Bid Euchre Help

Bid Euchre Rules

These are the standard NeuralPlay Double Deck Bid Euchre rules. You may customize the rules to your liking as described here.

Bid Euchre is a four-player partnership game. You form a team with the player sitting across from you. The standard game uses a 32-card double deck containing two copies of the J, Q, K, and A of each suit. Teams earn points as hands are played. The game ends when either team reaches 52 points or falls to −52 points, and the team with the higher score wins.

Each hand consists of five stages: dealing, bidding, passing, play, and scoring.

Dealing

At the start of the game, the dealer is chosen randomly. The deal then rotates clockwise after each hand. Each player is dealt eight cards.

Bidding

Bidding determines the contract, including the number of tricks required and the trump suit or notrump. It begins with the player to the dealer's left and proceeds clockwise. Each player has one opportunity to bid or pass.

A basic bid names a number from 1 through 8 and a trump suit or notrump. The number is the minimum number of tricks the bidder's team promises to take. For example, a bid of 5♥ promises at least 5 tricks with hearts as trump. In notrump, there is no trump suit and high cards win.

The standard rules also include three special bids: Call 2, Call 1, and Moon, which means Shoot the Moon. A special bid names a trump suit or notrump and promises to take all eight tricks. The bidder plays alone during the play stage. Before a Call 2 or Call 1 contract is played, the bidder exchanges two cards or one card, respectively, with their partner. A Moon contract has no card exchange.

Each bid must rank higher than the previous bid. Basic bids rank from 1 through 8, followed by Call 2, Call 1, and Moon. The suit or notrump choice does not affect the rank of a bid.

The highest bidder becomes the declarer. If the first three players pass, the dealer must bid.

Passing

For a Call 2 contract, the declarer and partner exchange two cards. For a Call 1 contract, they exchange one card. No cards are exchanged for a basic or Moon contract.

Play

A hand consists of eight tricks. In a basic contract, each trick contains four cards, one from each player. During a Call or Moon contract, the declarer's partner sits out and each trick contains three cards.

Every trick has a leader, a suit led, and a winner. The declarer leads the first trick, and play proceeds clockwise. Each player must follow the suit led when able. A player who cannot follow suit may play any card.

The highest card played in the suit led wins unless a trump is played, in which case the highest trump wins. The winner gathers the trick and leads the next one.

In a notrump contract, cards rank from low to high as follows. There are two copies of each card.

J, Q, K, and A.

In a suit contract, the jack of trump is the right bower and is the highest trump. The jack of the other suit of the same color is the left bower and is the second-highest trump. The left bower belongs to the trump suit, not its printed suit.

For example, when diamonds are trump, the trump ranks from low to high as follows.

Q♦, K♦, A♦, J♥, and J♦.

If cards of the same rank are played to a trick, the first one played ranks higher.

Scoring

After all tricks have been played, each team's trick total determines the hand score.

The declaring team makes a basic contract by taking at least the number of tricks they bid. When they make the contract, they score the number of tricks they took. If they take fewer tricks than they bid, they are set and lose points equal to the bid. The defenders score one point for each trick they took.

For example, if the declaring team bids 5♦ and takes 6 tricks, they score 6 points and the defenders score 2. If the declaring team takes only 4 tricks, they score −5 points and the defenders score 4.

Call 2, Call 1, and Moon require the declarer to take all eight tricks and are worth 12, 18, and 24 points, respectively. When the declaring team makes the contract, they score the bid value. When they are set, they lose points equal to the bid value. The defenders also score one point for each trick they take.

The hand scores are added to the game scores. If neither team has reached 52 points or fallen to −52 points, the deal rotates and another hand begins.

Bid Euchre Terminology

• Declarer. The player who made the winning bid.
• Declaring team. The declarer and the declarer's partner.
• Defenders. The team that did not win the bidding.
• Set. The declaring team failed to take the number of tricks required by its contract.
• Right bower. The jack of the trump suit and the highest trump.
• Left bower. The jack of the same color as trump and the second-highest trump.
• Call bid. A bid to take every trick after exchanging the stated number of cards with the bidder's partner.
• Moon. A bid to take every trick alone without exchanging cards.

Web Links

Many websites discuss Bid Euchre and its regional variations. Here are a few we found helpful.

• Wikipedia
• Pagat.com
• The Bid Euchre Project

There is also a book about Indiana Double Deck Bid Euchre: THE THINK SYSTEM 2nd Edition: A Light-Hearted Guide to Serious Bid Euchre.

Basic Bidding Strategy

Because each player has only one opportunity to bid under the standard rules, a basic approach is for the first two players to bid the number of tricks they expect to take if playing alone. The third and fourth players then know the suit their partner prefers and approximately how many tricks their partner expects to take. They may estimate a partnership bid by adding the likely tricks in their own hand to their partner's bid.

