The Rules of the Game

Farkle

2009-12-12T16:26:37-08:00

Farkle is an ages-old dice game. It has the advantage that it can be played with just a set of 6 dice and some paper for scoring. It requires no cards, the counting is easy, and it can be taught in just a few minutes. It also contains a good deal of strategy.

Players:

At least two players (the more the merrier!)

Equipment:

Six traditional dice (6-sided)
Pencil and paper to keep score

Object:

Be the first player to 10,000 points by rolling dice.

Play:

Farkle is played in rounds. At the beginning of each round, the player throws all six dice. If no dice can score, the round is over and the player has Farkled. After each throw, the player must set aside at least one scoring die. Then the player has two choices: either stop rolling and take their points, or continue to roll and risk their accumulated points for that round. There is a required minimum point total before you can stop, which is explained below.

If the player has set aside all six dice for scoring, then they continue the round by throwing all six dice anew (and keeping the score they have so far for the round).

Once the round is over, if the player stopped voluntarily, their score is added to their total and the new total is recorded on the paper; if the player Farkled, they do not get any score for the round (and their total score remains unchanged).

If the player's total score is zero (i.e., it's their first turn, or they have thus far only Farkled), then they must have set aside at least 1,000 points before they can stop rolling the dice for the round. After they have recorded points successfully, they need only achieve at least 350 points before they can stop rolling dice for the round.

Scoring:

The scoring dice are (in a single roll):

Combination	Points
Single dice: 1 spot 5 spot	100 50
Three-of-a-kind: 1 spot 2 spot 3 spot 4 spot 5 spot 6 spot	1,000 200 300 400 500 600
Four-of-a-kind Five-of-a-kind Six-of-a-kind	2x three-of-a-kind 4x three-of-a-kind 8x three-of-a-kind
Straight (1-2-3-4-5-6)	1,500
Three pair	500

All scores above are for a single throw of the dice. For example, if the roller sets aside a single 1 spot and counts 100, and then on his next roll comes up with two 1 spots, he cannot count 1000 for three of a kind (he may set aside the additional as two single 1 spots for 200 points).

The first player who reaches a total of 10,000 means that the following round (after the current round) will be the last round. This allows his opponents at least one more attempt to reach 10,000. After that final round is finished, the player with the highest score is the winner of the game.

In the event of a tie, the tying players will continue with full rounds until one player has a higher score than the other(s).

Hints:

It is better to leave yourself with three or more dice for a throw than it is to take single scoring dice. For instance, if you have set aside 2 dice already, and then throw two single scoring dice (say, a 1 and a 5), then you should only take the single 1.

If you are significantly behind, it is better to play aggressively than to play conservatively. Conversely, if you are significantly ahead, then it is better to play conservatively than aggressively. Some players are always aggressive or always conservative, but the adaptive player is the one most likely to win.

Throwing all six dice will almost always lead to at least one scoring die. Only the ultra-conservative player will stop rolling with all six dice in their hand. An exception to this rule is the first round, since scoring the first round is much more difficult than subsequent rounds.

Cribbage

2009-12-12T16:18:51-08:00

Players:

2 to 4 players

Cards:

One standard 52-card deck.

Object:

The object is to be the first player to score 121 points (long game) or 61 points (short game).

Dealing:

For 2 players, each player is dealt 6 cards. For 3 players, each player is dealt 5 cards, and one card is dealt into the kitty. For 4 players, each player is dealt 5 cards. The rest of the cards are placed in their pile on the table. The cards are cut, and low card is the first dealer. Deal passes on clockwise.

Game play:

Cribbage is played in two phases. Before game play begins, you must decide which four cards you wish to keep, and discard your extra cards to the kitty. The kitty cards are given to the dealer, but they aren't used for the first phase of play (and cannot be looked at until the first phase of play is over).

This is the general scoring table. Below it are some rules that apply to the scoring table.

Combination	Points
Fifteen (Any combination of cards that adds up to 15)	2
Run (three or more cards, Ace is always low)	1 per card
Pair 3-of-a-kind 4-of-a-kind	2 6 12
Knobs (Jack of suit of the flipped card)	1 (in hand) * 2 (flipped) **
Flush (4 or 5 cards, in hand) (all 5 cards, in kitty)	1 per card *

* = this item is scored in the second phase of game play only
** = this item is scored immediately upon flipping

After everyone has discarded to the kitty, then the player to the dealer's left cuts the deck and flips up a card. If this card is a jack, it is the Knobs card, and the player who flipped it immediately scores his two points. Otherwise, this card is only used during the second round of scoring and does not affect the first round of play.

