Every single time my family gets together, Euchre is involved. I remember being a little kid sitting at the corner of the table watching the adults play. As I sat there trying to learn how to shuffle a deck of cards, I was also trying to keep up with both the rules of the game and the conversations.
With my family, a game of cards is a way to have fun. It is where all squabbles, differences of opinions, and disagreements are put aside in order to have a good laugh. There is always, always laughter around the card table.
Funny thing is, I have a hard time playing Euchre with anyone outside my family. No one knows the rules of how to play or how to win. When Giant was in 3rd grade, a bunch of 3rd grade moms got a Euchre night together. We played about once a month, and while I had a great time, I was kinda frustrated by the card-playing.
There are rules to Euchre, and not just the written ones that you'd find when looking for instructions on how to play. I have no idea from where they came, but they are memorized by every single member of my extended family. And followed religiously. Unless, of course, you have a hand that requires you to not follow the rules. If it works, it will be called a fluke, but you'll be OK. If it doesn't work, you will be berated by your partner.
Just so you know. If you ever play with my family.
Regardless of whether you play with us or not, take heed. If you want to win at Euchre, follow these rules.
1. Trump high, lead low.
No one wants to be they guy who trumped with a 10, then was overtrumped by his opponent. It's especially bad if you then get Euchred because of that dumb move.
2. You will never go set on a nine.
If a nine is turned up, and your team has dealt, go for it. Even if you only have two trump, give it a whirl.
3. You will probably go set on a 10.
If a ten is turned up, and your team has dealt, do not pick it up. Avoid tens like the plague.
4. Where there's hearts, there's spades.
If hearts are trump, the team who made it hearts will have spades in their hands. If you, as the opposing team, are first to lead, lead with a spade and recite the rule as you put your card down. Your teammate will not have spades, so he will be able to trump it and get the trick.
The same works with diamonds and clubs.
5. When dealing, deal 2 or 3 cards at a time.
Dealing one card at a time like you would do in almost any other game of cards is not allowed. It messes up...something.
6. Don't sit between the markers (aka score cards).
If you sit between your team's markers and the other team's markers, you will lose. It is bad luck of epic proportions. My family is mighty sneaky, trying to get their opponents between the markers. Be vigilant. Move your markers immediately if you notice you are between them.
7. Call next.
This is one of the most important rules of the game. If the opposing team deals, then turns down the card (and chooses not to make it trump), you must call next. "Next" means the suit of the same color. So, if the dealer turns down the spade he had turned up, you must call clubs. If you only have one club in your hand, you must say, "Clubs...for my partner". That phrase clears you of all responsibility if the rule doesn't work and your team gets set.
8. Do not lead your partner out of trump.
You may lead trump once, and once only. If you lead twice, you may take all of your partner's trump, in which case he will get mighty annoyed with you when he is unable to trump a trick later in the hand.
9. Sit with the flow of the bathtub.
No joke, this is huge. Before you sit down to play, go to the bathroom. Make sure you know in which direction the water flows. When you go to sit at the card table across from your partner, make sure you sit with the flow of the tub. I'm pretty sure it's karma.
10. Do not, under any circumstances, play like Inez.
My grandparents used to go to Bingo early on Sundays to play cards with a group of friends. One of those friends happened to be Inez, one of the worst card players to ever hold a deck of cards. When our family plays and someone really messes up, Grandma will go into a story about how that play was just like something Inez did. It is much better to table talk and ask for help than play like Inez.
If you have never played Euchre before, these rules may not make the most sense. I'll be happy to give you some lessons the next time I see you! If you have played Euchre before, some of these rules may sound a bit bizarre. Don't know them until you've tried them.
This post was inspired by two hops going on today. Josie is hosting her 101st week of Two Shoes Tuesday (I am so bummed I missed the big 110!) in which the blogger chooses one of the two prompts to write a post. Today's words are card and drawing. The second is Lisa's Tuesday's Ten. Today we are supposed to give some advice.
Thank you, Ladies, for coming up with prompts that help me lighten things up around here.
Have a lovely day!
I've never played Euchre. In my family it was dominoes or Hearts. I remember playing Hearts with my dad and brother. Since it was just the three of us, the extra card went facedown to be taken with the first trick. We played on a plastic table with holes in it. My brother and I got pretty skilled at pretending to drop something and checking to see if that card was a point and whether or not we wanted it. In retrospect, my dad must have known what we were doing, but he allowed it anyway!