For example, suppose the first two bids are 3 notrump and Pass. The third bidder knows that their partner expects to take about three tricks in notrump. If the third bidder expects three additional tricks, the partnership may be able to bid 6 notrump.

The computer players take the bidding and their partners' bids into account.

Preset Game Rules

Bid Euchre is played with many different rule options. NeuralPlay includes the following ready-to-play presets. See Rule Options to customize the rules.

• Double Deck. Play with a 32-card double deck containing two copies of the J, Q, K, and A of each suit. Bidding has one round and includes Call 2, Call 1, and Moon. The game is played to 52 points. See Bid Euchre Rules for complete instructions.
• Indiana Double Deck. Play with a 48-card double deck containing two copies of the 9 through A of each suit. Each player is dealt 12 cards. Bidding has multiple rounds, begins at 3, and does not include Call or Moon bids. High notrump ranks below a suit bid at the same level, and the declaring team does not score overtricks. The game is played to 50 points. If both teams reach 50 on the same hand, the declaring team wins.
• Bid Euchre Project. Play with the 32-card double deck, one bidding round, and Call 2, Call 1, and Moon. Either of the first two bidders must hold a right bower to open in that suit. After 48 hands, the team with the higher score wins.
• Single Deck. Play with a 24-card single deck containing the 9 through A of each suit. Each player is dealt six cards. Bidding has one round, begins at 3, and allows suit contracts only. Bidders name the number of tricks first, and the winning bidder chooses trump afterward. Call 1 and Moon are also available, with trump chosen afterward. The game is played to 32 points, and a team must bid and make the contract to win.
• Single Deck (high/low). Play with the Single Deck rules, adding high and low notrump contracts.
• Hasenpfeffer. Play with a 25-card single deck containing the 9 through A of each suit plus the Joker. Six cards are dealt to each player, and the remaining card forms a one-card kitty, traditionally called the widow in Hasenpfeffer. Bidding has one round, begins at 1, and allows suit contracts only. Bidders name the number of tricks first, and the winning bidder chooses trump, takes the kitty, discards one card, and leads. If all four players pass, the Joker holder must bid at least 3; if the Joker is in the kitty, the hand is passed out. A team that makes its contract scores one point for each trick taken, while a team that is set loses the amount of its bid. The defenders always score one point for each trick taken. The game is played to 10 points; if both teams reach 10 on the same hand, the declaring team wins.
• Triple Deck. Play with a 60-card triple deck containing three copies of the 10 through A of each suit. Each player is dealt 15 cards. Bidding has multiple rounds, begins at 3, and includes high and low notrump. Call 3 and Moon are worth 15 and 30 points. After eight hands, the team with the higher score wins. If the scores are tied, the team that declared the last hand wins.
• Pepper. The Pepper game is played with a 24-card single deck, with six cards dealt to each player. Bidding has multiple rounds, begins at 1, and does not stick the dealer. The Little Pepper bid replaces the 6 bid. Big Pepper is also a bid to take all six tricks but may be made only after Little Pepper has been bid. Pepper bids are partnership contracts: there is no card exchange, and the declarer does not play alone. For a basic bid, the declaring team scores the number of tricks taken when they make the contract and scores −6 points when they are set. Little Pepper scores 6 points when made and −6 when set. Big Pepper scores 12 points when made and −12 when set. The defenders always score one point for each trick they take. The game is played to 30 points.

Learning Features

NeuralPlay Bid Euchre offers many features to help you learn and improve your play. These features may be enabled, disabled, or adjusted in Settings and include the following.

• Hints. By default, the AI shows a hint when you ask for one. In Settings, you may ask the AI to always show a hint, or ask it to check your bid, card exchange, or play and show a hint only when its choice differs from yours.
• AI tricks taken estimate. When enabled, each play hint shows the estimated number of tricks that will be taken for each legal play. The estimate is an average across many simulations. The AI-suggested play may differ from the play with the highest estimate because of strategy or simulation noise.
• Card counter. When enabled, a counter shows which cards have been played.
• Analyze bid. When enabled, an "Analyze" button appears during bidding. Select a proposed bid to estimate its chance of making.
• Competitive mode. Enable competitive mode to play without assistance. Hints, undo, viewing all hands, analyze bid, and other learning aids are disabled.

Rule Options

NeuralPlay Bid Euchre offers many popular rule options so you can customize the game to your liking.

