Introduction
Buck Euchre is a game in the trick-taking family, similar to games such as traditional Euchre or Spades. Buck Euchre is also known as “cut-throat Euchre” as cut-throat represents a trick-taking variation that involves no partnerships, and instead is an “every Player for themselves’ game.
This directly head-to-head playstyle is achieved with four Players, the conventional number of players for a trick-taking game. Buck Euchre is popular in the United States and Canada, where it is sometimes also known as Dirty Clubs.
How to Play Buck Euchre?
Buck Euchre is played using a modified version of the 52-card Standard Anglo-American deck. Players should remove all cards of all suits that are ranked less than 9.
This means that all that remains in a Buck Euchre deck are 4 cards each (in each suit) of 9s, 10s, Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Aces. This leaves a total remaining deck of 24 cards. Each Player is dealt 5 cards, face-down, in packets of 5 cards at a time.
The Deal
The Dealer will deal 5 cards to each Player, and then turn over the next top-card of the deck face-up. If this card is clubs, then clubs will immediately become the Trump suit for the trick-taking phase of the game. Turning up a ♣ will also skip the entire bidding phase of the game.
If the suit is not clubs, then the bidding phase will begin.
Wagering and Trumps
As in Euchre, Players will wager the number of tricks that they will win. If the suited card is not clubs, then the Players may wager at least three, and as many as all five. Players are bidding on the number of tricks that they will be able to take in a round a round of Play.
The Player that makes the highest wager is given the right to make the Dealer “order up”, drawing the face-up card and discarding one of the other cards in their hand. Once this has been done, that Player may name the Trump of their choice.
Players that win the right to declare Trump must win at least 3 tricks, regardless of their wager, or they will receive a penalty. Furthermore, games where a Trump suit has been determined must be played by all Players, and Players will receive a penalty if they do not win at least one trick.
If all three Players pass on the wager, the Dealer may then order up by their own volition and determine the Trump suit themselves. Otherwise, the Dealer may not choose to do so. In this case, the round will have no Trump suits, and is played based solely on rank.
In a round with no Trumps, Players are allowed to “fold” and not participate for the round. Although this means they cannot add to their score total as they are not winning any tricks, they will also not be compelled to pay the penalty if they fail to win a single trick.
Gameplay, and Leading Suit
Once the Trump suit has been determined, or once the round is a no-Trumps game, the Player to the immediate clockwise of the Dealer leads the first trick of the game.
When “leading” a trick, other Players must “follow suit” on the card which was placed first into the trick. This means that the suit of their cards must match the suit of the leading card, if able.
If Players are not able to follow suit, they may play any card in their hand that they wish. However, unless this card is a Trump, that Player cannot win the trick even if the rank of their card is higher than the leading card.
Only Trumps do not have to follow suit, and still win. Trump cards, in fact, will beat all other cards of lesser suits, even if it is a lower rank. For example, a 9 Trumps is going to beat an Ace of non-Trump every single time, even if the 9 Trumps is not following suit.
Once each Player has placed a card into the trick, the highest ranking Trump or suit-following card (if no Trumps are on the board) will win the trick, with the trick being awarded to the Player which placed that card.
The winning Player is given the right to lead the next trick. This cycle of gameplay continues until all 5 tricks have been played.
If a Player manages to win all five tricks, they immediately win the game. Otherwise, Players will follow the rules proscribed in the scoring section below, playing subsequent rounds until one Player meets the win condition and ends the game.
Rules for Buck Euchre
The rules can be summarized as follows:
- If a Player wins all five tricks at any time, they immediately win the game.
- The Players that determine the Trump suit have a “contract” and must win a certain number of tricks. If they do not achieve the desired number of tricks, they will be penalized.
- If a Trump suit has been determined, then Players may not drop out of the game and are compelled to participate. However, if there is no Trump suit, Players are allowed to “drop out” and not participate in a particular round. This runs the risk of another Player winning the game, but it is better than playing in a round where you are not likely to win any tricks, such as a hand of four 9s and a 10.
Scoring & Points
Buck Euchre is a game of “negative score”, where the higher a Player’s score is the worse their performance in the game. In Buck Euchre each Player starts with 25 points at the beginning of the game. At the end of each round, Players will tally their scores.
Players will remove one point from their score-total for each trick that they managed to win in that round. If a Player did not manage to win a single trick, then they will be compelled to add 5 points to their score.
Furthermore, the Player which determined the Trump suit, if there was one, will also be forced to add five penalty points to their total if they do not meet the contract which was made at the start of the round. This is known as “Euchre.”
If the Player which determined the Trump Suit somehow does not win a single trick, then that Player must compound both of the penalties and add ten total points to their score.
The first Player to reduce their score to 0, or the first Player to win all five tricks in a round, will instantly win the game. Players take turns when they total their score, meaning the Player sitting closest to the Dealer from the clockwise direction wins the game.
If the Player immediately to the left of the Dealer reaches 0, they win the game, even if the Player to their left also would have reached 0.
Example Play
Imagine the following is your hand in a game of Buck Euchre:
J♦ A♣ 9♦ 10♦ 10♣
This has the potential to be a moderately strong hand, depending on the suit that determines the Trump.
- If clubs are the next drawn card, this Player will have an advantage with two club cards as they will be guaranteed to win at least a single trick with their A♣.
- If the Trump suit somehow becomes ♦, the Player will also have an advantage with the possibility to win three tricks.
In this scenario, suppose the next card to be drawn is the K♥.
With that, the Player should potentially attempt to wager highly during the bidding phase, so that they might be able to make ♦ the Trump suit. This is a high-risk, but high-reward strategy.
An Ace might still win a trick on its own, meaning a Player has a solid chance of winning at least 4 tricks if they manage to control the Trump suit and make it ♦
