 Media Credit: Jenny George If spades are trump, there is no way to win against this bauer-laden hand.
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Embraced by small-town community halls and Legions across the country, Mark Kerr examines the evolution of a game once limited to a senior generation, which can now be found in University tournaments.
Community halls and Legions were once the centre of rural life in Canada. Why go to the big lights over an hour away when all of your friends were just up the road?
Most nights these tiny wooden structures bustled with activity. Folks gathered for chicken dinners, dances and Christmas pageants. And, oh yeah... card games. We mustn't forget the card games.
Euchre dominated as the game of choice in the area that I grew up. Sure, poker was popular, but that was a game for the boys at home drinking on a Friday night--quite an inappropriate activity for public gatherings.
Euchre offered more gender-inclusive entertainment. The top male and female scorers received a portion of the money collected at the door. A 'prize' was awarded to the player with the lowest score, and a 50-50 draw was held at the end of the evening.
While the halls and Legions are no longer a central part of small-town, community life, the euchre tournaments have continued.
"I think that [euchre games] are still popular," says Danny Roantree, a resident of Seeley's Bay, Ontario, a small town half an hour east of Kingston. "Each small community in the area seems to have a euchre competition. We have one at the Legion. It is full almost every week, with eight tables (32 players)."
Euchre is just as serious a game as it was in the past. I remember my grandmother coming home from tournaments peeved.
"Didn't have any luck," she would say most nights upon arriving home. Even today we discuss her performance in the local card circuit.
"I see [euchre] just for fun, but there are some people there to win," says Roantree, who learned the game from his mother when he was a teenager. He estimates he has played the game for close to 45 years.
There is no doubting the intense environment of most euchre gatherings. The tournaments are based on a progressive system, where your grand total at the end of the night is a summation of all the points you have won in eight games. Because euchre is played with a partner, success depends to a large extent on the people you are paired with over the course of the night.
Tournament play is fast-paced, with players rushing to get as many tricks as possible. Talk is limited, except for some chit-chat during the deal. Socializing comes later, when the light lunch is served.
If a person is slightly unsure of the techniques of the game, he/she risks getting swept away in the flurry of cards that cross the table.
Roantree notes that those people that play to win are not as accepting when mistakes happen.
For all the talk of competitiveness, however, tournaments are appealing for more than the small change awarded at the end of the night. People play to have fun and catch up on the community gossip.
Furthermore, euchre gives the older population a chance to escape the house for a few hours. It is not that far to travel, and the game serves as a distraction from everyday concerns.
Some students have realized the diversionary appeal of euchre. Tournaments devoted to the simple trick game were established two years ago at the University of Michigan.
"I started the euchre tournaments as a means of getting players for an annual intercollegiate recreation tournament," says Betsy Sundholm, Michigan Union Billiards manager.
Euchre attracts a younger audience, according to Brian Gorney, an Engineering student at the University of Michigan, who learned to play during high school lunch hours.
"My grandparents know how to play the game, but the impression I get is that it's more of a younger person's game," says Gorney. "In addition, since euchre seems to have centred around Michigan, it's pretty easy to find someone to play, no matter what age group."
Over a short time period, euchre has soared in popularity on the Michigan campus. There are nearly 100 players signed up, with attendance ranging from 24-32 people at each tournament.
"The euchre tournaments have been one of the most successful programs that [the Michigan Union Billiards Room] have started in a decade," says Sundholm. "In the first year, we averaged about 15 players a week. This year, it almost doubled. I can see it continuing to grow [exponentially] for at least two to three more years.
"If they win a weekly tournament, they get a $20 gift card for local stores. There is no cost to enter, and it's fun," continues Sundholm.
While the tournaments are meant for a good time, occasionally someone will try to win at all costs.
"I did have to eject someone from the tournament this year for cheating, watching the cards as he dealt them. But for the most part, they are friendly."
Roantree now sees more and more of the local kids accepting euchre into their lives.
"It seems to be popular already," responds Roantree when asked whether the younger generation will pick up the game. "I know that at the high school they have a tournament. And a couple teenagers have come the past two weeks [to the community euchre]."
People escaping their small towns for the big smoke will continue to leave behind deteriorating community halls and Legions. But everyone needs to be part of a community, and euchre will continue to bring people together, regardless of whether they are senior citizens or university students.
The Rules
The Basics
Euchre is a plain trick game for four players in fixed partners sitting opposite one another. The game is played with a 24-card deck consisting of the 9, 10, jack, queen, king and ace in the four suits. The dealer distributes five cards to each of the players and leaves one card face-up after all the players have their cards.
The highest card in any trump (suit called) is the jack (right bower) in that suit. The next highest card is the other jack (left bower) of the same colour. Next follows ace, king, queen, 10 and 9. The other off-suit cards rank from the ace to 9.
Note: The left bower is considered trump and is not put in this order. A trump card is higher than any non-trump card.
Example: With clubs as trump, the highest to lowest ranking is jack clubs, jack spades, ace clubs, king clubs, queen clubs, 10 clubs, 9 clubs.
Calling Trump
The table is played clockwise with the person to the left of the dealer going first. The person beside the dealer has the choice to either order up the card to the dealer, order up the card to the dealer and go alone without a partner or pass to the next person.
This goes around the table until it gets to the dealer, who has the same options. If the dealer decides to pass, he/she turns down the card.
If the dealer turns down the card, the person to the left can call any suit they want to be trump (except the suit that was turned down). They have the option to call a suit, call a suit and go alone or pass to the next person.
If it is passed around to the dealer again, the dealer can call, go alone or discard the hand. If the dealer discards the hand, the player to the left becomes the dealer and a new hand is dealt.
Playing
After a suit has been called, the person to the left of the dealer plays a card.
Scoring
In order to gain points when you or your partner has called trump, you must take three of the five tricks. If you get the three tricks, you score one point. If you get five tricks, you get two points. If you have a successful lone hand and get all five tricks, you get four points.
If you and your partner don't get three of the five tricks when you've called trump, you get "euchred." Your opponents get two points for the euchre.
