How to Play Pigs and Hogs Bid Euchre
Pigs and Hogs is a six-player version of Bid Euchre played with two teams of three and a double Euchre deck. If you already know traditional Euchre, most of the card play will feel familiar. The biggest differences are the bidding, the double deck, and the two special bids that give the game its name. If you need a refresher on Euchre rules, trump, and bowers, review our beginner guide. Or if you’re new to bidding, start with our How to Play Bid Euchre guide.
The exact origin of Pigs and Hogs is difficult to pin down, which is common with regional Euchre games passed from one group of players to another. Its rules fit squarely within the Midwestern and Great Lakes Bid Euchre tradition, and a closely related six-player version has been documented in Bloomington, Indiana. That version also uses teams of three, a 48-card double deck, eight-card hands, one round of bidding, High and Low No Trump, and an all-trick solo bid with help from both partners.
As with most forms of Bid Euchre, house rules can vary. The rules below describe the version of Pigs and Hogs we play.
Pigs and Hogs Terms to Know
If you already play Euchre, you don't need to relearn trump, bowers, tricks, or following suit. Pigs and Hogs does introduce a few terms that are especially important in Bid Euchre.
Contract: The combination of the number of tricks being bid and how the hand will be played. For example, 5 Hearts is a contract to take at least five tricks with Hearts as trump. 6 Low No Trump is a contract to take at least six tricks with no trump and the card rankings reversed.
Void: Having no cards in the suit that was led. As in traditional Euchre, the left bower belongs to the trump suit, not the suit printed on the card.
High No Trump: No suit is trump. Cards rank from high to low as A, K, Q, J, 10, 9 within each suit. Jacks have no special bower status.
Low No Trump: There is also no trump suit, but the ranking is reversed to 9, 10, J, Q, K, A. Again, the Jacks are simply members of their printed suits.
Pig: A bid to take all eight tricks alone after receiving one card from each of the bidder's two partners. A successful Pig is worth 12 points.
Hog: A bid to take all eight tricks completely alone, without receiving any cards from the bidder's partners. A successful Hog is worth 24 points.
A kitty is a group of cards left undealt in some forms of Bid Euchre. Pigs and Hogs does not have one because all 48 cards are dealt to the six players.
What You Need to Play Pigs and Hogs
Pigs and Hogs is played with six players divided into two teams of three. Teammates alternate around the table so that every player is seated between two opponents.
The game uses a 48-card double Euchre deck. That means there are two copies of every 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace in each of the four suits. All 48 cards are dealt, giving each player eight cards. There is no kitty.
Cards are usually dealt much like traditional Euchre, in groups of two or three cards at a time as the dealer moves around the table. Continue dealing until every player has eight cards.
A typical game is played to 50 points, although the table can agree on a different winning score before play begins.
How Bidding Works
Bidding begins with the player to the left of the dealer and proceeds around the table one time. Each player has one opportunity to bid or pass. Once you pass, you are out of the bidding for that hand.
A normal bid includes both a number of tricks and a contract. You might bid 3 Clubs, 5 Hearts, 6 High No Trump, or 7 Low No Trump.
Each new bid must increase the number of tricks. If a player bids 4 Spades, another player cannot beat that bid with 4 Hearts or 4 High No Trump. The next bid must be at least five tricks.
Normal bidding can continue from 1 through 8:
1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 → 6 → 7 → 8 → Pig → Hog
Pig ranks above any eight bid, and Hog is the highest possible bid.
If the first five players all pass, the dealer is stuck and must make a bid. The player who wins the bidding becomes the bidder for the hand and leads the first trick.
Choosing the Contract
Every bid must specify how the bidder wants the cards ranked. The bidder can name one of the four suits as trump, High No Trump, or Low No Trump.
For example, all of these are valid bids:
5 Hearts
6 Spades
7 High No Trump
8 Low No Trump
Pig Diamonds
Pig Low No Trump
Hog Clubs
Hog High No Trump
This is important because Pig and Hog are not complete bids by themselves. The player must declare the contract as part of the bid.
How a Pig Works
A Pig is a bid to take all eight tricks, but the bidder gets a little help before playing alone. Each of the bidder's two partners will eventually give the bidder one card.
The order of the exchange matters. Before seeing either partner's card, the Pig bidder must choose two cards from the original eight-card hand and discard them. After those two cards are set aside, each partner chooses one card from their hand and gives it to the bidder.
The bidder is back to eight cards after receiving the two partner cards. Both partners then sit out for the rest of the hand, leaving the bidder to play alone against all three opponents. All the partners can do is hope, pray and sweep cards!
To make the Pig, the bidder must win every trick. Taking seven out of eight is still a failed Pig.
How a Hog Works
A Hog raises the stakes because the bidder receives no help at all. Both partners sit out, and the bidder plays the original eight-card hand alone against the three opponents.
As with a Pig, the Hog bid already includes the contract. A player could call Hog Hearts, Hog Spades, Hog High No Trump, or Hog Low No Trump.
The bidder must win all eight tricks. A successful Hog is worth 24 points, but failing the contract also carries a 24-point penalty.
Card Rankings in a Trump Contract
When one of the four suits is called trump, the cards follow traditional Euchre rankings:
Right Bower → Left Bower → A → K → Q → 10 → 9
Because Pigs and Hogs uses two decks, there are two copies of every one of those cards.