ReplyDeleteThat is so funny! Did you and your brother ever knock heads trying to cheat at the same time? :)
DeleteProbably!
DeleteWow, confusing at best but I think that is because I have never heard of this game and do not play cards. I did as a kid play Gin Rummy???? I think that was what it was called with my grandfather, I remember laughing a lot. Great rules...... For playing this game.
ReplyDeleteYes, as I posted it, I was thinking that non-Euchre players would not be interested in this at all.
DeleteAh, gin rummy is what we play when there are only 2 people to play cards or the people wanting to play aren't old enough to know how to play Euchre. Funny how a simple game of cards can bring about so much laughter.
I've never even heard of this game. We are not game people here. Okay, my husband hates games, so I don't play any games anymore. I love your rules though.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day. ☺
I can't wrap my head around the thought of someone hating games. We have a closet dedicated to games. Ah well. I guess there are other ways to have fun. It helps when you have a boat. :)
DeleteI had never heard of Euchre before you mentioned it one time. I have to say, after reading your rules, I am probably more confused about it now than when I knew nothing! My family plays Bananagram for blood. Kyle and I are really, really good at it, so the other two never want to play with us.
ReplyDeleteHa! I guess this was really more for my family. I had no idea there were so few people who heard of Euchre!
DeleteI bought several Bananagram games for my kids' classrooms, but we don't have one at home. I've never even played. Next time we get together, I'll teach you to play Euchre, and you can show me how to play Bananagram.
Deal!
DeleteI've never heard of Euchre before so you lost me at the first rule. As a kid I played Snap and Donkey with my parents and in my teens played Chinese Patience with my mom or a friend, but since becoming an adult card games have been of no interest to me at all. My son talks about Poker and Blackjack but he may as well be speaking a totally different language!
ReplyDeleteI give you a pass for not knowing, seeing that you live in another country and all. And I've never heard of the games you used to play. :)
DeleteI do know how to play Poker and blackjack, but I'm not really a fan of those either.
I haven't played Euchre before, but I think I was most confused at the end of your post when you said you were sorry to miss the big 110! Unless that's some special Euchre way of counting, I'm pretty sure you still have 9 weeks to go. ;-)
ReplyDeleteArg! I hate typos! Yes, I do have 9 to go. :/
DeleteAfter I posted my comment I realized how stupid it was. Especially given your last week or so, my comment was neither clever nor funny. I'm sorry.
DeleteOh, you are being too hard on yourself! It was funny! I appreciate funny, especially when I'm having a rough week. There was nothing for you to apologize for.
DeleteI don't know this game but totally need to look it up. Do you know Munchkin? f not, I swear you'll like it. Friends of ours have just given us anotehr card game named Flux, looks like tons of fun as well, because the rules keep changing :-)
ReplyDeleteI have not heard of either of those games. Euchre is a great card game, as it is pretty easy to catch on to the basic rules, which leaves plenty of brain space for conversation.
DeleteIt is funny how families always have their own sets of rules for certain games... like Uno, Sorry, Monopoly, etc! It is very difficult to explain to anyone that there is any other way to play, because, "This is the way we've ALWAYS played it!"
ReplyDeleteHa! So true! In Uno, do you pick one card if you don't have a match, or do you keep picking from the pile until you get one? :)
DeleteMy ex husband and I used to play euchre with friends all the time. I could play the game as long as I didn't think about it too much. I still couldn't say what the rules or strategy is, but I was usually part of the winning pair. I used to dread "Clubs...for my partner" or similar - I never had any of whatever suit was called.
ReplyDeleteFinally! Someone who knows the game! AND one of the rules. :) That clubs...for my partner can be problematic.
DeleteI have never heard of Euchre or played it. My grandmother was a bit of a card shark, though, and we used to play a game she called Setback which sounds like it might be similar (partners, trumps. etc.) I'm not much of a card/board game person, but it sounds like your family sure has fun with this one!
ReplyDeleteWe do have a lot of fun. My kids are finally old enough to join in now, too, so fun is only being multiplied. :)
DeleteI got such a kick out of this post, Christine! While I've never played Euchre, my Grandmother taught us all to play Canasta and with that, and with Monopoly too, there were understood family rules that didn't necessarily agree with the way other folks did it. I love that this is something your whole family enjoys and passes down. These are the memories that your own children will hold precious someday, just as you do now! Thank you for sharing yet another heart-warming story with us at Two Shoes Tuesday!
