Euchre Transcript
- [Guest] Oh, I got him!
- Shh!
- Everybody plays Euchre in Indiana. You go to California, they don't know what Euchre is. I went in the army, they'd say, "What's Euchre?" I tried to get 'em playing it, nope, they didn't know what.
- Yes, it really is, everybody says it's a Indiana game.
- Yes, you don't live in Indiana if you don't play Euchre and have the most fun that you could have.
- [Narrator] Euchre may be considered an Indiana game now, but it didn't used to be.
- Euchre, as I understand, came from Europe, and it very, very old and basically the rules are still the same. I mean, used to be a gentleman's game.
- [Narrator] Some historians have traced the game's origins to France, others to Germany and still others, to Australia where the game is as avidly played today as it is in Indiana. And in the past, it was played throughout the U.S. In 1909, R.F. Foster wrote, "Those who are familiar with life in the United States must be aware of the enormous popularity that the game of Euchre enjoys in one form or another." But then bridge came along and Euchre became a passing fad everywhere in the United States it would seem, except Indiana that has remained an Indiana game for a large part, because it's what people played growing up.
- And I think I played cards when I was five or six, started to play.
- Well, my dad used to play all the time and I've been playing since I was 10 years old, I reckon.
- Well...
- Okay, times up!
- 'Course I'm almost 100 years old now, but that must have been... Oh, I must have been around 20 years old when I started playing.
- I love it, my grandparents and my mom taught me how to play. I've played all the time.
- [Narrator] And if you didn't learn from family members, you were quickly indoctrinated at school or work.
- I've been playing ever since I came to Bloomington in 1986 when I transferred here as a junior. And the guys on my floor promptly indoctrinated me into the ways of the Euchre-playing folk.
- Well, everyone says that, you know, you never use anything that you learn in algebra class. Well, we learned to play Euchre in my algebra class because the algebra teacher was not always in the room so we were allowed to learn to play Euchre instead of doing our algebra work. And so, that's one thing I have learned from algebra which I have managed to keep with me.
- [Narrator] Part of the reason for the popularity of Euchre during such breaks is that even a few minutes is enough time to get a game in.
- In high school, we played in the band room all the time. You know, we'd be in band and if we got out five minutes early, we'd try and get a couple hands in before lunch. On the bus trips, always. It was a great bus trip game. You have four people involved. You have some good memories from that, and we'd play after school, before school. You know, sometimes we had a 20-minute passing period in the middle of the day to break things up, we'd play and then.
- [Narrator] Even people who tried to resist, have often failed. And once you're hooked, you're hooked.
- I refused to play Euchre pretty much all through my freshman year of college at much dismay from my friends, and finally caved in while working at a summer camp in Northern Indiana where there was absolutely nothing else to do at the end of the day. So I was basically forced after years of resistance, to learn how to play Euchre. And actually now, I wouldn't say that I'm an addict but when somebody mentions it, it's hard to pass up.
- And I have an army buddy, will come down from Illinois because they don't play Euchre in Illinois. And come here, just to play Euchre as a couple times.
- I'll pass, a lot of groups, they play it different from the way we do, different rules. Some of 'em will pester for their partner's best and different things. We just play regular.
- [Narrator] Regular for Indiana however, is not regular for the rest of the world. Regular or straight Euchre in Indiana is played with the ace through nine, while official rule books also include the sevens and eights. The name of the game is to win three of the five tricks by playing the highest card in the suit led or a trump card. But to play well, you need to know the jargon and there's a lot of jargon.
- I gotta find a dime. I gotta go grab my purse.
- Pick it up please and play me. And I'm going to go alone.
- Order up means, somebody who's not the dealer is telling the dealer, "You pick that card up because I wanna declare that suit, trump. And even though you have that card, our team's gonna kick your butt." That's what it means. So, you know, order it up is a way of saying, "Do what I say pal, because I'm gonna show you how to do things and then wipe the table with your face," or something like that.
- Whoever the first person to nine, you should play . The first person to nine is in the barn, usually.
- [Guest] You gotta give him a little milk. Milk him then you're in the barn.
- [Narrator] Winning may be more important to some than others, but it is the goal of all. And many players do not rely on skill and luck alone to ensure success.
