that hand. But the player who chose the Trump is definitely “Euchred” and loses one point for every player in the game.

7. However, if only one other player is tied for the most tricks with the player who chose the Trump, then the player who did not choose the Trump is declared the winner and is awarded one point for every player in the game. In this case as well, the player who chose the Trump is also considered to be “Euchred” and loses one point for every player in the game.

8. On the extremely rare occasion when one player wins all of the tricks (called a "March") he is awarded one point for every card in that hand and one point for every player in the game, and the player who chose the Trump is “Euchred” and loses one point for every player in the game. However, if the player who chose the Trump wins all of the tricks in the hand (called a "Grand March") he not only wins all of the cards in that hand as points, but instead of receiving only one point per player in bonus points, he is awarded TWO points for every player in the game!

9. For example, if there are 6 players in a game and one player wins all of the tricks, he is awarded one point for every card in that hand (48 points) plus 6 bonus points for winning all of the tricks, for a "March" total of 54 points, and the player who chose the Trump loses 6 points. But if a player in a game with 6 players chooses the Trump and then wins all of the tricks in the hand, he will receive one point for every card in that hand (48 points) plus 12 bonus points for a "Grand March" total of 60 points!

10. The first player to reach a score of 100 points wins the game. In the case of a tie between players, another hand is played by the players who are tied, and the winner of that hand wins the game.

Poker Euchre

Thursday, 2 March 2017

An Exciting Sample Game

Wednesday, 18 January 2017

How To Play Poker Euchre