ReplyDeleteI have heard of Canasta. I know my grandma and her friends played it, but I've never learned. Funny how different families/groups come up with their own rules. Just last week, my kids were indoctrinated into the Euchre games. I was a bit nervous for them, but they did well and we all had fun. I hope they continue it with their cousins.
DeleteI love this! And I GET it. When I was growing up, each side of my family had a sacred card game. On one side, Oh Heck and on the other, Pitch. I don't run into people who know those games often. But in my family, the rules and traditions are sacred, and there is always laughter. And familiar lines and gestures and stories. Such great fun. I see we share this appreciation.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't know them, either. Who knew there were so many card games?!?!
DeleteThe same stories do get told over and over again, and they never get old.
I've heard of Euchre, but never learned how to play it. Sounds like fun - especially the way your family plays it. :) Gin Rummy was the game at my house growing up. It was my mom's favorite card game - and she always, always won. I'm sure that's why we played it so often. :)
ReplyDeleteWell, you are farther along than most it seems. I can't get over how many people have never heard of it.
DeleteGin Rummy is a popular one for our family, too. It's what we play with the kids before they graduate to Euchre.
wow not sure what this game is - it sounds like spades or hearts - we used to play spades with another couple ...then many years ago we played poker with a bunch of us and that was really crazy - with a lot of crazy games - another game that took on a life of its own was leach which is a dice game and only cost 1.00 a game plus .50 cents every time someone leached with the dice - this game got loud especially if one was too scared to continue their round, because of the risk of losing points...if that happened everyone would shout Wussy ! LOL
ReplyDeletelove family time games...nothing like it.
I have played hearts a couple of times. It's sort of similar. :)
DeleteHow fun that you got together with friends to play! It cracks me up to no end that you actually made fun of the people who bowed out. :D
I have never played Euchre - I don't think I've even heard of it. But this could easily be similarly written about the sacred games of my Mom's family - Hearts and Knock Rummy. There are sacred rules indeed, including how to determine whether the Grandfather is knocking or simply drumming his fingers annoyingly to make you think he's knocking...and other such important points.
ReplyDeleteI think whatever the game, whatever the rules, having something like this that is part of your family's identify is both fascinating and important. I loved reading this. It brought back lots of memories of great times spent around the family table with aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, and grandparents at my Grandparents' home.
I can't get over how many people have never heard of Euchre! Shows what a small little world I live in. It must be a strictly Indiana/Ohio/Kentucky game.
DeleteHahaha!! Your grandfather sounds a lot like mine. We were always convinced he set the deck, but we could never prove it. :)
I'm glad the post brought back memories for you. It is a wonderful thing for a family to have an activity that they do together across generations.
Ha! I'll teach you when you come next year. (I like the sound of that.)
ReplyDeleteI do not know that game. You can teach it to me.
I bet I'd love this game. I loved playing Bridge in college. We always tried to follow rule #9 - to insure a good deal of the cards.
ReplyDeleteYou have just made my night! Did you really?!?! People normally look at me funny when I admit this rule.
DeleteI have not played Bridge, but I know plenty of people who have. It's very big in card clubs around here.
I don't know anyone who plays euchre around here. Can two people play it?
ReplyDeleteWe play Texas 42, that card game uses dominoes, a couple of times a month with two different groups. I can play bridge and am real good at Canasta. I played too much chess in college so I had to drop out for a while (11 years and four kids later I came back).
..
I must admit that I have zero sense of card games*, so little a background, that words like lead or trump have little or no meaning. However, one phrase in the very beginning of this Post jumped off the screen at me,
ReplyDelete"...the rules of how to play or how to win."
now that totally resonated with me. Competition among family (or friends) is different and better, on a level that does not allow direct comparison to competition between opponents, which, while not bad in and of itself, is an entirely different experience. (Don't even get me started on the incredibly toxic thing that is represented as 'competition' on tv…that shit is awful.)
*'cept for solitaire. I am fan of solitaire. It is a game of amusement and it provides, (when properly approached), insight into one's reality
I have never played Euchre and have no idea of the rules, but I LOVE playing cards and loved reading that your whole extended family knows how to play. My parents play a card game together after they're done the dishes called Piquet. I have no idea how to play it, but they adore it. I grew up playing radio rummy with my nanna. My favourite card game is one I learnt in Sicily called Machiavelli. I might write a post about it one day :) I laughed out loud at number ten. Poor Inez! Imagine going down in local folk lore as the worst card player to ever hold a deck of cards!!
ReplyDeletePretty cool list!
ReplyDeleteWe had our rules to play cards too :)