Points at a glance
Only one team scores on each hand. Either the makers (the team that named trump) score for taking three or more tricks, or the defenders score for stopping them.
| Result | Who scores | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Makers take 3 or 4 tricks | Makers | 1 |
| Makers take all 5 tricks (a march, or sweep) | Makers | 2 |
| Lone maker takes 3 or 4 tricks | Makers | 1 |
| Lone maker takes all 5 tricks | Makers | 4 |
| Makers take 0, 1 or 2 tricks (euchred) | Defenders | 2 |
A euchre is worth more than a normal win on purpose: it punishes calling trump on a weak hand.
Examples
- You order up spades and your team takes three tricks. Your team scores 1.
- You order up spades and your team takes all five. Your team scores 2.
- You go alone in spades and take all five. Your team scores 4.
- You go alone and take four. Your team scores 1. A lone hand only pays extra for all five.
- You order up spades and take two tricks. The other team scores 2.
Keeping score with a 5 and a 6
Euchre uses only 24 cards, so every deck has spares. The classic way to keep score is with two of them per team, usually a 5 and a 6 (some use a 4 and a 6). Stack the two cards so that the number of pips you can see equals your score.
The exact layout differs from family to family. One common method: the 6 lies face down covering the 5 at the start; slide it to uncover one pip of the 5 for each point. At 5 points the 5 is fully showing; flip the cards so the 6 is face up and cover it with the 5 to count from 6 to 10. Any method works if both teams can read it at a glance.
Prefer paper? We're adding free printable score sheets soon.
Winning the game
- The first team to reach 10 points wins. You don't need to land on exactly 10.
- A typical game takes 15 to 25 minutes and 8 to 12 hands.
- Tournaments often play to 10 with a time limit, or play a fixed number of hands and total the points.
Scoring variations
- Defending alone. Where defenders may go alone, a lone defender who euchres the makers scores 4.
- Super euchre. Some groups give the defenders 4 points if the makers take no tricks at all.
- Shorter games. Playing to 5 or 7 points speeds things up; the scoring per hand stays the same.
- Going over 10. A few groups require an exact 10, though it's rare.
Not sure who leads or what beats what? See the official rules and card ranking.