Coinche vs spades and euchre

Beyond France, games like spades and euchre share coinche's team trick-taking spirit, each with their own distinctive rules.

Spades: betting on trick count

Spades, popular in North America, is played by 4 in 2 teams with 52 cards. Trump is always spades, and each team bets the number of tricks it expects to win. Coinche, by contrast, chooses trump through bidding and bets a number of points (80 up to capot), with the option to double.

Euchre: brisk and short

Euchre is often played by 4 in 2 teams with a reduced deck (24 or 32 cards depending on the variant) and only 5 tricks per deal. As in coinche, the trump jack is a top card (the "bower"). But euchre is faster and its bidding simpler.

What carries from one game to another

If you know coinche, you will quickly find your bearings in spades or euchre: following the led suit, ruffing with trump, keeping a master card for the right moment and communicating with your partner are shared principles. What changes is mostly the bidding conventions and the exact card values. Learning a foreign trick game thus becomes easier once you master coinche, and the other way around too.

A family resemblance

These games confirm that the joy of the team trick game is universal. Coinche stands out with its point bidding from 80 to capot and its coinche/surcoinche mechanism, inherited from the belote and bridge tradition. Where spades fixes the trump and euchre keeps things lean, coinche bets on the richness of the bidding dialogue and the option to challenge the opponent.

See also

FAQ

Does spades resemble coinche?

Both are 4-player trick games in two teams. But in spades trump is always spades and you bet a number of tricks, whereas in coinche you choose trump and bet points.

Is the trump jack strong in euchre as in coinche?

Yes, the trump jack (the bower) is a top card in euchre, just as the trump jack is in coinche.