Dealing

• Deck. Choose one of the following decks.
  • 24 cards (9–A, single deck). One copy of each card from 9 through A.
  • 25 cards (9–A + Joker, single deck). One copy of each card from 9 through A, plus one Joker.
  • 28 cards (8–A, single deck). One copy of each card from 8 through A.
  • 29 cards (8–A + Joker, single deck). One copy of each card from 8 through A, plus one Joker.
  • 32 cards (7–A, single deck). One copy of each card from 7 through A.
  • 33 cards (7–A + Joker, single deck). One copy of each card from 7 through A, plus one Joker.
  • 32 cards (J–A, double deck). Two copies of each card from J through A.
  • 33 cards (J–A + Joker, double deck). Two copies of each card from J through A, plus one Joker.
  • 40 cards (10–A, double deck). Two copies of each card from 10 through A.
  • 41 cards (10–A + Joker, double deck). Two copies of each card from 10 through A, plus one Joker.
  • 48 cards (9–A, double deck). Two copies of each card from 9 through A.
  • 49 cards (9–A + Joker, double deck). Two copies of each card from 9 through A, plus one Joker.
  • 60 cards (10–A, triple deck). Three copies of each card from 10 through A.
  In a suit contract, the Joker is the highest trump, above the right and left bowers. Selecting a deck with a Joker changes bidding to suits only. The Joker is not available with the triple deck.
• Kitty. The declarer takes the kitty after choosing trump, then discards the same number of cards before play begins. When playing without the Joker, you may use no kitty or a four-card kitty. When playing with the Joker, you may use no kitty, a one-card kitty, or a five-card kitty. With no kitty, any card left after dealing is not used in the hand.
• Fixed dealer. Select the first dealer randomly and rotate the deal, or keep North, East, South, or West as the dealer for every hand.

Bidding

• Rounds. Choose one of the following.
  • Single round. Each player has one opportunity to bid or pass.
  • Two rounds. Each player has two opportunities. A player may bid in the second round after passing in the first.
  • Multiple rounds. Bidding continues until a bid is followed by three passes. A player may reenter after passing.
• Minimum bid. Choose the lowest basic suit bid.
• Special bids. Choose one of the following.
  • None. Only numbered trick bids are available. Call and Moon bids are not available.
  • Moon only; with suit. Specify the suit or notrump choice with the bid.
  • Moon only; choose suit later. Choose the suit or notrump after winning the bid.
  • Call 2, Call 1, or Moon; with suit. Specify the suit or notrump choice with the bid.
  • Call 2, Call 1, or Moon; choose suit later. Choose the suit or notrump after winning the bid.
  • Call 1 or Moon; with suit. Specify the suit or notrump choice with the bid.
  • Call 1 or Moon; choose suit later. Choose the suit or notrump after winning the bid.
  • Call 2 or Moon; with suit. Specify the suit or notrump choice with the bid.
  • Call 2 or Moon; choose suit later. Choose the suit or notrump after winning the bid.
  • Call 3 or Moon; with suit. Specify the suit or notrump choice with the bid.
  • Call 3 or Moon; choose suit later. Choose the suit or notrump after winning the bid.
  • Little or Big Pepper; with suit. Specify the suit or notrump choice with the bid.
  • Little or Big Pepper; choose suit later. Choose the suit or notrump after winning the bid.

  When Moon only is selected, Call bids are not available. Numbered trick bids remain available.

  For Call 3, Call 2, and Call 1, the bidder exchanges the stated number of cards with their partner before playing alone. Moon has no card exchange. All Call and Moon contracts require every trick. Their ranking order is Call 3, Call 2, Call 1, and Moon, with each available bid ranking above every numbered bid.

  Little and Big Pepper are both bids to take every trick. The Big Pepper bidding setting controls when Big Pepper is available. It can require a Little Pepper bid first or allow Big Pepper at any time. When the Pepper bids are selected, Little Pepper replaces the maximum numbered bid. Pepper bids are partnership contracts: there is no card exchange, and the declarer does not play alone.

  The default Pepper game uses a 24-card deck with six cards in each hand, and the following examples use those rules. The 6 bid becomes Little Pepper. A successful non-Pepper bid scores the number of tricks taken; an unsuccessful non-Pepper bid scores −6 points. Little Pepper scores 6 points when made and −6 when set. Big Pepper scores 12 points when made and −12 when set. The defenders always score one point for each trick they take.

• Big Pepper bidding. Allow Big Pepper only after a Little Pepper bid, or allow it at any time.
• Trick bids. Include the contract choice in each numbered bid, or let the winning bidder choose it afterward.
• Notrump. Disallow notrump, allow high notrump only, or allow both high and low notrump. In high notrump, the highest card of the suit led wins. In low notrump, the lowest card of the suit led wins. The app labels the choices HI and LO when both are used.
• Minimum notrump bid. Use the same level as the minimum bid, or choose a numbered or special-bid minimum. A notrump contract must rank at or above the selected minimum.
• Dealer can steal. Disable stealing, allow it for any bid, or allow it for Call and Moon bids only. When stealing is allowed, the dealer may match the current bid level on the dealer's last turn and become the declarer.
• When all players pass. Pass out the hand, require the dealer to bid, or require the Joker holder to bid at least 3. If the configured minimum bid is higher, the Joker holder must make that minimum bid. If the Joker is in the kitty or remaining deck, the hand is passed out.
• Require right bower in first or second seat. Require either of the first two bidders to hold a right bower before opening in its suit. This requirement does not apply to notrump.
• Notrump bids rank lower than suit bids. Allow a suit bid to follow a notrump bid at the same level. For example, 4♥ may follow 4 high notrump.

