01How it works
Before the first bid, a player holding three of the eight nines and tens may announce a farmer’s hand. They take the three face-down cards of the kitty, which are the four undealt cards minus the turned card, and put their three low cards in their place.
The swap happens before anyone bids, so it can turn a hopeless hand into a playable one. The turned card stays where it is.
02Variations
Some tables require exactly three nines and tens, some three or more. Some let the player call for a full redeal instead, and some only allow the swap if the hand also holds no trump of the turned suit.
A few groups play the stricter version where the player must show the three cards to the table, so nobody can claim a farmer’s hand they do not have.
03How often it comes up
Three or more of the eight nines and tens land in a five-card hand in 7,896 of the 42,504 possible hands: 18.6%, or about one deal in five and a half for a given player.
04Questions
- What is a farmer’s hand in euchre?
- A hand with three (or, at some tables, three or more) nines and tens. Under the house rule the player may swap those cards for the face-down kitty before bidding.
- Is the farmer’s hand an official rule?
- No. It is a house rule; standard euchre deals every hand as it falls.
05Related rules
- No ace, no face, no trumpA player dealt nothing but nines and tens, with none of them trump, may show the hand and call for a redeal.
- Stick the dealerIf every player passes in both rounds of bidding, the dealer may not pass a second time. The dealer must name a trump suit, other than the suit that was turned down.