("YOO-ker")
June 16, 2015 12:06 PM Subscribe
Mooing at the barn doors...
posted by pointless_incessant_barking at 12:12 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by pointless_incessant_barking at 12:12 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
College was a fun, if unproductive, time.
Euchre was the only thing I learned that first year of college in northern Michigan.
posted by marxchivist at 12:16 PM on June 16, 2015 [7 favorites]
Euchre was the only thing I learned that first year of college in northern Michigan.
posted by marxchivist at 12:16 PM on June 16, 2015 [7 favorites]
Another college grad of the Euchre belt here. Then I moved to Atlanta, where we had some great Purdue - IU alumni Euchre competitions in the afternoons preceding Purdue - IU basketball games. IU always won the card games, as you would expect of Indiana's largest high school ;) They had way more time to screw off and play cards than we did.
posted by COD at 12:19 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by COD at 12:19 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
Seemed like everyone played Euchre at lunch at my high school in southern Ontario in the '80s. Euchre tournaments were pretty common around there as well.
posted by fimbulvetr at 12:24 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by fimbulvetr at 12:24 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
I had a spare in grade 12 in high school... it pretty much shoul dhave been a half-credit in Euchre.
The real challenge of learning the game is that often only the first couple of tricks really matter. In So many games there'd be one card played an then everyone would just throw down all their cards at once and points would be tallied. If you don't know what's going on it's impenetrable.
posted by GuyZero at 12:27 PM on June 16, 2015 [8 favorites]
The real challenge of learning the game is that often only the first couple of tricks really matter. In So many games there'd be one card played an then everyone would just throw down all their cards at once and points would be tallied. If you don't know what's going on it's impenetrable.
posted by GuyZero at 12:27 PM on June 16, 2015 [8 favorites]
Bridge is hard. And it's a more formal game.
Bridge was for Bridge Club in high school.
Euchre was for spares.
Lunch was for Asshole.
posted by GuyZero at 12:32 PM on June 16, 2015 [11 favorites]
Bridge was for Bridge Club in high school.
Euchre was for spares.
Lunch was for Asshole.
posted by GuyZero at 12:32 PM on June 16, 2015 [11 favorites]
I also learned euchre at college in Michigan.
When I was a kid, my parents used to forbid me from going outside to play after dinner so that they could have a third for pinochle. My hands weren't big enough to fan out my cards so I would sit on the floor and lay the cards out on the shelf of the coffee table. I grew up thinking I was TERRIBLE at card games, but as it turns out my parents were just insanely good and never, never let me win.
The guys who taught me euchre thought I was sharking them. I told them I wasn't any good at card games but they taught me euchre and I proceeded to murder them over and over again. As I remember it, euchre was way simpler than pinochle. Apparently all that losing as an eight-year-old taught me a useful skill.
My dad, the real card shark, used to say that euchre was like sex - one good hand and you could go alone.
posted by rekrap at 12:34 PM on June 16, 2015 [39 favorites]
When I was a kid, my parents used to forbid me from going outside to play after dinner so that they could have a third for pinochle. My hands weren't big enough to fan out my cards so I would sit on the floor and lay the cards out on the shelf of the coffee table. I grew up thinking I was TERRIBLE at card games, but as it turns out my parents were just insanely good and never, never let me win.
The guys who taught me euchre thought I was sharking them. I told them I wasn't any good at card games but they taught me euchre and I proceeded to murder them over and over again. As I remember it, euchre was way simpler than pinochle. Apparently all that losing as an eight-year-old taught me a useful skill.
My dad, the real card shark, used to say that euchre was like sex - one good hand and you could go alone.
posted by rekrap at 12:34 PM on June 16, 2015 [39 favorites]
The real challenge of learning the game is that often only the first couple of tricks really matter. In So many games there'd be one card played an then everyone would just throw down all their cards at once and points would be tallied. If you don't know what's going on it's impenetrable.
...that is the best part of the game - particularly when going alone, or taking fiendish delight in euching the opposing team ('you've played a trump, we've won an off-suite trick, and now we'll take the next two tricks, thank you very much').
I played so much Euchre in college, it pains me when I play it now and people attempt to insist on 'friendly' rules to make it easier. 'Screw the dealer' being the only applicable rule, none of this 'ace-no-face', etc. nonsense. We played so much euchre in the engineering club room we took to inventing variations (super-euchre being particularly entertaining - played with two euchre decks) to pass the time, and make it a bit harder...
There were a few people who were equally addicted to cribbage, but that didn't catch on in quite the same way.
posted by combinatorial explosion at 12:36 PM on June 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
...that is the best part of the game - particularly when going alone, or taking fiendish delight in euching the opposing team ('you've played a trump, we've won an off-suite trick, and now we'll take the next two tricks, thank you very much').
I played so much Euchre in college, it pains me when I play it now and people attempt to insist on 'friendly' rules to make it easier. 'Screw the dealer' being the only applicable rule, none of this 'ace-no-face', etc. nonsense. We played so much euchre in the engineering club room we took to inventing variations (super-euchre being particularly entertaining - played with two euchre decks) to pass the time, and make it a bit harder...
There were a few people who were equally addicted to cribbage, but that didn't catch on in quite the same way.
posted by combinatorial explosion at 12:36 PM on June 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
I knew nothing about euchre except the name, so thanks for the post. (I wouldn't take the Juckerspiel etymology too seriously, by the way—all my dictionaries say "origin unknown.") In my family we played hearts, where you also "shoot the moon" (of which I was an acknowledged master), and we took no prisoners; a girlfriend I brought home left the table in tears because she kept getting clobbered. I wonder if anyone's studied the dynamics of family games?
posted by languagehat at 12:36 PM on June 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by languagehat at 12:36 PM on June 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
I wonder if anyone's studied the dynamics of family games?
