# Euchre variations and house rules The common North American game uses 24 cards, no joker, and games to 10 or 11 points. Stick the dealer is a widespread regional variation. Farmer's hand, the Canadian loner and the defensive loner are house rules that sit outside the official rulebook. The [World Euchre Federation](https://www.worldeuchrefederation.com) publishes a standard rule set for the common North American four player game, and the version on this site follows it. Nearly everything below sits outside that standard: regional habits and house rules that whole towns are convinced are the real thing. Sort them out before the first deal. ## Stick the dealer If everyone passes twice, the dealer must name a suit. Listed in the official rules as a regional variation, and effectively universal in the American Midwest and Ontario. Covered in full on [stick the dealer](/stick-the-dealer). ## Michigan and Midwest euchre Euchre is close to a state sport in Michigan, and what people mean by "how we play it here" is usually a bundle: - Stick the dealer, always. Nobody asks. - Play to 10. That is the standard number in Michigan and Indiana, where 11 belongs to Wisconsin, Iowa and the western Midwest. - Farmer's hand allowed, described below. - Deal in packets of two and three. Dealing one at a time gets you a comment, and the official rules forbid it anyway. - Score kept on a 6 and a 4 from a second deck, which is the Michigan habit specifically. - Table talk discouraged but not policed. Only the dealing method and the point total come from the official rules. The rest is what the table expects, and getting them wrong marks you as somebody who learned online. ## Farmer's hand A hand so bad it deserves a second chance. The strictest definition is three nines and two tens. Looser tables accept any hand with no ace and no face card, also called *no ace no face*, *bogus*, or a *benny* depending on where you are. What happens next varies. The holder may swap three cards with the kitty, or force a redeal by the same dealer, or the hand is thrown in and the deal passes. It must be declared before the first bid; once you have passed, you have accepted your hand. Not in the official rules at all. It is off by default here and available as a switch. ## Canadian loner A lone player takes their partner's best card, or plays the partner's hand face up as a dummy, usually still for 4 points. It removes the main risk of a loner, which is why it is controversial. Not implemented here on purpose. ## Defensive loner A defender may go alone against a lone maker. If the defender takes three or more tricks they score 4 instead of the usual 2. It is rarely the right call, but people remember the times it works. The standard game does not include it. ## Playing to 10 or 11 Both are standard, and which one is normal depends on the region: 10 in Michigan, Indiana and much of North America, 11 in Wisconsin, Iowa and the western half of the Midwest. Agree on the number before the game starts. ## Three handed euchre (cutthroat) Every player for themselves. The maker plays against the other two, who temporarily team up. Scoring differs by group, so settle it up front. The World Euchre Federation publishes separate guides for the three player game rather than folding it into the standard rules. ## Two handed euchre Deal five each and set aside a stock, with both players seeing part of the deck. It works as a game, but without a partner across from you it does not feel much like euchre. ## British Euchre and the joker British Euchre keeps the joker as the highest trump, above the right bower. The joker was invented for euchre in the first place, as a card that outranked both bowers, and then spread to every other deck in the world. The common North American game dropped it. ## Bid euchre, 500, and bigger decks Bid euchre and 500 use a larger deck, let players bid a number of tricks, and score numerically. Variations with 28 or 32 cards exist too, along with six player versions. They are different games that happen to share the bower. ## Luke Deal A dealing mode built into this site. In the first round the dealer's team receives four cards each and the opponents one; in the second round it reverses, so everyone still ends with five. The official rules permit exactly two dealing methods, two then three or three then two, so this is the one thing on the site that breaks them. It is a joke between friends and it is off by default. It is also very funny to be on the wrong end of. ## Setting your house rules here Every table has switches for stick the dealer, farmer's hand, the target score and the Luke Deal mode. Set them in the lobby before the first hand, and they are remembered for the next table you start. See [how it works](/how-it-works) for the rest, or [pricing](/pricing) for the one thing that costs anything. ## FAQ ### What is Michigan euchre? Not a distinct rule set so much as a regional style: stick the dealer always on, playing to 10, farmer's hand allowed, dealing in packets of two and three, score kept on a 6 and a 4, and a strong preference for calling next. Michigan is one of the places where euchre never stopped being the default card game. ### What is a farmer's hand in euchre? A hand with no ace and no face card, most strictly three nines and two tens. Depending on the house rule, the holder can swap three cards with the kitty, force a redeal, or throw the hand in. It must be declared before bidding starts, and it is not part of the official rules. ### What is a Canadian loner? A variation where a player going alone uses their partner's best card or plays the partner's hand as a dummy. It makes a loner far easier to make and is not part of the standard game. ### Does euchre use a joker? Not in North America. British Euchre uses a joker as the highest trump, above the right bower, and the joker was originally created for euchre before spreading to other card games. ### Can you play euchre with three people? Yes, as cutthroat euchre, where the maker plays alone against the other two. Or play the real four handed game online and let a bot take the fourth seat. Source: https://playeuchre.games/euchre-variations