Bid Euchre

Bid Euchre is played by four players in two partnerships, partners facing each other: here you and North play against West and East. This version uses 48 cards, the A, K, Q, J, 10 and 9 from two decks shuffled together, and each player gets twelve cards. Play is clockwise.

Starting left of the dealer, players bid a number of tricks (1 to 12) together with a trump suit or no trump. Each bid must be for more tricks than the last; suits have no rank, so you can't outbid four spades with four hearts. Passing doesn't stop you bidding again later. The auction ends when the other three pass in a row, when someone bids 12, or when someone goes it alone.

Trumps rank as in Euchre: the Jack of trumps (the right bower) is highest, then the other Jack of the same colour (the left bower), which counts as a trump for every purpose, then A, K, Q, 10, 9. The other suits rank A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, except that the suit of the same colour as trumps has no Jacks, because they are left bowers. In no trump every suit ranks A to 9. When two identical cards fall in the same trick, the first one played beats the second.

The highest bidder leads the first trick. You must follow suit if you can; if you can't, you may trump or throw any card.

• Each side scores one point per trick it takes. But if the bidding side takes fewer tricks than it bid, it loses the number it bid instead.
• Going alone is the top bid: the bidder must take all 12 tricks while partner sits out. First the bidder may swap up to three cards with partner, each choosing their cards without seeing the other's. Making it scores 24; failing costs 24.
• A side wins by reaching 52 points at the end of a hand in which it made its bid or set the opponents. You can't win just on odd tricks taken while the other side makes its bid.
• If all four players pass, the hand is thrown in and the next player deals.

• On your turn to bid, set the number of tricks with − and +, choose a suit or No trump, and tap Bid, or Pass. Tick Go it alone to bid all 12 tricks alone.
• When going alone, select up to three cards to swap and tap Swap. If your partner goes alone, select the cards to pass them.
• On your turn to play, tap a highlighted card. Your trumps, bowers included, are outlined in gold.

• Daily: everyone gets the same deals each day.
• New Game: a fresh game with new deals.

• Count bowers and trumps. In a double deck there are two right bowers and two left bowers, and holding several of them makes a long trump suit very strong.
• Bid with your partner in mind: a typical partner hand is worth about three tricks.
• Remember that the first of two identical cards wins. Leading your Ace beats the other Ace if it's played after yours.
• Go alone only with an overwhelming hand. You must take every trick, and the swap with partner is your best chance to fill a gap.

Bid Euchre is the name for a group of North American games based on Euchre, in which trumps are chosen by whoever contracts to win the most tricks rather than by turning up a card. Pagat.com notes that there is no standard set of rules: versions differ mostly in the size of the deck, which is often a double deck, and in the bids allowed.

Wikipedia describes a whole family of these bidding variants, including Pepper, Pfeffer, Hasenpfeffer and Buck Euchre, played in North America; Pfeffer and Indiana Double Deck Bid Euchre are commonly played in the Midwest of the United States.

The rules here follow pagat's general rules for Bid Euchre together with its "Double Deck Bid Euchre from the mid-western USA". That version doesn't set a target score, so we play to 52, the target in pagat's Barrie and Kokomo versions, and we throw the hand in if nobody bids.

Bid Euchre is a free browser version of the double-deck partnership game, played with a computer partner against two computer opponents, with a daily game and online leaderboards. There's nothing to download and no sign-up.

A free, original browser game on PlayPendium. No download, no install.