Basically backstabbing and bitter rivalry aren't just for dynastic royalty.
posted by GuyZero at 12:39 PM on June 16, 2015 [7 favorites]
Basically backstabbing and bitter rivalry aren't just for dynastic royalty.
posted by GuyZero at 12:39 PM on June 16, 2015 [7 favorites]
"Do you play Euchre?"
"Of course I do, I'm UCHRE-ANIAN!"
Bad joke that I exhausted in high school.
Euchre was definitely dominant at my school. But more exclusive was the small but passionate circle of Briscola players.
posted by Kabanos at 12:43 PM on June 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
"Of course I do, I'm UCHRE-ANIAN!"
Bad joke that I exhausted in high school.
Euchre was definitely dominant at my school. But more exclusive was the small but passionate circle of Briscola players.
posted by Kabanos at 12:43 PM on June 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
"...EUCHRE!" (horse whinnies)
posted by JHarris at 12:46 PM on June 16, 2015 [14 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 12:46 PM on June 16, 2015 [14 favorites]
I also played a lot more euchre in high school than I did in university, where it was all about Asshole and a drinking game named Hockey (although, somehow, not this Hockey).
The one time I suggested playing crib I was met with embarrassed silence.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:47 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
The one time I suggested playing crib I was met with embarrassed silence.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:47 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
We found enough transplanted Midwestern MeFites to organize a Euchre meetup in LA, once. But the game is alive and well in Chicago, where you have your pick of which league you want to join.
posted by hwyengr at 12:56 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by hwyengr at 12:56 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
We play every Monday at a bar in Detroit, every Tuesday at a bar in Pontiac, and every Thursday at a bowling alley in Waterford. Different rules at different venues: more paperwork at the Detroit game, more relaxed play at the Pontiac game, and severely restrictive rules in Waterford.
There are common themes. Drinking, of course, and hearing "SHUT THE FUCK UP AND DEAL" when people get too chatty. A quarter a euchre is typical, with getting euchred on a loner costing a dollar. Because Jesus Christ what were you thinking.
Point being, if you're in Michigan, you can always find a game somewhere.
posted by disclaimer at 12:57 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
There are common themes. Drinking, of course, and hearing "SHUT THE FUCK UP AND DEAL" when people get too chatty. A quarter a euchre is typical, with getting euchred on a loner costing a dollar. Because Jesus Christ what were you thinking.
Point being, if you're in Michigan, you can always find a game somewhere.
posted by disclaimer at 12:57 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
[Puts scorecards in ears, folds hands together with thumbs pointing down. Partner begins to "milk" thumbs.]
Moooo! Mooooo!
posted by charred husk at 1:00 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Moooo! Mooooo!
posted by charred husk at 1:00 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's popular among older folks here in Western NY but I had never heard of it growing up on Long Island. I can play, but only barely, so I tend not to get asked to join.
posted by tommasz at 1:02 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by tommasz at 1:02 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
I still play it with my southwestern Ontario family almost every time I visit.
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:06 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:06 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Believe it or not, it's not actually part of Indiana's high school graduation requirements, for the same reason that education on how to walk, eat, and breathe aren't.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:11 PM on June 16, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:11 PM on June 16, 2015 [6 favorites]
Different rules at different venues
My main league allows defending alone; 4 pts if you can set them. Never thought I'd ever see it used until this guy goes alone on a hand I was going to go alone on.
He put up a bit of a fuss, not knowing that was a thing, but league rules were clarified, and we were 4 points richer.
posted by hwyengr at 1:13 PM on June 16, 2015
My main league allows defending alone; 4 pts if you can set them. Never thought I'd ever see it used until this guy goes alone on a hand I was going to go alone on.
He put up a bit of a fuss, not knowing that was a thing, but league rules were clarified, and we were 4 points richer.
posted by hwyengr at 1:13 PM on June 16, 2015
Euchre lesson. :-)
I'm in first position, to the left of the dealer. My hand.
J♥J♦A♥10♦9♦
Card up is Q♦. Nobody orders, dealer turns it down. Back to me.
I call Hearts Alone. You're thinking "are you nuts?" Nope. Why didn't I open? Because, really, I'm kinda of a jerk at Euchre sometimes and saw a mean loner.
What beats that 10♦? The trumps, of course, but I've got the lead and the three best trumps in Hearts. Nobody is strong in Diamonds because nobody ordered -- and they were screwed if they did, with me sitting on four Diamonds topped with the bowers and two void suits, and a singleton ace in the third. That's a hand that'll screw someone calling BADLY.
So, three top trumps to strip trumps. I need to pull the A♦ and K♦ out, or have them in my partner's hand or the kitty. In fact, the king was in my partner's hand, the ace was in the kitty. It was unstoppable unless someone held four hearts -- you just had to know that, with the Q♦ gone and the lead, it's actually a pretty solid loner, despite looking weak. Nobody held four hearts, and BOOM 4 points. When I played that 10♦, my the looks I got were only topped by the laughter from my partner when they both had to sluff off. Then when I played the 9♦? EPIC.
Really, though, you order the Q♦ -- four trumps off ace is a solid loner, though you lose the loner if the deal has the A♦K♦ when you order. But it is SO MUCH MORE FUN to go loner with an offsuit 10-9 and have it work. Trust me on that.
posted by eriko at 1:15 PM on June 16, 2015 [15 favorites]
I'm in first position, to the left of the dealer. My hand.
J♥J♦A♥10♦9♦
Card up is Q♦. Nobody orders, dealer turns it down. Back to me.
I call Hearts Alone. You're thinking "are you nuts?" Nope. Why didn't I open? Because, really, I'm kinda of a jerk at Euchre sometimes and saw a mean loner.