During the first round of play, players will play cards one at a time, starting with the person to the left of the dealer. Totals of 15, runs, pairs, 3-of-a-kinds, or 4-of-a-kinds that result from playing are immediately scored to the person who created them. The first set stops when someone has taken the total to 31, or when the current player does not have any cards that wouldn't put the total over 31. If the total is not all the way to 31, the last player who played cards may continue to play cards until the total goes to 31, or until they also cannot play. If the total gets to the 31, the person who played the last card gets two points; otherwise, the person who played the last card gets one point. The total is reset to zero, and a new set of cards is played. Play continues until all players are out of card.

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Two players; number two is the dealer, and number one is sitting across from him. Their cards are:

Player #1:
Player #2:
Flipped card:
Kitty:

9 10 Q K
5 6 10 J
J
A 2 3 7

Player one flipped a jack, so he immediately scores 2 points.

Player one has the lead, and plays K. The total is now 10. Player two plays 5. The total is now 15, and player two immediately points himself two points for the 15. Player one plays Q. The total is now 25. Player two plays 6. The total is now 31. This set is over, and player two points himself two points for ending the set by reaching 31.

Player two made the last play, so it is player one's turn. One plays 10, total is now ten. Two plays 10, total is now twenty. Two scores two points for the pair. One plays his last card, 9, total is now twenty nine. Two says "go", meaning that he cannot play without taking the total over 31. One is out of cards, so he also cannot play. This set is over, and player one points himself one point for ending the set without reaching 31.

Player two plays his last card, J, total is now ten. Both players are out of cards, so player two points himself one point for ending the set without reaching 31.

During the second round of play, the players collect their cards back into their hands, and lay them in front of themselves to be scored (and verified by the other players). Players score their hands (including the flipped card), starting with the player to the left of the dealer. Scoring order is important, because the first player to hit the target score is the winner (regardless of whether another player would also have hit the target score). Each player is responsible for counting their score, announcing it, and scoring themselves. Scoring continues clockwise, until the dealer, who scores last. Once the dealer has scored his hand, he then flips over the kitty cards and scores it like an additional bonus hand.

Be careful to count your points right! When playing competitively, miss scoring has detrimental effects. If a player catches you underscoring yourself, they may claim the extra, uncounted points for themselves. If a player catches you over scoring yourself, you will be forced to correct your score, and they may claim the difference in scores for themselves. In some tournaments, you will be required to count your score aloud: "15 - 2, 15 - 4, run - 7, knobs - 8" to ensure you are scoring correctly. Most people play friendly, though, and allow players to correct their scores.

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We will continue this example with the last cards we used, so we can show you how the second round is scored.

Player #1:
Player #2:
Flipped card:
Kitty:

9 10 Q K
5 6 10 J
J
A 2 3 7

Player one is the first player to the left of the dealer, so he starts scoring first.

Player one has a score of 9 points: 5 points for the 9-10-J-Q-K run, and four points for the diamond flush. The knobs card was already scored when it was flipped.

Player two has a score of 8 points: 2 points for each of the 15s, and 2 points for the pair of jacks. In the kitty, player two has a score of 5: 3 points for the A-2-3 run, and 2 points for the 15 from J-3-2.

Scoring:

Traditionally, Cribbage is scored with a cribbage board. This is typically a board with holes and pegs that allow you to easily count up to your intended score. While you can score this game on paper, it isn't very convenient, because of the rapid and repeated scoring nature of the game.

Variations:

Some people play that the score of flipping Knobs is given to the dealer, rather than the person who flips the card.

Setback

2009-12-12T16:14:05-08:00

A variation on Euchre and Pinochle. You should be a familiar with the rules for Euchre before learning Setback.

Players:

4 (two teams, partners sit across from each other)

Cards:

One euchre deck, plus 2s (or one full deck without the 3s-8s). The 6s are set aside for scoring.

Object:

The object of the game is to be the first team to score twelve points.

