The total score of a win is decided on either 5 or 7 or 10 points. Partners sit across from each other. A common method of choosing the first dealer is to deal the cards around until a black jack appears.
Each player is dealt five cards-- not one at a time, but three to each player, then two to each player. After the deal, the next card in the stock-- the rest of the deck-- is turned faceup.
The player who decides the trump suit is called the "maker."
The first player has two options: If she wants to make the suit of the faceup card trump, she says, "I order it up,"; or she can pass. If she accepts, the suit will be trump.
If she passes, the player to her left (dealer's partner), goes next. That player also has two options: She can accept the trump by saying, "I assist"; or she can pass. If the second player says, "I assist," the suit will be trump.
If she passes, the third player has the same two options as her partner. She can accept the trump by saying, "I order it up," or she can pass.
If the third player accepts, the suit will be trump. If she passes, the dealer can say, "I take it up," accept the suit or not or signify her acceptance of the suit as trump by discarding one of the cards in her hand facedown on the table. By custom, she'll leave the upcard on the table until she decides to play it. Or she can decline the proposed trump by turning the card over.
If the dealer turns the card down, there's one more round in which the players have another chance to either pass or declare a different suit as trump. Once another suit has been named, it becomes trump; no one else can name another suit. If all the players pass again, the deal is thrown in and the next dealer deals a new hand.
The "maker," the player who accepted or named the suit, has the option of playing alone. She signifies this by saying "I play alone," at which point her partner discards her hand and doesn't participate in the hand. When the maker plays alone, the nonmaker team has the same option: Either player can declare, "I defend alone," at which the lone defender's partner stays out of the game.
If the maker is playing alone, the player to her left leads the first card. Otherwise, the lead belongs to the dealer's left, no matter who the maker is.
Any card can be led. Players must follow suit if they can. If they can't follow suit, they can play any card. The trick goes to the highest trump, or, if it contains no trump cards, to the highest card of the suit led. The winner of a trick leads the next.
The hand ends when all five tricks have been played.
Only the team that wins three or more tricks scores. Winning all five tricks is called "march." If the maker's team fails to win at least three tricks, it's "euchred."
If the maker's team wins, they score 1 point for winning three or four tricks, 2 points for march. If the maker played alone, her partnership scores 1 point for winning three or four tricks, 4 points for march. If the making side is euchred, the other side scores 2 points. A lone defender scores 1 point for taking three or four tricks, 4 points for march.
The first side to reach the agreed-upon totals wins.
In Stick-the-Dealer, if all players pass during the second round, the dealer is "stuck," and has to choose a trump suit. The game continues with no redeal.
In one scoring variation, if the making teams takes no tricks (called a "super Euchre"), the defending team scores 4 points.
Railroading is a variation in which, if your partner is going to play alone, you can pass her your best card facedown. Without look at it, your partner has to decide whether or not to pick it up and discard a card from her hand.
UK Style is played with twenty-five-card deck consisting of the ace, king, queen, jack, ten, and nine only of each suit, with an extra card called the "Benny"-- either a joker or the deuce of spades-- which is the highest trump no matter what suit is called. If the dealer turns the Benny over at the start of the game, he has to decide which suit to call trump before looking at his own hand. The bidding then continues as normal.