Euchre or eucre (/ˈjuːkər/ YU-kər) is a trick-taking card game commonly played in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, Upstate New York, and the Midwestern United States.

[5] Eucre is briefly mentioned as early as 1810, being played in a gaming house alongside all fours, loo, cribbage, and whist.

[8] The mode of play and terminology of Euchre have resulted in several theories which suggest that it has an origin in Spanish Trionfo,[1][9] French Ecarté[1] or Triomphe,[9][1] or Alsatian Jucker.

[1] An early American theory was that Euchre was brought into the United States by the German settlers of Pennsylvania,[10] and from that region it was disseminated throughout the nation.

[11] The 1864 edition of The American Hoyle disputes its alleged German heritage, tracing the game's origin to Pennsylvania itself in the 1820s.

It goes on to surmise that a "rich German farmer's daughter" had visited Philadelphia and carried home a confused memory of Écarté, which then developed into Euchre.

[12] Yet another theory is that Euchre may have been introduced to America by immigrants from the counties of Cornwall or Devon in southwest England, where it remains a hugely popular game.

Bower is phonetically identical with the German word Bauer which normally means farmer, but also refers to the Jack in playing cards.

The earliest known treatise is a 1839 lost book called Game of Euchre and Its Laws, by an unknown author.

[15] According to Parlett, the Joker was added to a 32-card pack in the 1850s specifically for the game of Euchre[4] and is first mentioned in a set of rules in 1868 where it turns out to be a blank specimen card not intended for actual play.

[16] This gave rise to a variant called "Euchre with the Joker" in which the blank card ranked above all the rest.

[19] It has since declined in popularity, although it retains a strong following in regions such as the Midwestern United States.

The earliest surviving rules were published in America by Thomas Mathews in his 1844 work, The Whist Player's Hand-book, in which a four-hand version of Euchre is described right at the end.

The eldest hand (to the left of the dealer) opens the auction and may either 'order it up' (= accept the turnup as trump) or 'turn it down' (= pass), in which case the next player in turn has the same options and so on.

[e] If all pass, the dealer does not exchange, and another round of bidding begins with eldest who may make trump of any other suit.

A player confident of taking 5 tricks single-handed may say "cards away" to the partner and play alone against the opponents.

In Britain, euchre is played in southwestern England, especially Cornwall, Devon and Guernsey, as well as in coastal East Anglia.

The following is a summary of modern British rules by John McLeod, supplemented by other sources where indicated.

[22] Euchre is a four-player game using a pack of 25 cards with a joker and four suits comprising AKQJT9.

Card ranking is as per the 1844 rules with the exception that the top trump is the Benny or Best Bower represented by the joker or ♠2.

In the first, the dealer may deal either 2 or 3 cards each, in turn and in clockwise order beginning with the eldest hand.

It is left in place until played, and the dealer discards a card to the bottom of the kitty, face down.

If no one orders up the top card and the dealer chooses not to take it up, each player is then given the opportunity, in turn, to pass again or call a different suit as trump.

In this case, the trump cards rank as follows (highest first): The J♣ effectively becomes a spade during the playing of this hand.

Unacceptable table talk may include code words, secret gestures, bidding out of turn or suggesting what the partner should play.

Some examples include: The following North American rule variations are recorded: Euchre is a game with a large number of versions.

Any player remaining in the hand must win at least one trick or is "set" five points which are then added to their total.

[34] A player doubtful of taking any tricks may throw up the hand to save being set back.

Dick describes variations including the option for any player to say "I declare" which is a bid to make a march and win the game and pool if successful.

Another variation was that, in the event of a euchre, the defenders deduct 2 points, in addition to the maker adding 2.