Dealing:

Deal three cards at a time, twice around. When you're done dealing, you should be left with four cards. Place these cards off to the side, face down. You will not use them in the hand. (note to Euchre players: resist the temptation to flip the top card!)

Game play:

After dealing, the first player to the left of the dealer has the opportunity to bid for the number of points they'll take in that hand, or they can pass. Once you have passed, you cannot big any more. It continues on in a clockwise manner until someone has bid five, or everyone else has passed. The person who gets the bid names trump, and plays the first card.

Hand points are taken in the following way:

having the highest trump card (usually the ace) in your hand
having the lowest trump card (usually the deuce) in your hand
capturing the jack of trump (right bower)
capturing the jack of the same color as trump (left bower)
capturing the most game points

Setback players will often refer to these as "High, Low, Right, Left, Game" (sometimes saying "Double Jack" instead of "Right and Left"). Setback has bowers like Euchre, but they are in the middle of the deck rather than the highest cards.

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Hearts is trump. The jack of diamonds would be considered a heart for the purposes of suit. The value order of the hearts would be:

A K Q J J 10 9 2

The other suits are normal order (diamonds would be missing the jack from its normal order, of course).

Since the bowers aren't high cards, capturing them requires a little bit of care when playing. Also, since there are four left over cards that are not in play, it is possible for one (or both) of the bowers to be "buried", and thus only four (or three) hand points are available. Keep this in mind when bidding!

Game points are counted based on the cards you take in during tricks. The values are as follows:

Card	Game Points
Ace King Queen Jack Ten	4 3 2 1 10

There are eighty possible game points, so obviously, taking the tens are very important. In order to get the point for "game points", you must have at least forty one game points; if you tie with forty, then nobody gets the game point.

Like Euchre, you must follow suit if you have it. However, unlike Euchre, you may play trump, even if you have the suit in question, to take the trick. So, you must follow suit, unless you play trump.

The person who calls trump (the winning bidder) starts the first trick. The winner of each trick starts the next trick. The hand is over when all six tricks are played and collected.

Scoring:

There are a possible five points available in each hand.

If you bid, and did not get your bid, then you go back the number of points you bid; otherwise, you get the number of hand points you collected. If you defended, you get the number of hand points you collected.

99

2009-12-12T16:04:40-08:00

Players:

3 or more players (the more, the better)

Cards:

One standard 52-card deck (may use additional decks if the pool of available cards is too small for the number of players).

Dealing:

Each player gets three cards. The rest of the cards are placed in a pile, face down, in the middle of the table.

Object:

Each person starts each hand of 99 with three points. They lose one point each time they play a card that crosses one of the three "borders" -- thirty three, sixty six, and ninety nine. The hand is over when someone crosses the ninety nine border. Points are recorded. The game is over when you get to a predetermined score (usually 15).

Game play:

Play begins with the first person to the left of the dealer. The player plays a card face up on the play pile, announces the current total, and draws another card. If the player forgets to draw their card before the next player plays their card, then they forfeit the card, and must play with fewer cards for the remainder of the hand.

If the players play causes the total to cross one of the borders (33, 66, or 99), then they lose one of their hand points. Play then proceeds to the next player. The initial direction of play is clockwise.

The values of the cards are as follows:

Card	Value
2 3 4 5 6 7	face value
8	zero points (direction of play reverses)
9	zero points
10	plus or minus ten points
J Q K	ten points
A	one or eleven points

Note that, because the ten cards can be worth plus or minus 10 points, you can lose more than three points per hand by crossing back over the 33 or 66 border backward (this backward crossing does not cause you to lose a game point, but the additional forward crossing does).

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The player to the left of the dealer begins play.
They play a K and announce "ten".
Next played is a 5 and announced "fifteen".
Next played is a J and announced "twenty five".
Next played is a 7 and announced "thirty two".
Next played is a Q and announced "forty two".
   This player loses one hand point.
Next played is a 10 and announced "thirty two".
   This player does not lose a hand point.
   Optional: abundant swearing by all players.
Next played is a 5 and announced "thirty seven".
   This player loses one hand point.

When the hand is completed, the scores are tallied. The deal passes to the person to the left of the last dealer.