What beats that 10♦? The trumps, of course, but I've got the lead and the three best trumps in Hearts. Nobody is strong in Diamonds because nobody ordered -- and they were screwed if they did, with me sitting on four Diamonds topped with the bowers and two void suits, and a singleton ace in the third. That's a hand that'll screw someone calling BADLY.
So, three top trumps to strip trumps. I need to pull the A♦ and K♦ out, or have them in my partner's hand or the kitty. In fact, the king was in my partner's hand, the ace was in the kitty. It was unstoppable unless someone held four hearts -- you just had to know that, with the Q♦ gone and the lead, it's actually a pretty solid loner, despite looking weak. Nobody held four hearts, and BOOM 4 points. When I played that 10♦, my the looks I got were only topped by the laughter from my partner when they both had to sluff off. Then when I played the 9♦? EPIC.
Really, though, you order the Q♦ -- four trumps off ace is a solid loner, though you lose the loner if the deal has the A♦K♦ when you order. But it is SO MUCH MORE FUN to go loner with an offsuit 10-9 and have it work. Trust me on that.
posted by eriko at 1:15 PM on June 16, 2015 [15 favorites]
It must be a Midwest thing. I grew up in Louisiana, never having heard of it.
Every year while in college at Miami University, I'd learn how to play it sometime in winter. We didn't play cards as much as spring wore on, and I'd forget over the summer. This cycle repeated every year.
posted by MrGuilt at 1:18 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Every year while in college at Miami University, I'd learn how to play it sometime in winter. We didn't play cards as much as spring wore on, and I'd forget over the summer. This cycle repeated every year.
posted by MrGuilt at 1:18 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
J♥J♦A♥10♦9♦
That sounds like a pretty secure loner to me- at worst you're walking away with what you'd expect to anyway (since you generally can only count on one trick from your partner when making trump) and for the reasons you outline you've got a strong shot at 4. I'd say going alone is very plainly the right move.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:21 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
That sounds like a pretty secure loner to me- at worst you're walking away with what you'd expect to anyway (since you generally can only count on one trick from your partner when making trump) and for the reasons you outline you've got a strong shot at 4. I'd say going alone is very plainly the right move.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:21 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
Uecker? Doesn't sound like a safe game to play.
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:28 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:28 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yeah that's a loner. I pulled one off without the bowers once. ONCE. Solid spade hand with an outside ace. Turns out the bowers were buried.
posted by disclaimer at 1:53 PM on June 16, 2015
posted by disclaimer at 1:53 PM on June 16, 2015
Hwyengr, that's how we play it too. If you get euchred in a loner, you pay the kitty a dollar and defenders get 4 points.
posted by disclaimer at 1:56 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by disclaimer at 1:56 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Count me as another who picked up the game first thing in college in Michigan. Actually grew up in Michigan but to mostly Wisconsin-bred cribbage players, so it wasn't until UM that I spent more time trying to hang onto a low trump to bust someone's shot at the moon. There was a lot more trying to stack the deck there than any other game I'd played before or since, too.
posted by Metro Gnome at 1:56 PM on June 16, 2015
posted by Metro Gnome at 1:56 PM on June 16, 2015
Yeah that's a loner. I pulled one off without the bowers once. ONCE. Solid spade hand with an outside ace. Turns out the bowers were buried.
Growing up my stepdad LOVED going alone on the worst garbage he dared, and damned if he didn't pull it out more often than not. Realizing you've just been completely skunked by somebody who had no business doing it is a pain the euchre player learns all too well...
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:00 PM on June 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Growing up my stepdad LOVED going alone on the worst garbage he dared, and damned if he didn't pull it out more often than not. Realizing you've just been completely skunked by somebody who had no business doing it is a pain the euchre player learns all too well...
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:00 PM on June 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Childhood in Wisconsin, and I grew up playing euchre and cribbage. I credit cribbage with my ability to add things quickly in my head, and I learned how to swear effectively watching my aunts and uncles play euchre in my formative years. Good times.
posted by chaoticgood at 2:01 PM on June 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by chaoticgood at 2:01 PM on June 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
My Michigan-raised parents have taught me euchre each year for the past five or so years. Each year I forget how to play about thirty seconds after we finish.
Anyway, LAY DOWN BOWER GO IT ALONE TRICKS!
posted by mullacc at 2:06 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Anyway, LAY DOWN BOWER GO IT ALONE TRICKS!
posted by mullacc at 2:06 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Does anyone know any good online sites? I used to play on Playsite a lot. That died and I want to Yahoo. Euchres gone from there, and the pickin's are slim. It got to the point where I thought of writing my own Euchre web site, but then if no one comes...that's REALLY pathetic.
posted by SNACKeR at 2:13 PM on June 16, 2015
posted by SNACKeR at 2:13 PM on June 16, 2015
How do we feel about stealing the deal? Is it legal in your jurisdiction?
posted by Iridic at 2:14 PM on June 16, 2015
posted by Iridic at 2:14 PM on June 16, 2015
My Michigander wife and all of her friends play Euchre whenever we're there visiting. She usually partners with her brother which gives them an unfair advantage since apparently they can read each others minds.
posted by JaredSeth at 2:29 PM on June 16, 2015
posted by JaredSeth at 2:29 PM on June 16, 2015
My favorite euchre memory was when I was playing against a co-worker whose body language was very readable. He was dealing, I was sitting to his right. He turned up the 9 of diamonds (usually an awful choice). My partner and his passed with alacrity leaving it up to me to pass or call him up. My hand was entirely black. The dealer's fingers were hovering and twitching over the card and his eyes were bulging. So I told him to pick it up. He gave me a look and screamed "You can't do that!!!!! You can't have a decent hand!!!!!" I replied, quietly, that I most certainly could have him pick it up and would he please do so. Of course, he had a "Lay Down Loner" i.e. just lay down the cards, you can't be beat. It took him a few seconds to realize that by calling him up I had given them two points via a euchre but I had kept him from scoring four. We won the match 10 to 8.
posted by TDavis at 2:34 PM on June 16, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by TDavis at 2:34 PM on June 16, 2015 [7 favorites]
How do we feel about stealing the deal? Is it legal in your jurisdiction?
