Five-handed Euchre

Updated: Apr 07, 2023

Table of contents

1. Game setup
2. How to play five-handed Euchre
3. Scoring

We’ve talked about playing Euchre the traditional way with four people. We’ve talked about the two-handed variation, the three-handed variation, and the six-handed variation. But did you know Euchre is so flexible, it could also be played with five people?

Five-handed Euchre is a variation of the classic card game we all know and love, where we can add one new player, a dynamic partner system, and six more cards to the playing deck. The five-handed Euchre is possibly the most challenging variation, where each player competes against all other players.

1. Game setup

The five-handed Euchre deck consists of the usual 24-card deck with the addition of the eights of each suit, the two of spades, and the two of hearts. You could use two jokers in place of the 2s, so long as they can be differentiated. They’re not equal in strength. One is a High joker and the other is a Low joker.

Cards in the trump suit outrank all other cards. The order of trump from highest to lowest is 2Spades (or High Joker), 2Hearts (or Low Joker), right bower, left bower, A, K, Q, 10, 9, and 8. For example, if Spades are trump the order is 2 of Spades (or High Joker), 2 of Hearts (or Low Joker), right bower, left bower, Ace of Spades, King of Spades, Queen of Spades, 10 of Spades, 9 of Spades, 8 of Spades.

2. How to play five-handed Euchre

The game of Five-Handed Euchre is similar to the classic four-player Euchre, as it involves a sequence of dealing, bidding, playing the hand, and scoring. This process repeats until someone reaches 10 points.

Dealing the cards. Five cards are dealt to each player, starting from the player to the left of the dealer and continuing clockwise. The remaining cards are referred to as the kitty and are kept aside. In the event that a two or joker is revealed, the dealer is prohibited from viewing their cards.
Bidding. In a clockwise manner, players have the opportunity to either pass or choose the face-up card as the trump suit. Once a player declares the face-up suit as the trump, the dealer takes the card, and that player becomes the bidder. At this point, the dealer must discard one of their cards face down into the kitty. If no player declares the trump suit, then each player can choose another suit. If no player chooses a suit, the dealer must make the decision.
Selecting a partner. To choose a partner, the bidding player must name a card. The player who plays the named card becomes their partner for that hand. If the card is in the kitty or has been discarded by the dealer, then there will be no partner.
Going alone. The bidder may also not select a partner and go alone. If they take five tricks while going alone, they get 4 points. If a player names a card in the kitty and takes all five tricks, he is only awarded two points, because they didn’t announce going alone.
Special situation. At the start of the game, if the dealer reveals a two or a joker before seeing their hand, they have the option to select a trump suit or expose a card from their hand and then select a trump suit. If the dealer chooses the former, the bidding follows the usual course. If the dealer opts for the latter, they pick up the two, discard a card of their choice, and then decide whether to choose a partner or play alone.
Playing hands. A hand is comprised of five tricks and commences with the player to the left of the dealer. During each trick, players are required to play a card of the same suit as the leading card if possible. If a player can’t follow suit, they may play any card. The player with the highest card of the leading suit takes the trick and leads the next trick. This process repeats until all cards are played.

3. Scoring

The score in five-handed Euchre is calculated only for individual players and not teams. During the game, even if a team wins a trick, the points go only to the winner of the trick.

Besides that, the point system is identical to the classic Euchre game. As soon as a player accumulates 10 points, they are declared the winner. If multiple players achieve 10 points at the same time, the player with the lowest score at the start of the current hand will be declared the winner. If there is still a tie, the game concludes in a draw.

So, don’t worry if you are in the company of four other card game lovers. You can still play euchre, no matter the number of people.