Double Deck Pinochle

2009-12-12T15:40:31-08:00

Players:

4 (partners sit across from each other)

Cards:

2 pinochle decks with the 9's removed (or 4 regular decks with the 2's thru 9's removed)

Dealing:

The cards can be dealt in whatever fashion you like, as long as players all get 20 cards. One common dealing strategy can be 4 cards at a time, 5 times around. Obviously, with 20 cards, it would take a long time to deal them one at a time. Just bear in mind that dealing in packs means you need to be sure to shuffle the cards very well between hands.

Game play:

The players who sit across from each other are partners. The game is played in two phases: bidding/melding, and card play. The game is over when the first team gets 500 points or more; if both teams get at least 500 points during the same hand, then the bidding team is the winner (regardless of the number of total points).

Bidding/melding:

The bidding phase is used to determine who gets to call trump. Bidding starts with the first player to the left of the dealer. You can either bid or pass. Once you have passed once, you are out of the bidding until it is finished. The bid starts with at least 50 points. Bids must go up by one point or more, until they reach 60; then they must go up by 5 points of more.

It is common during the first round of bidding to "offer your meld" to your partner. This is a sort of "sanctioned" table talk. For example, if the bid is 50, and I bid 52, I am telling my partner that I have 20 meld points in my hand, no matter what trump is; if I bid 53, then I'm telling my partner that I have 30 meld points. Once the bid gets to 60, you're only bidding for trump. No matter what, you are usually safe assuming that your partner has 10 meld points.

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The player to the left of the dealer bids 51. This means they have 10 meld points. The next person bid 53. This means they have 20 meld points. The next person passes, which tells their partner that they don't want to call trump (but they still may have meld points; use the "assume 10" rule here). The final person passes. So now the bidding is between player 1 and 2, and the "meld offering" is over. Player 1 and player 2 will now bid back and forth for the right to call trump.

Here is a table of the value of meld points. Please note that the greatest variations I've seen around the rules to this game involves the meld points. If you play with a different set, that's okay, as long as everyone agrees ahead of time what they will be. This set is the one I found most often, so it's the one I use.

Type	Combination	Single	Double	Triple	Quad
Runs & Marriages	Run A-10-K-Q-J of trump	15	150	225	300
	Royal Marriage K-Q of trump	4	8	12	16
	Marriage K-Q of non-trump	2	4	6	8
Pinochle	Pinochle J Q	4	30	60	90
Around	Aces around A A A A	10	100	150	200
	Kings around K K K K	8	80	120	160
	Queens around Q Q Q Q	6	60	90	120
	Jacks around J J J J	4	40	60	80

When you're bidding to "tell" your partner your meld points, make sure you only tell them about the meld points that you can get regardless of what is called trump. So, you'd include arounds, pinochles, and marriages (counting royal marriages as regular marriages), but do not count runs.

For the winning bidder to call trump, they must have a marriage in that suit. If the bidding completes and the person does not have a marriage, they must forfeit the hand. The bidding team may also choose to forfeit their hand if they feel they cannot win (though they can only speak in generalizations, and not in specifics #s of tricks they can take, or types of cards they have). If a hand is forfeited, the opposing team scores their meld points (there is no trump named), and the hand is re-dealt.

Once trump is named, everyone lays down all the cards they need to, in order to count their meld points. The meld points are recorded on the side of the score sheet (they are not scored yet), along with the winning bidder's bid, and the current dealer (yes, it's possible to forget who dealt!). After everyone has had a chance to see the meld points and cards, then the cards are reclaimed into the hand, and card play begins.

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The player holds the following cards, and hearts has been named trump:

A 10 K K K Q Q J
Q Q J
Q Q
A K K Q Q J J

For meld, this hand will score 87 points. You have a run in trump (15), a royal marriage (4), a double marriage in spades (4), a pinochle (4) and double queens around (60). Remember that you cannot count a royal marriage that is already part of a run in trump.

Card play:

The value of the cards is as follows: Ace, 10, king, queen, jack (note the 10 is out of its "normal" place). The person who called trump starts the first trick. The winner of the trick starts the next trick.

When playing cards, you want to capture aces, 10s, and kings. They are worth one "game point" each. You get two "game points" for taking the last trick. There are 50 "game points" available (48 for the cards, and 2 for last trick). Each team must take at least 20 "game points" to be able to score at the end.