Oh hell yeah.
One time, we were playing these guys. And they kept bragging about how good they were at stealing the deal.
As I kept stealing the deal, of course. I was getting three deals for every one.
Finally, my sense of pride kicked it. You don't shoot fish in a barrel. It's not sporting. So, I put the deck down in front of them and said "I think it's your deal."
And my partner went "Actually, I thought he dealt that, right?" picked up the deck, and dealt it out.
AND THEY BOUGHT IT.
We were fucking EPIC that night. We were unstoppable. And we were not even trying.
posted by eriko at 2:36 PM on June 16, 2015 [9 favorites]
Oh hell yeah.
One time, we were playing these guys. And they kept bragging about how good they were at stealing the deal.
As I kept stealing the deal, of course. I was getting three deals for every one.
Finally, my sense of pride kicked it. You don't shoot fish in a barrel. It's not sporting. So, I put the deck down in front of them and said "I think it's your deal."
And my partner went "Actually, I thought he dealt that, right?" picked up the deck, and dealt it out.
AND THEY BOUGHT IT.
We were fucking EPIC that night. We were unstoppable. And we were not even trying.
posted by eriko at 2:36 PM on June 16, 2015 [9 favorites]
Where I come from in northern Michigan, euchre is merely the card game you play until you graduate to spitzer.
Spitzer is chess to euchre's checkers. Doesn't seem like anyone's heard of it outside of Presque Isle County, which is too bad because it's an amazing card game.
posted by scrowdid at 2:41 PM on June 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Spitzer is chess to euchre's checkers. Doesn't seem like anyone's heard of it outside of Presque Isle County, which is too bad because it's an amazing card game.
posted by scrowdid at 2:41 PM on June 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
I still play it with my southwestern Ontario family almost every time I visit.
posted by The Card Cheat
Eponysterical!
In my trans-Canadian experience, it seems fairly limited to Ontario and the Maritimes. I'm from the Ottawa Valley but work in Manitoba: nobody here knows it.
Once at my grandmother's in Peterborough, my cousin from Vancouver Island was touting her knowledge when her mother had to stop her cold with "Honey, you're from B.C. Nobody from B.C. knows Euchre."
posted by The Notorious SRD at 2:43 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat
Eponysterical!
In my trans-Canadian experience, it seems fairly limited to Ontario and the Maritimes. I'm from the Ottawa Valley but work in Manitoba: nobody here knows it.
Once at my grandmother's in Peterborough, my cousin from Vancouver Island was touting her knowledge when her mother had to stop her cold with "Honey, you're from B.C. Nobody from B.C. knows Euchre."
posted by The Notorious SRD at 2:43 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
Grew up in Ohio. My first boyfriend tried to teach me euchre. I am terrible at trick-taking games. Terrible. I have no ability to strategize in these types of games. He was really into me, as first relationships often go, but I'm pretty sure he was questioning things as we reliably lost every single hand he couldn't just go it alone on.
I'm bad at Hearts too. It's just that while I've never won a game, I am very, very good at making sure other people screw up attempts to shoot the moon, or doling out the Queen when it's least expected. So that's basically my purpose in life. Screwing other people's strategies.
Basically, never play a trick-taking game with me, and most certainly don't volunteer to be my partner.
posted by olinerd at 3:08 PM on June 16, 2015
I'm bad at Hearts too. It's just that while I've never won a game, I am very, very good at making sure other people screw up attempts to shoot the moon, or doling out the Queen when it's least expected. So that's basically my purpose in life. Screwing other people's strategies.
Basically, never play a trick-taking game with me, and most certainly don't volunteer to be my partner.
posted by olinerd at 3:08 PM on June 16, 2015
I only played the summer I was in IBM Basic training. The instigators were from Buffalo.
I enjoyed it immensely, but when I got home and looked it up in Hoyle, the rules there were not close to the ones I played with. Are there lots of variations?
posted by MtDewd at 3:08 PM on June 16, 2015
I enjoyed it immensely, but when I got home and looked it up in Hoyle, the rules there were not close to the ones I played with. Are there lots of variations?
posted by MtDewd at 3:08 PM on June 16, 2015
How do we feel about stealing the deal? Is it legal in your jurisdiction?
Also known as Filthy Euchre.
posted by Celsius1414 at 3:11 PM on June 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
Also known as Filthy Euchre.
posted by Celsius1414 at 3:11 PM on June 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
My Michigan-born man-friend just bought himself this I Never Pass On A Bower! t-shirt from The Mitten State and his siblings oozed with jealousy when they saw the pic.
posted by jabes at 3:22 PM on June 16, 2015
posted by jabes at 3:22 PM on June 16, 2015
I've barely been IN Michigan but I know how to play Euchre.
I learned in the Navy, endless hours on an aircraft carrier when the weather is too lousy to fly.
Good times...
posted by Confess, Fletch at 3:27 PM on June 16, 2015
I learned in the Navy, endless hours on an aircraft carrier when the weather is too lousy to fly.
Good times...
posted by Confess, Fletch at 3:27 PM on June 16, 2015
Are there lots of variations?
