Call-Your-Partner Euchre

A variation on the classic card game Euchre. You should be familiar with the rules of Euchre before playing this game.

Players

5 players

Cards

One standard deck with 2s thru 7s removed

Object

The object is to get to a predetermined score, typically 10 points.

Dealing

The game is dealt much like a standard euchre game, except that there are five players, and there will only be 3 cards left when dealing is completed, rather than 4. Like standard euchre, the top card of the remaining three is flipped up and placed on the pile in front of the dealer.

Game play

Play is very much like standard euchre. Trump is determined the same way.

The person who calls trump is allowed to call their partner, if they wish. The call their partner by naming a non-trump card. If they are ordering the dealer to pick up the trump card, they will reveal their called card after the dealer has discarded, to prevent the dealer from discarding the called card intentionally. The caller may also elect to go alone (ie, not call a partner).

The player that has the called card is their partner. However, they cannot reveal that information until they play the called card, so it will not be immediately apparent who the caller's partner is.

Because three cards are buried, it is possible that the person who makes trump and calls for a partner will not have one, because the card they called may be buried.

Scoring

Score is much like traditional euchre. The team that called trump is given one point if they get three or four of the tricks; they are given two points if they get all five tricks. If they get less than three tricks, then the defending team is given two points.

If the caller goes alone, either by choice or because the called card is buried, then they are given five points if they take all five tricks.

Because the "partners" change for each hand, each player must individually keep their own score. If playing to 10, you can use 5/5 for two players, 4/6 for two players, and 3/7 for one player, or you may use paper or poker chips for keeping score.