If the team that calls trump doesn't get 20 "game points", then they are scored a negative value for their bid. Also, the team that calls trump must get at least their bids worth of points, when you combine their game points and meld points, or they go negative. So, for example, if they bid 60, and have 43 meld points, they must get the minimum 20 game points (20 + 43 = 63, which is more then 60). However, if they bid 60, and only have 25 meld points, then they must get 35 game points (35 + 25 = 60) to score. If they make their bid, then they score the sum total of their game points and meld points.

If the defending team doesn't get 20 "game points", then they score zero. If they make their minimum 20 game points, then they score the sum total of their game points and meld points.

When playing cards, you must follow suit if you have it, and you must play a higher card than the highest card, if you can. If you do not have the played suit, you must play trump if you have it. Since there are many cards with the same value (eg, 4 aces of diamonds), the first one played is the highest.

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Clubs is trump.

Player 1 leads the jack of diamonds. Player 2 has in his hand, for diamonds: jack, king. He must play the king, because it is higher than the jack. So player 2 plays the king of diamonds. Player 3 does not have any diamonds, but he does have trump, so he must play the trump. He plays the jack of clubs. Player 4 has the following diamonds: jack, 10, ace. Because the high card is now the jack of clubs, he can play any diamond he wants to (he cannot beat trump with non-trump). He will play the jack, because the opposing team is going to take the trick; he does not want to give away cards that score "game points".

Remember that taking "game points" is more important than taking tricks (with the exception of the last trick, which is worth two "game points").

Once all 20 tricks have been played, you should count your game points and score. The cards are taken in and a new hand is dealt. Repeat play until one team scores 500 points.

Horse Thief

2009-12-12T15:36:03-08:00

A variation on the classic card game Euchre. You should be familiar with the rules of Euchre before playing this game.

Players:

3 or more (5 or 6 is optimum)

Cards:

One standard 52-card deck.

Object:

The object of the game is to get to a predetermined score (typically 15 points).

Game play:

The dealer deals cards one at a time in a clockwise fashion, until everyone has five cards. Then he takes the top card from the pile and turns it over in front of him. He sets aside the rest of the pile. The suit of the turned up card is trump.

If the suit is spades, then everyone must play.

If it is not spades, then each person must decide whether or not they wish to play. All players will hold their cards face down between their first and second fingers. When everyone is ready, the dealer will say "one... two... three... drop!". On "drop!", anyone who does not want to play must drop their cards. Anyone who wants to play keeps their cards. If only one person chooses to play, they are automatically given 5 points, and the deal moves on to the next person.

The players may then discard and draw up to three cards. Important: you must know how many people are playing, and decide the maximum number of cards they can draw. Assume everyone will stay in, and everyone will take the maximum number of cards. So, if you have 6 people playing, then they can draw three cards (5 + 3 = 8, and 8 cards * 6 people = 48 cards, enough cards); if you have 7 people playing, then they can draw two cards (8*7 = 56, too many cards; 7*7 = 49, enough cards).

The dealer must use the card that is turned up as one of his draw cards, if he chooses to draw. So, if the dealer discards two cards, he picks up the turned up trump card, and one more card from the deck.

The first playing player to the left of the dealer leads. Like Euchre, the Jack of trump is considered the highest card, and the jack of the same color is considered the second highest card (and is also considered to be a trump card for following suit). You must follow suit if you can, or you may choose to play trump or an off suit card.

You get one point for each trick you take. If you don't take any tricks, you get -3 points. If you don't play, you get zero points.

Deal passes to the next person to the left.

Bid Euchre

2009-12-12T15:32:08-08:00

A variation on the classic card game Euchre. You should be familiar with the rules of Euchre before playing this game.

Players:

2 players

Cards:

One standard euchre deck (2-8s removed).

Object:

The object is to get to a predetermined score, typically 50 points.

Dealing:

The dealer will place one card face down in front of the opponent, then one card face down in front of himself. He will do this four times. This will create four piles. Then the dealer deals four more cards, this time face up, on top of the four piles he has created. Then he deals the rest of the cards one at a time. These remaining four cards are taken into the players' hand.

Game play:

There are twelve tricks to be taken. The opponent begins by bidding the number of tricks they think they can take. Bidding goes back and forth until someone relents. The winning bidder names trump. The non-dealer plays the first card.