Wikipedia describes some variations (and alludes to some sort of 52-card abomination called "bacon"), but I've only ever played by the rules described in the FPP.
What seem to make for most of the variety in American play are regional house rules (e.g., whether you "screw" the dealer by forcing them to name trump) and terminology, which can get extremely local. If, for example, you get euchred while going alone in northeastern Ohio, then you've been "Holmes County'd."
posted by Iridic at 3:28 PM on June 16, 2015
Wikipedia describes some variations (and alludes to some sort of 52-card abomination called "bacon"), but I've only ever played by the rules described in the FPP.
What seem to make for most of the variety in American play are regional house rules (e.g., whether you "screw" the dealer by forcing them to name trump) and terminology, which can get extremely local. If, for example, you get euchred while going alone in northeastern Ohio, then you've been "Holmes County'd."
posted by Iridic at 3:28 PM on June 16, 2015
Turn down a bower, lose for an hour.
posted by Roger Dodger at 3:33 PM on June 16, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by Roger Dodger at 3:33 PM on June 16, 2015 [9 favorites]
This isn't like 'your favorite trick-taking game sucks,' because I really really like euchre, and trick-taking games are my favorite card games. I do, however, slightly prefer spades.
posted by box at 3:35 PM on June 16, 2015
posted by box at 3:35 PM on June 16, 2015
"Honey, you're from B.C. Nobody from B.C. knows Euchre."
QFT. As a BC gal, I learned how to play euchre during an internship with a supervisor from Ontario. Whiled away many a lunch hour.
I don't play much these days, but I'd be surprised if any of my local friends knew how to play.
posted by invokeuse at 3:49 PM on June 16, 2015
QFT. As a BC gal, I learned how to play euchre during an internship with a supervisor from Ontario. Whiled away many a lunch hour.
I don't play much these days, but I'd be surprised if any of my local friends knew how to play.
posted by invokeuse at 3:49 PM on June 16, 2015
I loves me some euchre. I grew-up through the 60's watching my dad, uncles, and grandfather playing euchre deep into the night. Cold Stroh's all around, and nickle side-bets per-trick between dad and grandpa. We often meet friends at a bar or pub, have drinks and something to eat, then spend the evening playing euchre (and buying more drinks, of course.)
What seem to make for most of the variety in American play are regional house rules (e.g., whether you "screw" the dealer by forcing them to name trump)
Screw-the-Dealer is our preferred game. I have one friend who we simply refuse to play euchre with. He insists on playing double-deck. That turns a fun little game made for friendly conversation and beer into a horrible slog. No fun.
And, yes, I will pass dirty.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:50 PM on June 16, 2015
What seem to make for most of the variety in American play are regional house rules (e.g., whether you "screw" the dealer by forcing them to name trump)
Screw-the-Dealer is our preferred game. I have one friend who we simply refuse to play euchre with. He insists on playing double-deck. That turns a fun little game made for friendly conversation and beer into a horrible slog. No fun.
And, yes, I will pass dirty.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:50 PM on June 16, 2015
I come from a pinochle family but, having been raised in Michigan and attended a Michigan university, I'm plenty familiar with euchre (which I tend to think of, dismissively, as "a trick-taking game that's been simplified enough to be playable by the inebriated.)
A few years ago I was at a public meeting in my town in southeast Alaska. As the meeting broke up, someone I knew said to me "Hey, (Nerd of the North), you're from Michigan, right? You probably know how to play euchre." Before I could answer, two other people in the crowd piped up: "Did someone say euchre?" and "I'm from Indiana. Are you guys talking about euchre?"
Someday I'm going to write a story where euchre familiarity, or lack thereof, is the shibboleth that reveals or disproves a character's Great-Lakes-region background. Though I may have to make allowances for people who grew up in the cribbage-playing part of the U.P. or in non-card-playing households in the Michiana Mennonite belt.
posted by Nerd of the North at 3:57 PM on June 16, 2015 [13 favorites]
A few years ago I was at a public meeting in my town in southeast Alaska. As the meeting broke up, someone I knew said to me "Hey, (Nerd of the North), you're from Michigan, right? You probably know how to play euchre." Before I could answer, two other people in the crowd piped up: "Did someone say euchre?" and "I'm from Indiana. Are you guys talking about euchre?"
Someday I'm going to write a story where euchre familiarity, or lack thereof, is the shibboleth that reveals or disproves a character's Great-Lakes-region background. Though I may have to make allowances for people who grew up in the cribbage-playing part of the U.P. or in non-card-playing households in the Michiana Mennonite belt.
posted by Nerd of the North at 3:57 PM on June 16, 2015 [13 favorites]
(which I tend to think of, dismissively, as "a trick-taking game that's been simplified enough to be playable by the inebriated.)
I liked to think of it as a card game you played with your brain stem as opposed to your brain. You just eventually turned into a dissociated pattern recognition machine and conducted conversations with your actual brain while you played euchre with the brain stem.
posted by GuyZero at 4:35 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
I liked to think of it as a card game you played with your brain stem as opposed to your brain. You just eventually turned into a dissociated pattern recognition machine and conducted conversations with your actual brain while you played euchre with the brain stem.
posted by GuyZero at 4:35 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
Huh. Is the character "Jack Bauer" a reference to euchre?
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:21 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:21 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
In my part of Ohio we always called it "Bridge for people who aren't playing with a full deck."
posted by straight at 5:31 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by straight at 5:31 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
I should have some people over for 500. I know I have a couple of six handed decks around here somewhere…
posted by zamboni at 5:58 PM on June 16, 2015
posted by zamboni at 5:58 PM on June 16, 2015
We host a Euchre tournament every year at a family reunion in western Pennsylvania which seems to be the edge of the euchre belt, and that's probably the only time of the year I play it. The card game of choice for the rest of the year tends to be a variant of canasta.
posted by tealNoise at 6:54 PM on June 16, 2015
posted by tealNoise at 6:54 PM on June 16, 2015
I grew up in Illinois so I learned to play Euchre young. When I was playing it regularly I would only look at my hand when it was delt to me, then I'd keep it face down on the table, and just pull the cards as needed.
