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I have seen Euchre played with up to 6 people before (3 pairs) and was wondering if adding more people in to the game would be possible or if it would cause issues with the intended probability of the game. Is there a threshold for the number of people per suit?

i.e.

2 players (A K Q J 10 9) 4 players (A K Q J 10 9 8 7) 6 players (A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5)

Could 8 players play with the six player deck? Would they also need 2 more numbers in the deck or would they possibly need more?

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  • Where I am in Canada, we play four handed Euchre in pairs of two using a 24 card deck. (A down to 9). We play 6 handed Euchre in two teams of three using a 34 card deck (A down to 7 + two different Jokers) – LeppyR64 Jul 19 '17 at 14:00
  • I'm from Michigan, and the way it's played here is what @LeppyR64 describes: two pairs using a 24 card deck. I can't even find rules dealing with a 32 card deck for 4 players. Do you have a link to rules for the card-to-person ratio you describe? – SocioMatt Jul 19 '17 at 14:56
  • @SocioMatt I do not. I actually have just been playing the 6 player version like that with my family since I was younger. I'm from Indiana, so maybe it's just something one of them learned. – spaff Jul 19 '17 at 15:20
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Wikipedia has rules for 8- and 9-person Euchre (along with a host of other variations), although we have to make some assumptions because the entries are missing some information. The entry for 8-person games:

The players divide into four teams of two players. Teammates should be sitting directly across the table from each other (there should be three people between partners on either side). There will be 4 bowers, 1 right and 3 left.

The rank of Trump goes as follows:

  • Right Bower (jack of trump)
  • 1st played (left Bower) jack
  • 2nd played (left Bower) jack
  • 3rd played (left Bower) jack
  • Ace, King, Queen, 10, 9.

Scoring

  • If a team calls trump and wins the hand (with 2, 3 or 4 tricks), they get 1 point.
  • If a team calls trump and ties another team (each with 2 tricks), then both teams get 1 point.
  • If a team calls trump and does not win the hand, the winner gets 2 points (if 2 other teams get two tricks they are both awarded 2 points).
  • If a team takes all 5 tricks they receive 2 points (whether or not they called trump). If a person should choose to play the hand alone, they can get four points by taking 4 or 5 tricks.
  • If they go alone and take less than 5 tricks, standard scoring applies.

First team to get 10 points wins the game.

Given that the only ranks are A, K, Q, J, 10, and 9, this has to be played with two 24-card decks in order for there to be enough cards for 5 tricks (8 players X 5 tricks = 40 cards; this leaves 8 cards in the kitty). You'd also have to deal with duplicate cards played in the same hand. For example, a player leads of AH, which isn't trump, the next player also drops an AH, and miraculously everyone has to follow suit and no one plays a bower or trump card. Who gets the trick?

If nothing else, this variation changes the probability of getting a useless hand. If I'm fourth from the dealer, and my deal is 9H, 9C, 10C, QH, and KD, and someone in front of me calls Spades, I have no chance of taking a trick; there will always be someone who can play a bower or trump in five tricks. This problem also exists if you just expand the card pool down to include A through 3 (48 cards). As the card pool increases, the randomness also increases, leading to a higher chance for hands that can't win.

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  • I hadn't mentioned the Wiki page for precisely that reason. Thank you! This must mean it isn't meant to be played with more than 6. Or maybe even more than 4. – spaff Jul 19 '17 at 15:19
  • In regard to what it is "meant" to be played with, I would think it's almost definitely "meant" to be played with four players. Most partnered trick-taking games that I'm aware of (spades, bridge, whist, etc.) involve two teams of two, for four total players. Other numbers of players are considered variants. But I'm not exhaustively familiar with partnered trick-taking games, so it's possible there are more not-4-player games than I'm aware of. – Duncan Jul 19 '17 at 19:02
  • "If a person should choose to play the hand alone, they can get four points by taking 4 or 5 tricks. / If they go alone and take less than 5 tricks, standard scoring applies." - so, which is it? I presume this information has not been changed by your transferring of it to here? – Nij Jul 19 '17 at 23:32
  • @Nij It has not. – SocioMatt Jul 20 '17 at 11:44
  • That makes it an unhelpful end to an otherwise useful summary. – Nij Jul 20 '17 at 20:30
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For larger numbers of players, you might check out Progressive Euchre. Here the tables are numbered in sequence, and the partnerships reset after a game has been completed at every table. In general winners at one table trade with losers at the next highest table, with both partnerships then swapping. (Winners at table 1 and losers at table N stay in place.

Players keep a running individual total of points, usually with token prizes given out at the end of the evening for various categories. In addition to the top two players, one might give prizes for fastest loss, longest win, etc. for a party the usual rule would also be for a maximum of one prize per person.

Note that where skill level varies, players rapidly sort into an approximate skill hierarchy. This maximizes fun for everyone, as nobody keeps getting beat over the head by more skillful players. On subsequent events with the same players, everyone also will know approximately where to start.

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