What is Bid Euchre (six-card)?
Bid Euchre replaces the turned-up card with an auction. The whole 24-card deck is dealt out, six cards to each of the four players, so there is no kitty and no card to order up.
Starting on the dealer's left, each player bids once: a number of tricks from 3 to 6 that their side promises to win, higher than the bid before, or a pass. The dealer bids last and may take the contract by equalling the high bid; if everyone else passed, the dealer must bid at least 3.
The high bidder then names the trump suit, with the bowers ranked as usual, or one of two no-trump games. In no trump high there are no trumps and no bowers, and each suit runs from ace down to nine. In no trump low the order is turned round, so the nine is the best card of its suit and the ace the worst. The high bidder leads to the first of six tricks.
Both sides score a point for every trick they take. If the bidders win fewer tricks than they bid, they are set: instead of scoring their tricks they lose the amount of their bid, so scores can go below zero. The game is played to 32.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Euchre | Bid Euchre (six-card) |
|---|---|---|
| Deal | Standard EuchreFive cards each; four go to the kitty, the top one turned up. | Bid Euchre (six-card)All 24 cards, six each, with no kitty and no turned card. |
| Making trumps | Standard EuchreOrder up the turned card's suit, or in a second round name another suit. | Bid Euchre (six-card)One round of bids from the dealer's left: each player bids 3 to 6 tricks, higher than the last bid, or passes. |
| The dealer | Standard EuchreStick the dealer: if everyone passes twice, the dealer must name trumps. | Bid Euchre (six-card)Bids last and may equal the high bid to take it; if everyone else passed, must bid at least 3. |
| Trumps | Standard EuchreAlways a suit, with the right and left bowers on top. | Bid Euchre (six-card)The high bidder names a suit (bowers as usual), no trump high or no trump low. |
| No trump | Standard EuchreNot played. | Bid Euchre (six-card)No trumps and no bowers. High: ace down to nine in each suit. Low: nine down to ace. |
| First lead | Standard EuchreThe player on the dealer's left, or the next player who is playing. | Bid Euchre (six-card)The high bidder. |
| Scoring | Standard EuchreMakers: 1 for three or four tricks, 2 for all five, 4 alone. Defenders: 2 for a euchre. | Bid Euchre (six-card)Each side scores a point per trick. Bidders who fall short lose their bid instead; scores can go below zero. |
| Winning | Standard EuchreThe first side to reach the target, 10 unless another is chosen. | Bid Euchre (six-card)32 points, reached at the end of a hand in which that side made its bid or set the bidders. Tricks taken against a made bid don't win the game. |
| Going alone | Standard EuchreThe maker may go alone; their partner sits the hand out. | Bid Euchre (six-card)Not offered: this version has no lone bids. |
| Players | Standard EuchreFour in two partnerships, or three playing cutthroat. | Bid Euchre (six-card)Four, in two partnerships. |
| Other options | Standard EuchreThe joker, the Canadian loner, a 32-card deck and the target score can be chosen. | Bid Euchre (six-card)None of them apply: Bid Euchre always uses the 24-card deck without the joker, has no turned card and plays to 32. |
History
Bid Euchre is a family of games rather than one game. Bid Euchre, also known as Auction Euchre, Pepper or Hasenpfeffer, is a group of North American variants in which trumps are decided by bidding.
The version played here is the one known as Bid Euchre, 6-Card Euchre or Racehorse, for four players with the 24-card pack: every card is dealt, bids name a number of tricks but no suit, the dealer may equal the highest bid and must bid at least 3 if everyone else passes, the high bidder chooses a trump suit, no trump high or no trump low, and the target is 32. The rest follows the general rules of Bid Euchre: each player bids once, starting on the dealer's left; both sides score their tricks; set bidders lose the amount of their bid and scores can go negative; and a side can only win on a hand in which it made its bid or defeated the opponents' bid.
Some forms of Bid Euchre have lone bids, but descriptions of this version don't mention them, so none are offered here. Versions of the game for six or eight players with a double pack aren't played here either.