I'm always sad when there is a group of 4 people, there are cards, and they don't know how to play Euchre.
posted by MrBobaFett at 7:34 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm always sad when there is a group of 4 people, there are cards, and they don't know how to play Euchre.
posted by MrBobaFett at 7:34 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Southwest Ohioan checking in here.
Wow. I haven't played in years, but as soon as the guy in the video started to deal, I yelled "NO!" and stopped watching as soon as he said it is no big deal. BLASPHEMY. Twos and Threes, always.
You also do not touch the cards until they are all dealt, or you chase away the faces.
posted by figment of my conation at 8:07 PM on June 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Wow. I haven't played in years, but as soon as the guy in the video started to deal, I yelled "NO!" and stopped watching as soon as he said it is no big deal. BLASPHEMY. Twos and Threes, always.
You also do not touch the cards until they are all dealt, or you chase away the faces.
posted by figment of my conation at 8:07 PM on June 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
I live in the PNW and learned euchre because I had a misspent childhood reading 19th century novels and decided I needed to learn (that and whist). I've never played it face to face but have played against people over the Internet. Please hope me?
posted by fiercekitten at 8:19 PM on June 16, 2015
posted by fiercekitten at 8:19 PM on June 16, 2015
Toledo, OH, here. My (now) husband and his high school buds used to meet up every day between classes at the University of Toledo to play Euchre. I don't play cards, but I surely did love listening to them shit-talk at one another.
Apparently, they used to play every day at lunch from elementary school on. They STILL get together from time to time to play. Such Midwest. So Ohio. Wow.
posted by MissySedai at 8:22 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Apparently, they used to play every day at lunch from elementary school on. They STILL get together from time to time to play. Such Midwest. So Ohio. Wow.
posted by MissySedai at 8:22 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
We have big euchre tournaments in Northern Indiana whenever enough extended family has gathered. Two main rules: First, your partner cannot be your spouse or sibling, that's basically cheating. Second, if you married into the family your partner cannot also have married into the family because you both probably suck and it's sad when you get whupped that bad.
posted by dogwalker at 8:39 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by dogwalker at 8:39 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
My grandfather would play during break times at the Ford plant he worked at in the 30s-70s. They played two complete games in 10 minutes. No BS, just play.
posted by mmb5 at 9:11 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by mmb5 at 9:11 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've never known it was spelled bower!
I thought it was bauer!
God I miss home right now.
posted by littlewater at 9:33 PM on June 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
I thought it was bauer!
God I miss home right now.
posted by littlewater at 9:33 PM on June 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Californian, born and raised, now residing in the mitten. I first encountered euchre from some Canadians while in high school, but never learned how to play until I moved to Michigan for college. I've played enough at this point that it's close to rote, so often we end up playing some form of bid euchre.
posted by Vendar at 9:41 PM on June 16, 2015
posted by Vendar at 9:41 PM on June 16, 2015
Potomac Avenue
Southern Wisconsin College
Euchre
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:51 PM on June 16, 2015
Southern Wisconsin College
Euchre
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:51 PM on June 16, 2015
Top game in Ontario cottage country because you can never be too drunk to play.
posted by bonobothegreat at 10:03 PM on June 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by bonobothegreat at 10:03 PM on June 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ah, to put cards behind my ears and yell "SHOOT THE MOON!"
That's Hearts.
The real challenge of learning the game is that often only the first couple of tricks really matter. In So many games there'd be one card played an then everyone would just throw down all their cards at once and points would be tallied. If you don't know what's going on it's impenetrable.
I learned to play from people who'd been playing together for years. Deal, someone calls it, they'd 7/10 times drop their hands and someone would say "It's yours."
I'm in first position, to the left of the dealer. My hand.
I want a euchre meetup with eriko as my partner.
The thing for me with euchre--and crib, which I love--is that good or bad, it's really not about playing the game. Don't get me wrong, the game is fun. At a certain point, when everyone at the table is on the same level, it's no longer about playing the game. The game itself is a pretty simple mathematical exercise. It's about the conversation and trash talking around the game. Someone orders up a bower? TRASH. And they make it? Absolute respect. It's not one of those games where people are all "oh fuck you if you'd just let me beat you I would have won." Even if there are stakes it's always--in my experience, ymmv--in fun, and always a recognition of "you ordered up a bower with ace nine and you made it? you fuckhead, I'm buying your next pint."
I love euchre, is what I'm saying. (And crib, because for me it's the perfect balance between strategy and luck of the draw).
And you can rattle through a whole hand of euchre in a lunch hour and then enter your school's euchre tournament and get fucked over by the people who are obviously table talking but there aren't enough people to keep an eye on it and yes I'm still slightly bitter about that why do you ask? (my partner Tami and I creamed everyone on a regular basis until we hit those assbags and poof, we were done.)
Screw the dealer? No. My regional rules were:
1) No ace no face no trump = redeal
That's basically it. If the dealer turned it down, then time to redeal.
Basically, once you know it, euchre is a way to keep your hands occupied while you gossip. And once in a while you get a laydown and just drop your cards when you're fourteen and people thrice your age curse you and curse that they can't buy you liquor to slow you down because it's the fourth time you did it to them in one night. (I got lucky that night. And then they screwed the shit out of me--not a euphemism. That specific night eventually I picked up the wrong bower to go with ace ten and NOPE, didn't understand the order to play in.)