- Playing Euchre, they're gonna have the six and the four something for counters. Some people are superstitious, they do not want that six on top of four, 'cause it's holding down.
- Four on six, get more tricks. Six on four, scorn and more.
- Well, I don't really have any reasons for the superstitions, but I always like to deal three cards to the person to my left and then two and then three and then two again. And for some reason, it just seems like since I've done that every time, if I were to break that I would probably lose the game. Now, I usually lose anyway but, you know, it's off in the name of tradition, so.
- [Narrator] With so many people in Indiana playing Euchre, it is perhaps not surprising that there are a number of variations in how the game is played. There are many versions of Euchre, including Auction Euchre, Blind Euchre, Call-Ace Euchre and Double Bid Euchre. In another version called Railroad Euchre, the joker is used as the best Bower or highest trump card. The joker itself, was created for the game of Euchre. In fact, early jokers were called best Bowers, but no matter what kind of Euchre you're playing, there are a variety of rule variations to choose from.
- Yeah, you have house rules wherever you go. Lot of places, if you've got nines and 10s you can throw 'em in and ask for a redeal. If you've got one trump at other places, you have to play it. And if you don't have a trump at other places, you have to play it anyway. And that's real fun, .
- We usually played, you know, what's called "farmer's hand" and that's if you have three cards, you're dealt five cards. If three of those cards are nines and 10s which are really low cards, then you can call a redeal and everybody will get a new set of cards. And that's just because the game really isn't any fun if all you have is, you know, a really bad hand. It's not gonna be very enjoyable for that person. So we would allow them to call a redeal on that. And other rules would be, you know, to maybe expedite the game, would be... It's called "Screw the Dealer." And the way that works is if you make it through all four people passing, then the dealer has to call it. He's not allowed to pass it. 'Cause if he were to pass it you'd have to redeal it and that takes time. And when you've got a five-minute passing period you're trying to play in, you'll like to get the game going. And so, sometimes, just force that person to call the shot.
- Other places I play, and you get your partner's best.
- In some places where I could ask for a good card from her and it continued play alone.
- Where you get dealt a bunch of really good cards and, your partner doesn't go, you just play it all and if you get 'em all, you get four points.
- [Narrator] Then there are some rules that thankfully, are unique to particular groups who play Euchre.
- [Guest] Not really a rule, but if you get beat 10-nothing, you gotta run around the house naked, outside or across the street, run, ring a doorbell.
- I lost 10-nothing one time. I had to run around outside naked, yeah. It wasn't very fun.
- [Guest] Glad we got our point.
- [Narrator] Losing has its consequences, but most Euchre players say that winning is not that important.
- They're good sportsmen, cutthroat. May or may not be any fun. We just play the best we can. If we lose, we lose. But we have fun anyway.
- If ain't for fun, it ain't no fun. If they wanna cheat, it ain't no fun.
- [Narrator] Cheating is of course, taboo. But more than a few people have claimed it against the other team when the cards haven't been going their way.
- I just play what I think's the best. And I try not to say or read or do anything and give a symbol. I'm a teacher and I had to teach my students to be honest and I've got to be honest.
- Everybody cheats, but me.
- Yeah?
- [Interviewer] The most important question is, do you cheat?
- Whenever I can, I'm not like everybody else.
- It does happen.
- If we catch her at it, she'd be sorry.
- I say I'll never ever cut cards when I'm playing at home with friends. 'Cause I figure they don't know how to stack 'em.
- [Guest] That's why we do it here.
- They're not dishonest, they're just stupid .
- I teach at a grade school, and my students have started playing it recently. So I've had to fill in and be a fourth, and what have you. So I've been playing a lot more in the last couple weeks.
- [Interviewer] Is that part of the process ?
- I think so. Yeah, I mean, teaching the young, it's important. I have only found Hoosiers who play it. I've not met anyone else outside the state who plays it. Then they do after they meet me but they don't before.
- [Interviewer] "You will play or else!"
- [Brian] Yeah, I have tried to propagate the game, but...
- [Interviewer] It's also in Michigan and Texas.
- Yep.
- [Participant] Really?
- [Interviewer] Yeah, I don't know how it got to Texas, but it is there.
- [Participant] They don't do it like we do, Euchre or basketball, I'm sorry.
- [Interviewer] Probably not, but it can't be as good.
