Euchre

Euchre is a trick-taking card game typically played by four people in two partnerships. Originally played with 32 cards, Euchre now uses a deck of 24, with all cards between two and eight discarded. Its most distinctive characteristic is a trump system in which the jack of trump (called the right bower), followed by the jack of the same color (the left bower), are elevated to the highest-ranking cards. From the mid-19th to the early-20th century, Euchre and Poker were regarded as the national card games of the United States. Although its popularity in the United States has since declined, Euchre retains a strong following in certain regions, particularly the Great Lakes. The game also remains popular in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Many writers at the turn of the 20th century speculated that Euchre came from the similar game of Ecarte played by French settlers in Louisiana. Other sources hypothesized that it developed from the French game [Page 197]Triomphe, or was adapted from Ecarté by American sailors who named the right and left bowers after the main anchors of a ship. More recent scholarship suggests that the game is an offshoot of the Alsatian game Juckerspiel, likely brought by German immigrants to America in the late 17th or early 18th century. Euchre made a lasting contribution to card decks by introducing the joker, likely in the 1850s. In Euchre, it outranked both bowers as the highest trump. The name of the card came from name of the game, Jucker, rather than from the card's design; the joker card was initially blank. However, by the end of the 19th century, the traditional jester image became prevalent.

Euchre has gained the reputation as a game played by the lower class, as opposed to more formal and complex games, such as Bridge, that are regarded as indicators of social accomplishment. This concern with status is inherent in the structure of the game itself in its elevation of the bowers (from the German bauer, meaning farmer) above the royalty. This meaning also works in English, jack being the designation for common man. In modern practice, this association with farming and the lower classes is embraced in certain regional folk traditions, particularly in scoring rituals. For example, score-keepers will often slightly uncover a pip on their score-card so that it is “sprouting.” In another scoring custom, when one team reaches nine points and is considered “in the barn,” the occasion is marked by vocalizations of barnyard animals. At the score of 10, the players “enter the barn” and pantomime milking a cow.

Euchre has also been associated with sociability and playfulness since its introduction to the United States. Near the turn of the 20th century, the game was touted as an alternative to Poker, Whist, and Cribbage because it was simpler, more casual, did not involve gambling, and could be played by experts and amateurs alike. Less formal in its game play, players often gossiped, flirted, and told stories in-between or even during hands—a practice that would have been frowned upon in many other games. Progressive Euchre, a tournament-style variation of the game, emphasizes Euchre's social aspects.

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