Progressive euchre rules
Progressive euchre is euchre for a crowd: several tables of four, a new partner every round, and a running total for each player. Winners move up toward the head table, and the highest total at the end of the night wins. These are the rules most clubs and parties play by.
The rules in short
- Sit four to a table. Two pairs at each table, with partners across from each other. Table 1 is the head table.
- Play 8 hands. Every table plays 8 hands, so everyone deals twice.
- Score each hand. 1 point for making it, 2 for a march, 4 for a loner who takes all 5 tricks, and 2 to the other pair for a euchre.
- Win the table. After the 8th hand, the pair with more points wins the table.
- Move. Winners move up a table and losers stay. At the head table, winners stay and losers go to the bottom table.
- Change partners. The pairs split, so everyone has a new partner for the next round.
- Keep your own total. Add your pair’s points to your own total every round. The highest total at the end of the night wins.
Tables and partners
Euchre is played four to a table, in two pairs, with partners across from each other. Number the tables: Table 1 is the head table, and the highest number is the bottom table.
In progressive euchre you play the night for yourself. Partners change every round, and each player keeps their own total. This guide assumes you know how to play a hand of euchre with a 24-card deck, 9s through aces.
Scoring a hand
The pair that names trump are the makers. Each hand scores for one pair:
| What happened | Points | Who scores |
|---|---|---|
| The makers take 3 or 4 tricks | 1 | The makers |
| The makers take all 5 tricks (a march) | 2 | The makers |
| A player goes alone and takes all 5 (a loner) | 4 | The loner’s pair |
| A player goes alone and takes 3 or 4 | 1 | The loner’s pair |
| The makers take fewer than 3 (euchred) | 2 | The other pair |
Every hand gives one pair 1, 2 or 4 points, so nobody ever loses points. A euchred loner gives the other pair 2 as well, unless your group plays it as 4 (see House rules).
Thrown-in hands and reneges
- Thrown in: if everyone passes twice and your group doesn’t play stick the dealer, the cards are thrown in. Nobody scores, but it still counts as one of the 8 hands.
- Renege: a player who doesn’t follow suit when they could has reneged. The hand ends, and the other pair scores 2, or 4 if the renege was against a loner.
A round is 8 hands
At a party, tables don’t play to 10. A round is 8 hands at each table, so each player deals twice. When the 8th hand is done, the round is over at that table, whatever the score. A round takes about 15 to 20 minutes.
Some groups play a different number of hands, usually a multiple of 4 so everyone deals the same number of times, or play each round to a number of points instead.
Winning the table
After the last hand, the pair with more points wins the table, 7–5 for example.
On a tie, the pair that reached that score first wins. At 6–6, if Ruth and Dave got to 6 on hand 6 and Linda and Tom got there on hand 8, Ruth and Dave win the table. If that can’t settle it, as at 0–0, cut the cards: high card wins.
Moving up and new partners
Nobody moves until every table has finished its round. Then:
- The winners move up one table, toward Table 1.
- The losers stay at their table.
- At the head table, the winners stay and the losers go down to the bottom table.
- Everyone gets a new partner. The pair that stayed splits up, and each of them partners one of the two who arrived. Partners still sit across from each other.
At Table 1, Linda and Pat beat Jo and Sam. Linda and Pat stay, and Jo and Sam go down to Table 3.
At Table 2, Ruth and Dave beat Kathy and Tom, 7–5. Ruth and Dave move up to Table 1, and Kathy and Tom stay.
At Table 3, Ann and Lee beat Mo and Chris. Ann and Lee move up to Table 2, and Mo and Chris stay.
In round 2, Table 1 is Linda and Ruth against Pat and Dave, Table 2 is Kathy and Ann against Tom and Lee, and Table 3 is Mo and Jo against Chris and Sam.
In a small group you’ll partner the same person again later in the night. That’s normal.
The head table and the bell
Some groups use a bell. When the head table finishes its 8 hands, it rings the bell, and every other table finishes the hand it’s on and stops. Without a bell, every table plays all its hands, and a table that finishes early waits for the others.
Your own score
After each round, both partners add their pair’s points to their own total, and mark whether they won the table. The other pair often initials the score. Loners are counted for the player who went alone and took all 5, because Most loners is a popular prize.
| Round | Table | Partner | Result | Points | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Dave | Won 7–5 | 7 | 7 |
| 2 | 1 | Linda | Lost 4–8 | 4 | 11 |
| 3 | 3 | Mo | Won 9–3 | 9 | 20 |
Losing at the head table in round 2 sent Ruth down to the bottom table for round 3, but points count the same at every table: the 9 Ruth scored at Table 3 are worth as much as 9 at Table 1. Free printable score sheets are on our printables page.
Sitting out
When the numbers don’t come out in fours, the 1 to 3 extra players sit out a round, in turn, and nobody sits out twice before everyone has sat out once. Some groups give a round sat out a set score, often 6 or 7 points; others give nothing. Planning for odd numbers is in How to host a euchre party.
House rules
Every group plays euchre a little differently. Agree on these before the first deal, and tell every table:
- Stick the dealer: if everyone passes twice, the dealer must name trump, so no hand is ever thrown in. Very common.
- Defending alone: a defender may go alone against a loner. Euchring the loner that way scores 4.
- A euchred loner scores 4 for the other pair instead of 2.
- Loner bonus: a player who goes alone and takes all 5 gets 1 extra point of their own, so they score 5 and their partner 4.
- Super euchre: if the makers take no tricks at all, the other pair scores 4.
- Play to points instead of a fixed number of hands.
- The head table’s bell, as above.
- Farmer’s hand: a hand of only 9s and 10s may be redealt or swapped. A house rule only, never used in tournaments.
Questions people ask
How many hands are in a round of progressive euchre?
Eight, so each player deals twice. Some groups play a different number of hands, usually a multiple of four, or play to a set number of points.
Who moves in progressive euchre?
The pair that wins moves up one table and the pair that loses stays. At the head table it’s reversed: the winners stay and the losers go to the bottom table.
Do you keep the same partner in progressive euchre?
No. The pairs split after every round, so you have a new partner each time. Some groups play a different format where partners stay together all night, sometimes called a partners’ event.
How do you score a loner in euchre?
A player who goes alone and takes all 5 tricks scores 4 for their pair. Taking 3 or 4 tricks alone scores 1, the same as making it with a partner. If the loner is euchred, the other pair scores 2.
What happens if a euchre table ties?
The pair that reached the tied score first wins the table. If that can’t settle it, as at 0–0, cut the cards: high card wins.
One tap a hand with Euchre Circle
Each table’s scorekeeper taps what happened, and Euchre Circle counts the hands, works out who won the table, and after every round shows everyone their next table, seat and partner, or that they sit out. Your organizer turns on the house rules your group plays.
Free for every player to join, RSVP, keep score and see where to sit. The live scoreboard, season standings and winners log are an optional subscription, per person. On the App Store and Google Play, in the US and Canada.
See Euchre Circle
