Bid Euchre Shoot The Moon In
User Manual: Shoot the Moon
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Indiana Double Deck Bid Euchre
Introduction
Indiana Double Deck Bid Euchre is a variation on the card game Euchre. There are many versions of
Bid Euchre. This document describes the rules used to play one of these versions. Our version is known
to be played in Northern Indiana and wherever you find Hoosiers.
Basic
Double Deck Bid Euchre consists of four players in teams of two. Team members are seated alternately
so that each person is seated beside an opponent.
The deck used is a double Euchre deck, also known as a Pinochle deck. This includes four suits (Spades,
Diamonds, Clubs, and Hearts) of each face (9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace). Since we use a double deck,
there is a duplicate of each card. Cards are dealt evenly to each player. There is no one 'correct' way of
dealing, but the dealer will usually deal 3 cards, then a second three, until each player has 12 cards. .
Dealing is clockwise starting with the player to the left of the dealer and ending with the dealer
his/herself.
Bidding
At the beginning of each round of play (after the cards are dealt), the players begin a round of bidding
for the trump suit or no trump and number of tricks. Starting to the left of the dealer, each player makes
a bid. Bids consist of a number of tricks (1-8), and a suit (i.e. 4 Spades or no trump). No-trump bids are
also permissible, with the cards being ace-high or ace-low (called no trump low). So a bid may be 3 Low
or 5 High, for example. Bidding may continued around until each player has passed. Any player may
pass if he/she does not wish to make a bid. Once a player has passed they can no longer bid during that
hand. A final kind of Bid is called the 'Shoot the Moon' bid. In this Bid, the bidder declares they are
“Shooting the Moon”. They must take all 12 tricks but the bidder asks his/her partners for their 'best' of
a certain trump or no trump (high or low). The bidder must first discard 3 cards and then the partner
gives three cards to the bidder, their 'best' in the declared trump (or no-trump). The partner of the 'Shoot
the Moon' bidder does not participate in that round of playing. The bidder must then take all 12 tricks
by themselves without assistance from their partner who does not play. Bidding ends either when a
player makes a 'Shoot the Moon' bid, or when all other players have passed. Each bid must surpass the
previous bids in number of tricks. If someone has bid 3 tricks, the subsequent players must bid at least 4
or pass. A bid of 12 tricks can only be surpassed by a 'Shoot the Moon' bid.
Trick Play
The player who made the bid leads the first trick. Subsequent tricks are led by the person who captured
the previous trick. Tricks are captured by playing the highest card on the trick. In no-trump ace high, or
a suited trump, the cards are ordered from ace being the highest card, to nine being the lowest. Suit is
important in two ways. First, the lowest trump card is higher than any non-trump card. This means a
nine of the trump suit is always higher than the ace of any other suit. The jacks are also special when
trump is declared. The jack of the trump suit is the highest card, and is called the Right Bower. The jack
of the suit which matches the color of the trump suit: clubs/spades (black Bowers) and diamonds/hearts
(red Bowers) is called the Left Bower, and is the second highest card. When playing non-trump cards,
the Ace is only highest if it matches the lead card's suit. In other words, if the lead card is the king of
clubs, only the ace of clubs is higher. Players must follow the lead card suit if they have it, otherwise
they may play as they wish. When no-trump ace low is bid, nines are the highest card and aces are
lowest. Finally, since we are playing with a double-deck, the first played card is always higher than its
duplicate.
Scoring
A team scores points by capturing tricks. The bidding team must capture at least the number of tricks
they bid, otherwise they are 'euchred'. If the bidding team is 'euchred', they lose points equal to the
number of tricks they bid. If they are not 'euchred', they earn points equal to the number of tricks
captured. The opposing team always earns points equal to the number of tricks captured. In addition to
tricks, 'Shoot the Moon' bids come with an 12 point bonus if they make their bid of every trick (total of
24 points), or an extra 12 point penalty (score of -24 points) if they get 'euchred'.
Winning
A team wins by reaching 42 or more points. Since both teams can earn points, if both teams reach 42
points simultaneously, the winning team is the one who made the bid. Conversely, if a team gets 42
points 'in the hole' (-42 points by being euchred), they lose automatically.
Progressive Bid Euchre
Progressive Bid Euchre is played at parties and tournaments. Commonly called 2-table (8 player) or 3-
table (12 player) Progressive Bid Euchre or just Progressive Euchre. To begin each player is presented
with a score card which assigns each player with a rotation schedule where they will advance to team up
with a different player for each round of play. The score card is the same as used in Progressive Bridge.
There are 7 rounds of play in 2 table progressive and 11 rounds of play in 3 table progressive. In each
round of play there are a specific number of hands that must be played. The host of the party or
tournament determines the number of hands to be played in each round and provides the score cards. 4
hands of play is the least and most common which allows each player to be the dealer at least once and
to play with every other player. At each table one of the players keeps the score on a score pad and after
the specified number of hands has been played, the scorekeeper transfers the final score onto each
players score cards. After all the tables have finished that round of play, the players then rearrange
themselves with their next partner at the appropriate table. After the rounds have been completed the
player with the highest score is declared the winner. When Progressive Euchre is played the host usually
provides a token gift to the winner (highest individual score) and a token gift to the loser (the lowest
score). When play is among couple it is common for the host to provide the gifts to highest scoring man
and woman but no gift for the lowest score. Progressive Bid Euchre is subject to change by the host
imposing House Rules on their guests who must be informed of any House Rules (or variations) before
the play begins.
