Euchre was responsible for introducing the joker into the modern deck of cards. The Joker Deck was introduced to Americanized "Euchre" around 1860 with the joker acting as a top trump or best Bower (from the German word "Bauer", "farmer", denoting also the Jack – see Bester Bube). Euchre is believed to be closely related to the French game Écarté, the seventeenth-century game Loo, and the 19th-century game "Juckerspiel". It may be sometimes referred to as Knock Euchre to distinguish it from Bid Euchre.