Longevity is in the cards for Columbus Ohio Euchre Club

Marla K. Kuhlman, ThisWeek
·6 min read

The love of the game has kept Columbus Ohio Euchre Club members playing for 30 years.

The fast pace and challenge keep players coming back for more, said Amy Carmean, club organizer.

“We have so much fun,” she said. “We have such a friendly group of players of all ages (adults). People from Columbus, Worthington and neighboring suburbs show up to play. We have a player that's only 10 minutes away that volunteers to play if anyone needs a partner.”

Carmean said there’s more to playing euchre than just following suit.

“It's important to be gutsy by calling ‘next,’” she said. “For example, if the opponent turns down hearts, we may go diamonds (the other red suit). You can go alone (your partner sits out) if you can because it's four points on a loner. Jacks of the ordered suit are the highest trump. If someone calls hearts trump, the jack of hearts is the highest trump and the jack of diamonds is next highest. The next-highest trump would be the ace of hearts, then down to the 9.”

Carmean said players have five cards in their hands, and the euchre deck consists of 9s to aces and all four jacks.

The club plays with teams, four players at a table.

“We play STD (stick the dealer), which means if nobody orders up or calls trump, the dealer has to call trump,” she said. “Most of the best euchre players get euchred, which means they didn't get three tricks and that gives the other team two points. It's important to play aggressive and always count on your partner for one trick.”

Carmean said it’s also good to have a poker face while playing. “Sometimes people can tell if their opponent has a good hand just by watching their expressions,” she said.

7 facts about the Columbus Ohio Euchre Club

  • Where: J&D's Place, 480 E. Wilson Bridge Road, Suite A, in Worthington. Phone: 614-505-0662. The club has been playing weekly in Worthington for about seven months. Members previously played in Columbus, Dublin, Hilliard and Upper Arlington.

  • When: 7:30 p.m. every Wednesday. Sign-ups start at 7 p.m..

  • Format: Partner euchre, averaging 20 teams. A timer keeps the games going at a steady pace at 25 minutes for each game. There’s a 10-minute warning before time is up. The tournament includes six games, finishing about 10:30 p.m.

  • Cost: $5 per person, with all winnings paid out to the first- and second-place teams.

  • Eats: Some players arrive early so they can relax and eat first, but it's fine to eat while playing, too. J&D’s recently launched a new Jack Ruby's BBQ menu.

6 things to know about playing euchre ‒ according to rules at dummies.com

  • The basics: Four players are in a usual euchre game, two teams and two players to a team. You play the game with partners, but under special circumstances, one member of a partnership can elect to go solo. Each game uses a standard deck of 52 cards, but the ace through the 9 in each suit is used, making the deck 24 cards for the game. (Bicycle suggests some variants use 7s and 8s, too.) Each player receives five cards, and you play one card at a time; the player who lays the highest card in the suit of the first card played – unless someone contributes a trump, in which case it is whoever lays the highest trump card – collects all four cards together and stacks the cards in front of them, thus taking the trick.

  • How to win: In Euchre, you win a hand and score points for taking the majority of the tricks in a hand, which means winning three or more of the five tricks available. You get more points if you take all five tricks. The first to a specified total of points, generally 10, wins the match.

  • Picking partners: You play euchre with two teams of two players, either with prearranged partnerships or with partners selected by cutting the deck. If you cut the deck for partners, the two highest cards take on the two lowest cards. Make sure the partners sit opposite each other. In partnership games, you almost always sit across from your partner.

  • Determining the trump suit: After the deal is complete, the dealer turns over the top card of the four remaining cards. This is called the upcard and it determines what the trump suit is for the current hand. The remaining three cards play no part in the current hand. The trump suit represents the boss suit, meaning that a trump card beats any card in any other suit. In euchre, you have to follow the suit that the first player leads (play a card in the same suit), but if you can’t follow suit, you can play a trump card and win the trick (unless someone plays a higher trump card).

  • The card rankings in euchre: The standard ranking order applies: Within each suit, the ace is high and the values descend to the lowly 9. The only exception to the normal ranking rules lies in the trump suit, which ranks as follows: The highest trump card is the jack of the trump suit, often referred to as the right bower. (In England, you play the game with a joker, which ranks as the master trump. The joker is known as the Benny, or the Best Bower.) The second-highest trump card is the other jack of the same-color suit, often called the left bower. The jack deserts its own suit and becomes a trump card for the hand; for example, the jack of spades ceases to be a spade when clubs are the trump suit – it becomes a club. The remaining five cards in the trump suit are the ace, king, queen, 10, and 9, ranking from highest to lowest in that order. For example, if clubs are the trump suit, the cards rank in the order shown in this figure. Diamonds and hearts rank from the ace through 9 in the normal fashion.

  • Tallying your score: The team that chooses the trump suit and then wins three or four tricks scores one point. If the side that makes trump gets all five tricks, it marches or sweeps the hand, and the team scores two points. If the makers fail to fulfill the trick obligation, the defenders score two points (whether they get three, four or five tricks) – they have euchred the makers. However, the biggest score comes if you go solo and make all five tricks: four points. Serious Euchre players often use a 6 and 4 card to keep their totals. To indicate one point, you turn up the 6 and put the 4 face down to cover all but one spot, and move the cards as you score points.

mkuhlman@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekMarla

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Longevity is in the cards for Columbus Ohio Euchre Club