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:26 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
That's Hearts.
The real challenge of learning the game is that often only the first couple of tricks really matter. In So many games there'd be one card played an then everyone would just throw down all their cards at once and points would be tallied. If you don't know what's going on it's impenetrable.
I learned to play from people who'd been playing together for years. Deal, someone calls it, they'd 7/10 times drop their hands and someone would say "It's yours."
I'm in first position, to the left of the dealer. My hand.
I want a euchre meetup with eriko as my partner.
The thing for me with euchre--and crib, which I love--is that good or bad, it's really not about playing the game. Don't get me wrong, the game is fun. At a certain point, when everyone at the table is on the same level, it's no longer about playing the game. The game itself is a pretty simple mathematical exercise. It's about the conversation and trash talking around the game. Someone orders up a bower? TRASH. And they make it? Absolute respect. It's not one of those games where people are all "oh fuck you if you'd just let me beat you I would have won." Even if there are stakes it's always--in my experience, ymmv--in fun, and always a recognition of "you ordered up a bower with ace nine and you made it? you fuckhead, I'm buying your next pint."
I love euchre, is what I'm saying. (And crib, because for me it's the perfect balance between strategy and luck of the draw).
And you can rattle through a whole hand of euchre in a lunch hour and then enter your school's euchre tournament and get fucked over by the people who are obviously table talking but there aren't enough people to keep an eye on it and yes I'm still slightly bitter about that why do you ask? (my partner Tami and I creamed everyone on a regular basis until we hit those assbags and poof, we were done.)
Screw the dealer? No. My regional rules were:
1) No ace no face no trump = redeal
That's basically it. If the dealer turned it down, then time to redeal.
Basically, once you know it, euchre is a way to keep your hands occupied while you gossip. And once in a while you get a laydown and just drop your cards when you're fourteen and people thrice your age curse you and curse that they can't buy you liquor to slow you down because it's the fourth time you did it to them in one night. (I got lucky that night. And then they screwed the shit out of me--not a euphemism. That specific night eventually I picked up the wrong bower to go with ace ten and NOPE, didn't understand the order to play in.)
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:26 PM on June 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Never played Euchre, so this discussion is fascinating, like taking a trip to a foreign country.
In my family, we always played Gin on vacations (and I've recently discovered the regular rules are more complex than what I remember, which makes me wonder if my parents taught me a kids' version). In highschool, we played Egyptian Rat Screw generally, and among my particular group of friends we played Canes and a game of our own devising called Leviathan. In college, once we were bored of Magic: the Gathering, we started playing poker for pennies, nickles, and the trinkets and baubles from our junk drawers.
I dunno if I could get into Euchre, just because of the half-size deck. Shuffling it just wouldn't feel right.
posted by rifflesby at 11:35 PM on June 16, 2015
In my family, we always played Gin on vacations (and I've recently discovered the regular rules are more complex than what I remember, which makes me wonder if my parents taught me a kids' version). In highschool, we played Egyptian Rat Screw generally, and among my particular group of friends we played Canes and a game of our own devising called Leviathan. In college, once we were bored of Magic: the Gathering, we started playing poker for pennies, nickles, and the trinkets and baubles from our junk drawers.
I dunno if I could get into Euchre, just because of the half-size deck. Shuffling it just wouldn't feel right.
posted by rifflesby at 11:35 PM on June 16, 2015
To make this a truly Canadian comment, everyone knows that euchre stops At The Hundredth Meridian.
Where the Great Plains begin.
posted by salishsea at 11:49 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
Where the Great Plains begin.
posted by salishsea at 11:49 PM on June 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
The thing for me with euchre--and crib, which I love--is that good or bad, it's really not about playing the game. Don't get me wrong, the game is fun. At a certain point, when everyone at the table is on the same level, it's no longer about playing the game. The game itself is a pretty simple mathematical exercise. It's about the conversation and trash talking around the game. Someone orders up a bower? TRASH. And they make it? Absolute respect. It's not one of those games where people are all "oh fuck you if you'd just let me beat you I would have won." Even if there are stakes it's always--in my experience, ymmv--in fun, and always a recognition of "you ordered up a bower with ace nine and you made it? you fuckhead, I'm buying your next pint."
Oh my god, THIS. I got an ache for some euchre recently and downloaded an app for my tablet. It did not scratch the itch.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:41 AM on June 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
Oh my god, THIS. I got an ache for some euchre recently and downloaded an app for my tablet. It did not scratch the itch.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:41 AM on June 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
Euchre (euchred, euchring); v. trans. Synonyms: beat, bilk, bleed, cheat, chisel, chouse, con, cozen, defraud, diddle, do, do in, fleece, fiddle, flimflam, gaff, gyp, hose [slang], hustle, mulct, nobble [British slang], pluck, ream, rip off, rook, screw, shake down, short, shortchange, skin, skunk, squeeze, stick, stiff, sting, sucker, swindle, thimblerig, victimize. See also: extort, wrench, wrest, wring; clip, gouge, nick, overcharge, soak; exploit, milk; deceive, dupe, fool, gull, trick; rope (in); betray, double-cross; bamboozle, fast-talk.
No wonder I've never been to the Midwest.
posted by Kinbote at 5:26 AM on June 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
No wonder I've never been to the Midwest.
posted by Kinbote at 5:26 AM on June 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
> 1) No ace no face no trump = redeal
That's always been the rule in games I've played, too, but to date it's never happened while I've been at the table. I'm not good enough at math to calculate the probability of that occurring, but it must be really low.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:22 AM on June 17, 2015
That's always been the rule in games I've played, too, but to date it's never happened while I've been at the table. I'm not good enough at math to calculate the probability of that occurring, but it must be really low.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:22 AM on June 17, 2015
I lived in a 5-person student house for the last 3 years of my university life. 5 people in a house was good because there was usually 1 person out or busy, so we pretty much always had 4. We had a massive tournament chart stuck up on the kitchen wall. We played non-stop. I was late to a final exam because of a tournament game.