Playing

• Initial leader. Choose the declarer or the player to the dealer's left.

Scoring

• Defenders score a point per trick. Award defenders one point per trick always, only when the contract is set, or never.
• Defenders' shutout penalty. When the defenders take no tricks, subtract no points, the bid level, 5 points, or 6 points from their score. For a special bid, bid level means the number of tricks in the hand.
• Declarer scores overtricks. When enabled, a declaring team that makes a basic contract scores the number of tricks taken. When disabled, it scores only the number bid.
• Moon value. Choose the value of a Moon contract.
• Call 1 value. Choose the value of a Call 1 contract.
• Call 2 value. Choose the value of a Call 2 contract.

Call 3 is worth 15 points. A Call or Moon value is added when the contract is made and subtracted when it is set.

Game Over

• Game over at. End the game at a selected number of points or after a selected number of hands.
• Points to game over. Choose the point target. A point game also ends if a team falls to the negative of the selected target.
• Hands to game over. Choose the number of hands to play.
• When reaching game over. Choose one of the following.
  • Highest score wins. End the game when either point threshold is reached and use the scores to determine the winner.
  • Must bid to win. A team at or above the positive target must bid and make the contract to win. Reaching the target while defending does not end the game.
  • Both over, bidding team wins. If both teams reach the positive target on the same hand, the declaring team wins.
  • Must bid or set to win. A team at or above the positive target must make a contract or set the opponents to win.
  • Highest wins, ties: bid or set wins. The higher score wins. When a point game ends in a tie, the team that made the contract or set it wins. With a fixed number of hands, the declaring team wins a final tie.

Computer Players

NeuralPlay computer players offer six levels of play. Level 1 is reasonably easy and good for beginners. Level 3 should be fun for most players. Level 6 is the most challenging.

The computer players employ different AI methods depending on the level. Levels 1 and 2 use simple methods to provide an introduction for beginners. We will not describe them in detail here.

Level 3 uses a rule-based AI. The AI follows rules such as: "In third seat, do not trump partner's high card" and "In fourth seat, play just high enough to take the trick when an opponent is winning." We find that the rules work quite well and provide good play.

Levels 4 through 6 use Monte Carlo simulation to determine the best play. The AI deals out the unknown cards randomly. It then tries each legal play and plays the deal to the end to get a result. This is repeated for many deals of the unknown cards. The average result for each legal play is computed, and the play with the best average result is chosen.

Levels 4 through 6 differ in how many times the unknown cards are dealt out. In general, the more deals considered, the more accurate the simulation and the better the quality of play. The trade-off is that more deals take more time, so level 6 may play more slowly than level 4 depending on the device.

Since levels 4 through 6 do not use rules for card play, you may observe surprisingly good plays or odd mistakes that do not seem to follow a logical rule. Overall, our tests show that these levels play better than the rule-based level 3. We also find that the randomness makes the computer feel more human-like and fun.

If you prefer a more consistent, logical, and predictable partner or opponent, level 3 may be best.

Whichever level you choose, you may adjust bidding aggressiveness. For individual control, choose Custom, which provides separate settings for North, East, South, and West. For each seat, you may adjust play thinking, bid thinking, and bidding aggressiveness. South's custom settings control the strength of the hints you receive.

We are continuing to research improvements and new computer AI algorithms. We continue to update the computer players as we develop improved algorithms.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I change the hand sorting?

In Settings, choose Hand Sorting. You can change the rank order and suit order and choose whether to alternate red and black suits.

How do I reset the game settings?

On the main screen, open the menu and choose Reset.

What are North, South, East, and West?

You are always South, and your partner is North. East and West are the opposing team. The letters N, S, E, and W are abbreviations for these seats.

Why did the left bower appear to change suits?

The left bower belongs to the trump suit for the entire hand. For example, when hearts are trump, J♦ is a heart trump, not a diamond. It must be played when hearts are led if you have no other trump, and it cannot be used to follow a diamond lead.

What does claim mean?

A claim means the player expects to take all the remaining tricks. The app checks the claim before ending the hand. If the claim succeeds, the claiming team receives those tricks and the hand is scored.

How do I contact NeuralPlay with suggestions and feedback?

Please email support@neuralplay.com.