Euchre?

[ZephyrHawk]

A poster on another thread got me thinking, way back when I was in college and travelled to other schools with my fencing team, we found out something curious about the card game Euchre. First, it appeared to be almost universally, a Midwestern game. More specifically, understanding of the game seemed concentrated among Michigan and Illinois. So here's my random poll about Euchre playing habits to determine whether the game really is a regional phenomena.

If you desire to post a further explanation, please elaborate on whether or not you believe it is necessary to place your scoring cards behind your ears and "milk" your opponent's hands when you are "in the barn". I'd also like to see how wide spread this strange practice is, as I've only heard of it once.

 

[sam_gordon]

I'm not sure how to vote. I've played Euchre and enjoyed the game. However, I haven't played in probably 20 years. I'm from Northern Indiana but now live in Kentucky. I'd have to brush up on how to play again.

 

[indimom]

You can add Indiana to your list.

 

[mickeyplanner08]

OK, I haven't played since college (in Michigan) and knew nothing about it before coming here (from Iowa) and I've never heard about this "milking" business that you speak of-except for with the cows in Iowa

 

[MattsPrincess]

From Michigan, know what it is and how to say it, but never learned to play. I'm the only person in my or my DH's family that doesn't play, but I just don't really like card games. Never heard of "milking" or "in the barn" though...that's a new one.

 

[jen0610]

Have been playing euchre for years.

And, yes I will sandbag on my fil everyday of the week.

Also, do not ever weight your 4 down with the 6.

Even more fun than 4 handed euchre, is 6 handed bid euchre. Bid on called suit, high, or low. And once again, majorly sandbagging on the fil.

 

[icicle]

I'm from NE Ohio and play euchre. I know what "milking" and "in the barn" mean but I refuse to do either. My husband is from North Central Ohio and he and his family are big time euchre players.

 

[mickeyboat]

I have heard of it, have never played, lived in the midwest until I was 12, and have lots of relatives who still live there.

 

[NMAmy]

Yep, I'm from Michigan and grew up playing euchre from a young age. We even played a tournament in Spanish class one year--that's how we learned numbers and card suits. People are quite serious about their euchre games and if you're a bad player, you're better off just not playing at all. When I lived in New Mexico, no one had heard of it or knew how to play.

If you desire to post a further explanation, please elaborate on whether or not you believe it is necessary to place your scoring cards behind your ears and "milk" your opponent's hands when you are "in the barn". I'd also like to see how wide spread this strange practice is, as I've only heard of it once.

Okay, I've been playing euchre on and off for 40 years and I've never heard of this.

 

[Duchie]

A poster on another thread got me thinking, way back when I was in college and travelled to other schools with my fencing team, we found out something curious about the card game Euchre. First, it appeared to be almost universally, a Midwestern game. More specifically, understanding of the game seemed concentrated among Michigan and Illinois. So here's my random poll about Euchre playing habits to determine whether the game really is a regional phenomena.

If you desire to post a further explanation, please elaborate on whether or not you believe it is necessary to place your scoring cards behind your ears and "milk" your opponent's hands when you are "in the barn". I'd also like to see how wide spread this strange practice is, as I've only heard of it once.

DH is the one who taught me to play, and he grew up in Pennsylvania. Most of the people I have played the game with were from Ohio, Indiana or Michigan.

And..... um, no, I don't think I have ever "milked" my opponent's hands or put my scoring cards behind my ears. I even asked DH if he's ever heard of this and while he did get a good laugh out of it, it's not something he's ever heard of before.

 

[LisaR]

Born and raised in MI and played euchre from a very early age. My parents and siblings played and everyone in our neighborhood played. We spent hours upon hours playing in college. DH and I played with a group on our second date! When we all had kids, we would get a group babysitter and the adults would play euchre. Then we moved to FL. We have not found a single person to play euchre with in the 7 years we have lived here. Nobody seems to have a clue what it is. Very sad. We loved playing.

 

[johnsontrio]

Not originally from the Midwest but I have lived in Michigan for almost 25 years now. I finally conceded that I needed to learn euchre when it became apparent that I was causing my DH and I to miss out on many social opportunities because I didn't play. We now play monthly in a euchre club and play in tournaments at church as well as just for fun with other couples and at home. Golf is the same here. If you don't play, you miss out on guy or girls weekends away and tournaments here and there. If you are in certain industries, you miss out on some business opportunities if you don't play golf. I took lessons when I was first married but didn't like the game and don't play.

 

[golfgal]

Euchre is well known around here. I have never played it. We used to belong to a card club and played 500.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

A poster on another thread got me thinking, way back when I was in college and travelled to other schools with my fencing team, we found out something curious about the card game Euchre. First, it appeared to be almost universally, a Midwestern game. More specifically, understanding of the game seemed concentrated among Michigan and Illinois. So here's my random poll about Euchre playing habits to determine whether the game really is a regional phenomena.

If you desire to post a further explanation, please elaborate on whether or not you believe it is necessary to place your scoring cards behind your ears and "milk" your opponent's hands when you are "in the barn". I'd also like to see how wide spread this strange practice is, as I've only heard of it once.

Euchre has many ways to play and I have never played/heard of milking your opponent rules.

We have a HOYLE book and then we further tweak those rules to make it more challenging.

I grew up in Missouri however I was born in Detroit and my parents grew up in Detroit.

 

[SaraJayne]

You can add Indiana to your list.

And Wisconsin!

 

[ZephyrHawk]

I realized I need to make a correction: You milk your partner not your opponent. Meaning, the person sitting across from you in the game. And they are the one wearing the card 'ears'. My bad.

And yes, I do have photos of people doing this at a euchre party. Not me, though.

 

[jen0610]

Born and raised in MI and played euchre from a very early age. My parents and siblings played and everyone in our neighborhood played. We spent hours upon hours playing in college. DH and I played with a group on our second date! When we all had kids, we would get a group babysitter and the adults would play euchre. Then we moved to FL. We have not found a single person to play euchre with in the 7 years we have lived here. Nobody seems to have a clue what it is. Very sad. We loved playing.

We found this out when we were in the Army. Nobody had ever play euchre or pinochle. All of our friends were spade or hearts players. So we took turns teaching each of the other couples how to play.

 

[trip]

Originally from Wisconsin. I have heard of it and know how to say it but have never played it. Our game in college was smear.

 

[epcotprincess]

The whole family plays, and we always put the cards behind our ears and/ or milk the thumbs!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

OK, so now someone has to fess up the rules of "milking it" so we can try it out.

Generally we do not play partners as a rule though. Usually we play 3 people or 2 people and a dead hand.