When I moved from Ontario to BC, I was extremely distressed to find that euchre wasn't well known. I had to find other Ontario transplants in order to satisfy my need to play.
Fortunately, moving to the Middle East was easier than moving to Vancouver, as everyone here knows how to play euchre, they just call it by the wrong name (baloot).
posted by gursky at 6:23 AM on June 17, 2015
When I moved from Ontario to BC, I was extremely distressed to find that euchre wasn't well known. I had to find other Ontario transplants in order to satisfy my need to play.
Fortunately, moving to the Middle East was easier than moving to Vancouver, as everyone here knows how to play euchre, they just call it by the wrong name (baloot).
posted by gursky at 6:23 AM on June 17, 2015
I learned Euchre in college in Rochester, NY but it was just something to do as a break from playing Pitch.
posted by yerfatma at 7:35 AM on June 17, 2015
posted by yerfatma at 7:35 AM on June 17, 2015
(which I tend to think of, dismissively, as "a trick-taking game that's been simplified enough to be playable by the inebriated.)
I liked to think of it as a card game you played with your brain stem as opposed to your brain.
In my part of Ohio we always called it "Bridge for people who aren't playing with a full deck."
Hah. My mom is a strange bird. She confuses easily, especially when drunk, and does not have the kind of logical/mathematical mind that makes some people great at cards. But she rocks at euchre. She'll pick up / call anything, and usually gets away with it. I don't know how she does it, but she's definitely not working out the probability of another diamond turning up or the odds of losing with her king and ten.
Also, you all are blowing my mind with this "no ace no face" misdeal rule, which makes so much more sense than the "ace no face" I've always played with.
posted by gueneverey at 9:46 AM on June 17, 2015
I liked to think of it as a card game you played with your brain stem as opposed to your brain.
In my part of Ohio we always called it "Bridge for people who aren't playing with a full deck."
Hah. My mom is a strange bird. She confuses easily, especially when drunk, and does not have the kind of logical/mathematical mind that makes some people great at cards. But she rocks at euchre. She'll pick up / call anything, and usually gets away with it. I don't know how she does it, but she's definitely not working out the probability of another diamond turning up or the odds of losing with her king and ten.
Also, you all are blowing my mind with this "no ace no face" misdeal rule, which makes so much more sense than the "ace no face" I've always played with.
posted by gueneverey at 9:46 AM on June 17, 2015
I still have a deck of cards left over from college (actually, I think I used them in high school too - that deck has to be 20+ years old). Everything 2-8 is in pretty good shape but A+9-K is worn out and so limp you can barely shuffle them.
No one in Minnesota plays Euchre though, so they sit idle! Ah well, it gave me a reason to learn cribbage. When the kid gets older, I'll teach him the noble art of Euchre, and then he, my wife and I can play cutthroat.
(My main question to other players: What are your score cards? I am very firmly in the 4-6 camp. Way too many people I met in college used 5s for scoring... I always told them sure, if you want, but I'm using a 4 and a 6 for my own damn score)
posted by caution live frogs at 12:43 PM on June 17, 2015
No one in Minnesota plays Euchre though, so they sit idle! Ah well, it gave me a reason to learn cribbage. When the kid gets older, I'll teach him the noble art of Euchre, and then he, my wife and I can play cutthroat.
(My main question to other players: What are your score cards? I am very firmly in the 4-6 camp. Way too many people I met in college used 5s for scoring... I always told them sure, if you want, but I'm using a 4 and a 6 for my own damn score)
posted by caution live frogs at 12:43 PM on June 17, 2015
We always scored with 5s. Never heard of 4-6 scoring until recently.
posted by fimbulvetr at 12:46 PM on June 17, 2015
posted by fimbulvetr at 12:46 PM on June 17, 2015
4 and 6 to keep score. Always keep the 4 on top, the 6 is too heavy.
posted by dogwalker at 12:48 PM on June 17, 2015
posted by dogwalker at 12:48 PM on June 17, 2015
You must use the 4 and 6 so that you can flip over the four when you make your loner.
posted by Roger Dodger at 2:21 PM on June 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Roger Dodger at 2:21 PM on June 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
No one in Minnesota plays Euchre though,
Dirty lies!
No, they don't play euchre in town. Nope. Just out in the country, and some little towns, all over the south east part of the state.
Tournaments are sacrament.
posted by littlewater at 9:37 PM on June 17, 2015
Dirty lies!
No, they don't play euchre in town. Nope. Just out in the country, and some little towns, all over the south east part of the state.
Tournaments are sacrament.
posted by littlewater at 9:37 PM on June 17, 2015
Early in that week of work between Christmas and New Years, when no one is at the office, a co worker and I hosted a Lunch 'n' Learn on euchre. That's about the only thing that happened until everyone came back at the beginning of January.
I have the Jeffreys Software Euchre app on my phone. The AI isn't awesome, but it isn't outright horrid either. It makes up for that by dealing you crap hands about 70% of the time.
posted by Fezboy! at 5:57 AM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
I have the Jeffreys Software Euchre app on my phone. The AI isn't awesome, but it isn't outright horrid either. It makes up for that by dealing you crap hands about 70% of the time.
posted by Fezboy! at 5:57 AM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
I learned to play Euchre when I was a freshman at IU. Haven't played it in forever, though!
posted by SisterHavana at 12:28 AM on June 23, 2015
posted by SisterHavana at 12:28 AM on June 23, 2015
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