I receive several emails a week and most all of them are asking me to settle an argument about the rules. Not everybody can agree 100% on Euchre rules because almost 100% of the people who play have never read them! I work at a distribution center that employees several hundred people. A lot of them play Euchre. And all of them play incorrectly. Yes that's right. Every single person I know that plays the game plays the way they was taught; either by Mom and Dad, brothers or sisters or some friends. Unfortunately, these people have all learned the exact same way; being taught by friends or family. The problem with this is that not only do they play by "memory" but there are also different ways of playing geographically. People who play in Michigan most likely play different from those people from Indiana, Ohio etc... Nobody argues about the rules in Monopoly. If there is a disagreement you simply get out the rules and settle things once and for all. But when it comes to Euchre, you just can't whip out the Euchre rules. When a person (usually a beginner) wants to pick up a jack but doesn't have that suit in his hand and tries to argue the fact that he should be able to pick that jack up, he is unfairly outnumbered by three (or more) people who knows that you must have that suit to pick up that card. How do they know? Ahhhhhhh yes I almost forgot. Everybody plays that way so it has to be right! Well folks, I'm sorry but that is not the correct way to play the game. It is my humble opinion that Euchre in it's most purest form is so simple that people can't stand it and are drawn to add rules to it, much like a moth is drawn to a flame. The official rules of Euchre have long been tossed aside for more "fair, common sense" rules. Here is one major example. Then I'll shut my mouth and you can get right to the official rules. Remember though, whether you hear it from me or from Hoyle, it's all the same.

Example #1. Ordering up Trump. The rules state that you can't order up trump without that suit in your hand. Ummm, excuse me? Where did THIS rule come from? Mom? Dad? An aunt? Uncle? Their parents? Perhaps a friend. This "rule" is a sick joke. Hoyle says that the determining factor in declaring trump is if you think you are strong enough to make a point. Period. "Joe" turns up a J of Hearts. It gets to you (Joe's partner) and you have two black aces and the J of diamonds and no hearts. Your not allowed to order Joe up because the "left" isn't the left yet! Huh?! Seems to me that you have required what the rules state. I would think that one of my Aces would be good for a trick, I know my left is and I know that the right that I ordered into my partners hand is certainly good for a trick. BUT! I don't get to play this hand because of "whose" rules? You may find a new fangled rule book that states this as a "rule". If you do, I'd certainly like to see it :) Question is, is this "rule" used by skillful Euchre players who know how to play the game or sissies who don't really like getting their butts kicked in a real game of Euchre? Whilst we're on this note. I'd also like to know why you don't like it when a dealer picks up a card without having that suit in his/her hand? Let me get this straight. We're playing for $10.00 a game, $2 per Euchre. It's my deal. You have no problem with me picking up a card because I have several in my hand and feel that I can make my point(s) and get that much closer to taking YOUR $10, but if I wanted to pick it up on a "hunch" with none of that particular suit in my hand and was seriously flirting with a Euchre, losing $2 to you and helping you get that much closer to the end of the game and MY $10 you have a problem with those odds? Whew, you're not the type to go to Vegas now are you?