Stick the Dealer in Euchre
What happens when all four players pass twice, why tables play it this way, and what to call when you’re the one who’s stuck.
Updated
How stick the dealer works
Bidding starts as normal. In round one all four players pass the up-card, and the dealer turns it face down. In round two the first three players pass again. Now it’s the dealer’s turn, and under stick the dealer passing isn’t allowed. The dealer must name one of the three suits still available.
The rule only ever bites on that last call: everyone else can still pass in either round, and so can the dealer in round one. From there it’s an ordinary hand: the dealer is the maker, the dealer’s side need three tricks, and the player on the dealer’s left leads first. The dealer doesn’t get the turned-down card; it stays in the kitty.
The alternative: throw it in
Without stick the dealer, a double pass ends things before a card is played. The hand is thrown in, nobody scores, and the deal passes to the left for a fresh hand. That’s a legitimate rule too. The only real mistake is not agreeing which one you’re using before the first deal. Both are covered, with the rest of the bidding, in dealing and bidding.
Why tables play it
- No dead deals. Every deal gets played. Without the rule, a string of weak hands can mean shuffling and dealing again and again with nothing scored.
- Faster games. With no throw-ins, every hand moves somebody toward 10 points, so games finish sooner.
- Passing isn’t a way out. If everyone passes, somebody still has to play the hand, and that changes how every seat bids.
How it changes bidding for the other three seats
Under the throw-in rule, if nobody wants to call, nobody has to. Under stick the dealer, once the first three seats pass round two, the dealer’s side will be the makers whether they like it or not. So a round-two pass means something different from each seat.
First and third seat: the dealer’s opponents
You can pass a borderline hand more freely. If it comes round to the dealer, they’re forced to call, perhaps in a suit they’d never have chosen, and your side needs only three tricks to euchre them for 2 points. Under the throw-in rule, the same passes would just mean a fresh deal.
Second seat: the dealer’s partner
Your pass doesn’t take your side out of the hand. If third seat passes too, your partner has to call and you’re the makers either way, so you aren’t deciding whether your team plays the hand, only who picks the suit. With a clear call, make it. With a weak hand, pass without worrying about wasting a deal. With a borderline one, weigh your suit against whatever your partner might be stuck with; any aces you hold help whichever suit they name.
The dealer
You can’t count on a throw-in to bail out a bad hand. Keep that in mind in round one: if you pass the up-card and the other three pass round two, you’ll be naming one of the other three suits instead.
What to call when you’re stuck
You have three suits to choose from: anything but the turned-down one. Name the suit where your hand is strongest as trump, and count the way Euchre counts:
- A jack can be trump in two suits. It’s the right bower in its own suit and the left bower in the other suit of the same color.
- High trumps beat long, low ones. The right bower is the highest card in the deck; a 9 or 10 of trump can be overtrumped.
- Aces outside trump still count. An ace can take a trick in its own suit if nobody trumps it.
Example: diamonds turned down
This card was turned down after round one:
The other three pass round two, and you’re stuck holding this hand. Highlighted cards are trump if you name hearts.
Hearts gives you the right bower and the 9♥, two trumps with one of them unbeatable, plus the A♠ on the side. Clubs gives you two low trumps and no bower; spades gives you a lone A♠. Name hearts. It also happens to be next, the same color as the turned-down diamond.
A stuck call doesn’t need to be pretty. Your side needs three tricks, and your partner has five cards too. More on the seat, from picking up to discarding to stuck calls, is in playing the dealer seat.
Stick the dealer on our tables
Stick the dealer is on by default at our tables. A table setting turns it off; with it off, a hand where everyone passes twice is thrown in and the deal moves to the left. Play a few hands each way and you’ll feel the difference in round two straight away.
Common questions
What does stick the dealer mean in Euchre?
If all four players pass in both rounds of bidding, the dealer must name trump instead of throwing the hand in. They can pick any suit except the one that was turned down.
Is screw the dealer the same as stick the dealer?
Yes. They are two names for the same rule: when the other three have passed in round two, the dealer can’t pass.
Can the dealer go alone when stuck?
Yes. Going alone is declared at the moment you make trump, and naming a suit as the stuck dealer is making trump. Say “alone” as you name the suit.
Can a stuck dealer name the turned-down suit?
No. The turned-down suit is out for the whole hand, for the dealer as much as anyone. A stuck dealer chooses from the other three suits.
Does the stuck dealer get the up-card?
No. The up-card goes to the dealer only when it’s ordered up in round one. Once it has been turned down it stays in the kitty, and the dealer plays the five cards they were dealt.
Is stick the dealer the official rule?
Euchre has no single rulebook that every table follows. Stick the dealer is the common modern rule; throwing the hand in and passing the deal to the left is the alternative. Agree on one before the first deal.
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