No. 232 - Euchre

I'm reading Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, the subject of Post No. 197. It is an exceptionally well written book, and one which will be added to my list of books which must be read again.

Today I read the following:

It was card tricks now. I had no trouble getting a pack of cards, for my parents were great players of euchre, and of the several packs in the house I could spirit away the oldest for a couple of hours any afternoon, if I replaced it at the back of the drawer where it was kept, as being too good to throw away but too slick and supple to use.

I learned that euchre (prounouced yoo-ker) is a trick-taking card game most commonly played with four people in two partnerships with a deck of 25 standard playing cards, consisting of an ace, king, queen, jack, ten and nine in each of the four suits: hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades, plus a joker.

Euchre reached the United States in the early nineteenth century and was the original game for which the joker was introduced into the playing-card pack. It appears to have been first played by the early German settlers of Pennsylvania, and from that state was gradually disseminated throughout the United States.

It became very popular and was widely regarded as the national card game, but has since declined in popularity. In recent years, it has regained some popularity in the Eastern United States in the form of Bacon. In Canada, the game is still very popular in Ontario, and the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand all have large followings of the game.