When a card is played that is the up card on one of the players' piles, the down card stays down until the trick is completed. At that time, the down card is turned up for both players to see. Because these four cards are out of play until they are turned up and known, it is possible for someone to be short-suited until one of their down cards is flipped.

Scoring:

One point is scored for each trick taken. If the person who bid does not take their bid in tricks, they are marked with a negative number of points equal to their bid. The defender always scores the number of tricks they have taken.

Call-Your-Partner Euchre

2009-12-12T15:24:53-08:00

A variation on the classic card game Euchre. You should be familiar with the rules of Euchre before playing this game.

Players:

5 players

Cards:

One standard deck with 2s thru 7s removed

Object:

The object is to get to a predetermined score, typically 10 points.

Dealing:

The game is dealt much like a standard euchre game, except that there are five players, and there will only be 3 cards left when dealing is completed, rather than 4. Like standard euchre, the top card of the remaining three is flipped up and placed on the pile in front of the dealer.

Game play:

Play is very much like standard euchre. Trump is determined the same way.

The person who calls trump is allowed to call their partner, if they wish. They call their partner by naming a non-trump card. If they are ordering the dealer to pick up the trump card, they will reveal their called card after the dealer has discarded, to prevent the dealer from discarding the called card intentionally. The caller may also elect to go alone (ie, not call a partner).

The player that has the called card is their partner. However, they cannot reveal that information until they play the called card, so it will not be immediately apparent who the caller's partner is.

Because three cards are buried, it is possible that the person who makes trump and calls for a partner will not have one, because the card they called may be buried.

Scoring:

Score is much like traditional euchre. The team that called trump is given one point if they get three or four of the tricks; they are given two points if they get all five tricks. If they get less than three tricks, then the defending team is given two points.

If the caller goes alone, either by choice or because the called card is buried, then they are given five points if they take all five tricks.

Because the "partners" change for each hand, each player must individually keep their own score. If playing to 10, you can use 5/5 for two players, 4/6 for two players, and 3/7 for one player, or you may use paper or poker chips for keeping score.

Cut-Throat Euchre

2009-12-12T15:22:13-08:00

A variation on the classic card game Euchre. You should be familiar with the rules of Euchre before playing this game.

Players:

3 players

Cards:

One euchre deck

Object:

The object is to be the first person to score a predetermined number of points, typically 15.

Dealing:

A regular euchre deal is performed. The fourth hand is called the "dead" hand, and is always dealt in the same position on the table.

Game play:

The turned up card will be trump, and will be picked up by the dealer. Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, each player has an opportunity to swap their cards with the dead hand. They do not have an opportunity to look at the dead hand beforehand. Once they've swapped their hand with the dead hand, they may not swap back. However, if the first player swaps his hand for the dead hand, his old hand now becomes the new dead hand. The second player may still trade his hand for the new dead hand.

Once the dealer has decided to keep or swap his hand for the dead hand, he will take the flipped up card and discard one card. The first player to the left of the dealer leads.

Scoring:

Each player gets one point for each trick they capture. If they don't capture any tricks, they are given -3 points. If one player captures all five tricks, he gets his five tricks, and the other two players are given -5 points instead of -3 points.

Traditional Euchre

2009-12-12T14:49:58-08:00

Players:

4 (two teams, partners sit across from each other)

Cards:

One euchre deck (one standard deck with 2s through 8s removed, and the 5s set aside for scoring)

Object:

The game is over when one team gets 10 (or more) points.

Dealing:

There are lots of variations on dealing, but the point is to deal all the cards going around twice. Some tournaments require "standard dealing", which is: 3 cards to the person to the left of the dealer, then 2 cards, then 3, then 2 to the dealer; then 2 to the person to the left of the dealer, then 3, then 2, then 3. No matter how you deal, each person should have 5 cards, and there should be 4 cards left over.

Game play:

After the dealer deals the cards, there should be four cards left. The top card of the four cards left is turned up. It is important to catch any misdeals (count the four cards!) before you turn the card up; if a misdeal is caught after the card is turned up, the deal passes to the left; if a misdeal is caught before the card is turned up, the cards are collected and re-dealt by the same dealer (see "Misdeal rules" in the Variations section).

The suit of the card that is turned up is offered for trump.