For example, if Hearts are trump, the two J♥ cards are the highest trump cards, followed by the two J♦cards, which become the left bowers. After those come the two A♥, two K♥, two Q♥, two 10♥, and two 9♥.
The left bower is considered a member of the trump suit just as it is in traditional Euchre. If Hearts are trump, the J♦ is a Heart for purposes of following suit.
High No Trump and Low No Trump
With High No Trump, there are no bowers and no trump suit. Each suit ranks:
A → K → Q → J → 10 → 9
Aces are therefore the strongest cards, but they only beat lower cards of the same suit. With no trump suit available, players can't use one suit to trump another.
With Low No Trump, the rankings are completely reversed:
9 → 10 → J → Q → K → A
That changes hand strength dramatically. A collection of 9s and 10s that might look terrible in High No Trump can become extremely strong in Low No Trump.
The Jacks have no bower status in either no-trump contract. A J♦ is simply a Diamond, and a J♥ is simply a Heart.
What Happens When Two Identical Cards Are Played?
Using two decks creates something that never happens in regular Euchre: two players can play the exact same card in the same trick.
When identical cards would otherwise tie for the winning card, the first copy played wins.
Suppose Hearts are trump and one player plays an A♥. A later player also plays an A♥. If neither bower is played, the first A♥ wins the trick because it was played before the identical second copy.
This first-card-wins rule is also found in several documented double-deck forms of Bid Euchre.
How to Play the Hand
The player who won the bid leads the first trick. Play then works much like traditional Euchre: everyone must follow the suit that was led if they can, remembering that the left bower counts as trump.
If you are void in the suit led, you may play any card in your hand. You can trump the trick if you want to, but you are not required to do so.
The highest card according to the contract wins the trick. The player who wins each trick leads the next one, and play continues until all eight tricks have been completed.
How Scoring Works
Scoring in Pigs and Hogs rewards the bidding team for the number of tricks it actually takes when it makes its contract.
Suppose Team A bids 5 Hearts and takes six tricks. The bid is successful, so Team A scores 6 points, not just the five points it bid. Team B scores nothing for the two tricks it took.
If the bidding team fails to make the contract, it gets euchred. The bidding team loses points equal to its bid, while the defending team scores the tricks it took.
For example, suppose Team A bids five but takes only four tricks. Team A loses 5 points, while Team B scores 4 points for the four tricks it won.
Pig and Hog use fixed scores because both require a sweep of all eight tricks.
| Bid | Result | Bidding Team | Defending Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Hearts | Takes 6 tricks | +6 | 0 |
| 5 Hearts | Takes 4 tricks | −5 | +4 |
| Pig Clubs | Takes all 8 | +12 | 0 |
| Pig Clubs | Takes 7 | −12 | +1 |
| Hog High No Trump | Takes all 8 | +24 | 0 |
| Hog High No Trump | Takes 6 | −24 | +2 |
That makes Pig and especially Hog powerful ways to change the score quickly, but the penalties are just as significant if the bidder misses even one trick.
If you'd rather not keep the dealer, score, and trump straight by hand, our What's Trump? app supports six-player games, making it useful for Pigs and Hogs as well as traditional Euchre and other Bid Euchre variations.
A Sample Hand From Start to Finish
Suppose Player 6 is dealing. Player 1, sitting to the dealer's left, begins the bidding with 3 Clubs. Player 2 passes, Player 3 bids 5 Hearts, and Players 4, 5, and 6 all pass.
Player 3 wins the contract at 5 Hearts and leads the first trick. Everyone follows suit when able, and players who are void can play any card. After all eight tricks have been played, Player 3's team has won six of them.
Because the team successfully made its five bid, it scores the six tricks actually taken. The defending team scores zero for that hand.
Now imagine instead that Player 4 had bid Pig High No Trump after Player 3's 5 Hearts. That bid would become the new high bid. If nobody bid Hog, Player 4 would win the auction.
Before receiving help from the two partners, Player 4 would discard two cards. Each partner would then choose one card to give Player 4 and sit out. Player 4 would have to win all eight tricks alone to score the 12 points for the Pig.
Pigs and Hogs Rules at a Glance
For players who know the game but just need a refresher, these are the main rules:
Six players, with two teams of three
48-card double Euchre deck
Eight cards per player and no kitty
One round of bidding, beginning left of the dealer
Normal bids range from 1 through 8
Every bid names a trump suit, High No Trump, or Low No Trump
Each successive bid must increase the number of tricks
Dealer must bid if everyone else passes
Pig ranks above an 8 bid and Hog ranks above Pig
Pig requires all eight tricks and includes one card from each partner
Hog requires all eight tricks with no partner help
Winning bidder leads the first trick
Players must follow suit but may play anything when void
When identical cards tie, the first one played wins
Successful normal bids score the tricks actually taken
Failed normal bids lose the amount bid, while defenders score their tricks
Pig is worth ±12 points
Hog is worth ±24 points
First team to reach or exceed 50 points wins
Once You Know the Bidding, the Game Moves Quickly
Pigs and Hogs can look complicated the first time you see eight-card hands and two copies of every card on the table. For an experienced Euchre player, though, the underlying trick play is familiar. Most of the learning comes down to understanding the bidding, remembering the High and Low No Trump rankings, and knowing exactly how Pig and Hog work.
The special bids are also what give the game its character. An ordinary hand can move the score a few points, while a successful Hog can swing 24 points at once. Just make sure everyone agrees on the rules before the first deal—Bid Euchre has a long history of tables playing it a little differently.