Card ranking
Right bower, left bower, and what beats what
Naming trump in Euchre does more than pick a strong suit. It rebuilds the deck: one Jack changes color allegiance, trump grows to seven cards, and one plain suit shrinks to five.
The trump suit, highest to lowest
| Order | Card | Which card that is |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Right bower | Jack of the trump suit |
| 2 | Left bower | Jack of the other suit of the same color |
| 3 | Ace | of trump |
| 4 | King | of trump |
| 5 | Queen | of trump |
| 6 | Ten | of trump |
| 7 | Nine | of trump |
Trump therefore contains seven cards, not six. The two suits of the opposite color rank plainly: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, Nine. The third suit, the one that lent its Jack to trump, has no Jack at all for the rest of the hand.
Sources: Bicycle: Euchre; Pagat: Euchre.
The four trump suits, written out
| Trump | Right bower | Left bower | Suit reduced to five cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hearts | J♥ | J♦ | Diamonds |
| Diamonds | J♦ | J♥ | Hearts |
| Spades | J♠ | J♣ | Clubs |
| Clubs | J♣ | J♠ | Spades |
The pairing is always same color: hearts with diamonds, spades with clubs. If you can name the color, you can name the left bower without memorising a table.
Why the left bower breaks so many hands
Following suit, winning tricks, and counting your trump length all treat the left bower as a trump card. Its printed suit stops mattering the moment trump is named.
Worked example
Hearts are trump and you hold J♦
A heart is led. J♦ is a heart, so if it is your only heart you must play it. A diamond is led. J♦ is not a diamond, so if you hold any real diamond you must play that instead and may not use the bower. If diamonds are led and J♦ is your only remaining card of that color, you are void in diamonds and may play anything, including that bower.
The same rule explains a common miscount. With hearts as trump a player holding J♦ and two more diamonds has three trump-and-diamond cards but only two diamonds, because the Jack has left the suit.
Sources: Bicycle: Euchre; Pagat: Euchre.
Which card wins the trick
- Any trump beats any plain card, including a plain Ace.
- Between two trumps, the higher position in the table above wins, so the right bower beats the left bower and the left bower beats the trump Ace.
- With no trump played, the highest card of the led suit wins, and cards of other suits cannot win at all.
Worked example
Spades are trump; the club Ace is led
The trick is A♣, K♣, 9♠, J♦. The 9♠ wins it. The lowest trump beats the highest plain card, and the J♦ is an ordinary discard because diamonds are neither trump nor the led suit.
Now change the last card to J♣. With spades as trump the J♣ is the left bower, so it is a trump ranking above the 9♠ and it takes the trick instead. The catch is that its owner may only play it there if they hold no clubs at all, because the left bower cannot answer a club lead.
Counting your real trump strength
Before you order up or name a suit, count trump the way the hand will actually play. A hand with three cards of the trump suit plus the left bower holds four trumps, and if one of them is the right bower it controls the top of the suit. That count, not the raw number of cards in a printed suit, is what decides whether three tricks are realistic.
Big Mike's Euchre bots and coach use the same effective-suit rule the engine uses to validate your plays, so a hint never quietly grades a position under a different ranking than the one you are looking at.
Quick answers
Bowers and ranking FAQ
What is the right bower in Euchre?
The Jack of the trump suit. It is the highest card in the hand and beats every other trump, including the left bower.
What is the left bower in Euchre?
The Jack of the other suit of the same color as trump. It becomes the second-highest trump and counts as a trump card for following suit.
Can you play the left bower when its printed suit is led?
Not while you still hold a real card of that printed suit. The left bower belongs to trump, so a lead of its printed suit does not ask for it.
How many trump cards are there in Euchre?
Seven in the 24-card North American game: the six cards of the trump suit plus the left bower, which arrives from the other suit of the same color. Decks that add a joker or Benny as a further top trump have eight.
Check any lead
Use the free Euchre trump chart
Pick a trump suit and a led card, then see the exact ranking and which cards you may legally play.