A trump suit means a suit that beats the other suits when cards are played. For example, if hearts are trump, then a heart will always beat a non heart. There is no value to other suits other than trump; one non trump suit does not beat another non trump suit.

In euchre, the value of cards for trump is (highest first):

Jack of trump (called the "right bower")
Jack of other suit of same color (called the "left bower")
Ace of trump
King
Queen
Ten
Nine

For the non trump suits, the normal order is used (A-K-Q-J-10-9). Note that the Jack of the same color as trump (left bower) is considered to be trump for that hand.

E
X
A
M
P
L
E

Hearts is trump.

The order from highest to lowest of trump cards is:

J J A K Q 10 9

The order from highest to lowest of diamonds is:

A K Q 10 9

The jack of diamonds is considered a heart for this hand.

When cards are played, you must follow suit (play the same suit as the first card played) if you have a card (or cards) in that suit. If you do not have cards in that suit, you may play trump (to try and take the trick), or you may play another suit (and waste the card).

The suit of the card that is turned up is offered for trump. The person to the left of the dealer decides if they want that suit to be trump. If they do, they order the dealer to pick up the card (the dealer will discard another one, to get back to 5 cards), and trump is made. If they do not, they say "pass". If they pass, the next person in clockwise order can choose. If all pass, they dealer has the option to make that suit trump by taking the card into his hand and discarding one, or passing by turning the card over.

If the dealer turns over the card, then the person to the left of the dealer now has the option to call any other suit trump if they wish, or they may pass again (they cannot call the suit of the card that was turned over). If all three players pass a second time, then the dealer may call a trump suit, or if he chooses to pass, the cards are collected, and the deal moves to the next person to the left, with no points scored for either team (see "Screw The Dealer" in the Variations section).

The two partners work together to take tricks. If the team that calls trump collects 3 or 4 tricks, they are given one point; if they collect all 5 tricks, they are given two points. If the team that calls trump does not collect at least 3 tricks, the opposing team is given 2 points (this is called "euchering your opponent").

When declaring trump, a person may choose to "go alone". This means that they believe they can get the required tricks without their partner's assistance. If they do get all 5 tricks, they are given 4 points instead of 2 (see "Cross Corner Alone" in the Variations section).

Once trump is set, the person to the left of the dealer plays first. If that person is not playing because someone is going alone, then the first playing player to the left of the dealer plays first (see "Leading Alone" in the Variations section). The player will play a single card. Each player must follow suit if they have it, or they may choose to play trump or an off suit. A trump card will beat a non-trump card.

The winning team collects the trick, and the person who played the card that won the trick is the person who leads for the next trick. The hand is over when all 5 tricks have been played.

Scoring:

Each two has two fives which are used for scoring. In the beginning of play, place one five face up, then the other five face down on top of it. As you mark the first five points, expose the five pips on the bottom five. When you get five points, flip the top card over, and expose the bottom five pips for six through ten.

Variants:

There are quite a few possible variants on how Euchre is played. Personally, we always play "First Black Jack Deals", and occasionally play "Screw the Dealer".

"First Black Jack Deals"

Someone takes the deck and shuffles the cards, then deals the cards one at a time, face up, to each player, starting with the first player to the left of the person dealing, and moving clockwise. You stop when the first black jack is turned up; this person is the first dealer.

Misdeal rules

"Farmer's Hand" (or "No Ace, No Face") -- if your hand contains all 9s and 10s, you can declare a misdeal before bidding for trump.

"Ace, No Face" -- if your hand contains one ace, and the rest 9s and 10s, you can declare a misdeal before bidding for trump.

"Stick the Dealer"

When you play with this variant, the dealer is not allowed to pass on the second time around. He must call a trump suit (other than the suit that was turned over, of course).

"Cross Corner Alone"

When a person chooses to go alone, one of the other team members may also choose to go alone. If the opposing alone person manages to collect all 5 tricks, they will score 4 points instead of 2.

"Leading Alone"

Some people play that you are not allowed to lead if you are playing alone (except for "cross corner alone", where the opposing alone person will always get to lead). This adds an element of difficult to going alone.

"Alone, Partner's Best"

When you go alone, you can call "partner's best". The person going alone discards one card to the dead pile; their partner slides their best card across the table to them face down, and they put it in their hand.