Dirty Clubs in Euchre

How a dirty clubs hand is played

1. The dealer deals five cards each and turns up the top card of the kitty, as in every hand of standard Euchre.
2. If that card is a club, somebody usually says “clubs are dirty” and the bidding is over before it starts. No one orders up, no one passes, and there is no second round.
3. The dealer takes the club into their hand and discards one card face-down, exactly as if they had been ordered up.
4. The player to the dealer's left leads and the five tricks are played normally. The Jack of Clubs is the right bower and the Jack of Spades is the left bower.
5. The dealer's side must take three tricks. If they fall short they are euchred and the opponents score 2.

When the turned-up card is a heart, diamond or spade, nothing is different: the hand is bid over two rounds in the ordinary way.

The versions you will meet

The name is used for more than one rule, which is why two people who both “play dirty clubs” can still disagree at the table.

• Four-player Euchre, dealer forced. The version described above and the most common one in partnership play. The rule only forces the dealer to pick up; the points for a make, a march and a euchre do not change.
• Buck Euchre, everybody plays. Dirty clubs is most closely associated with Buck Euchre, the no-partners game in which players may normally drop out of a hand they dislike. There a turned-up club means clubs are trump with no bidding and every player must stay in, so nobody can duck a bad hand.
• A name for the whole game. Some families simply call Buck Euchre “dirty clubs.” If someone invites you to a game of dirty clubs, ask whether they mean the rule or the game.
• Going alone. Many tables treat the forced dealer like any other maker, so the dealer may go alone if the hand is good enough. Others do not allow a loner on a forced hand at all.

Buck Euchre and the other relatives are covered in the Euchre variations guide.

Scoring on a dirty clubs hand

That is the ordinary Euchre scoring table. The forced call gets no discount: a dealer made to play a hopeless hand is euchred for the same 2 points as one who chose badly.

What the rule changes

Six of the 24 cards are clubs, so a club is turned up about one deal in four. That is often enough to matter.

• The deal becomes riskier. Normally the dealer has the best seat, because the turned-up card ends in their hand only when somebody wants it there. With dirty clubs the dealer sometimes has to make trump holding one club: the card they just picked up.
• The discard matters more. A forced dealer should usually throw a lone low card to create a void, so that a small club can ruff that suit later. With a weak hand, trumping in is the main way to find a third trick.
• The dealer's partner must carry weight. Do not assume the dealer is strong. Win tricks with your Aces when you can and lead a bower if you hold one; you may be the real maker.
• Defenders get a free look. Nobody chose this trump, so an Ace lead and a couple of clubs between the two defenders is often enough for a euchre.

The rule is a cousin of stick the dealer: both take a decision away from the dealer to keep the game moving. Stick the dealer at least lets the dealer choose the suit. Dirty clubs does not.

Does CardCouch play dirty clubs?

No. Euchre on CardCouch is the standard four-player partnership game: you and a computer partner against two computer opponents, with the 24-card deck, going alone, game to 10 and stick the dealer on. A turned-up club is bid like any other card, so you may pass it. If you want to practice forced hands, pick up every club that is turned when you are the dealer; the score will tell you how it went.

Frequently asked questions

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