How to play crazy eight with crazy rules

It is a game played with at least two players and at most 7 players in which the objective is to get rid of all the cards to a discard pile. It is a special variant of Mau-Mau and Switch which was widely played in 1970’s. Some players consider it blackjack which people confuse it with the well known U.S game BLACKJACK.

There and many variants of this game. It is also known with the name of Pesten, Spoons, Last One, UNO, Swedish Rummy and Mau-Mau.  The name comes in the early 1940’s when mentally disturbed soldiers were released from the forces.

Deck

Single Deck of 52 Cards

Aim

Discard all the cards before anyone

Players

Usually, 2-8 players can play this game but this game can also be played in Partnership, 4 players making a team of two.

Basic Game

A standard Single Deck is used if there less than 6 players. Two standard decks making a total of 104 cards are used when there are more than 5 players.

Five cards are dealt to each player or seven cards if there are only 2 players. The remaining cards are kept face down with only the top card being face up to commence the discard Pool.

The game commences from the dealer’s and moves in clockwise direction. Player has to pick up card from the Pool or the face up card.

1. Player can play any card which matches the rank or suit of preceding card if the top card of the Pool (Discard Pile) is not an 8.

2. Every player in the starting have to place one card face up on the pile. If a player is unable to play, than he is permitted to take card from the top of the pile until he is able to play or till the Pool is empty.

3. Eight Cards are wild card; a player can play them anytime. Player playing an eight has to specify only suit and not a number. The next player has to play an eight or a suit of the specified rank by the previous player.

Winner is proclaimed who get rid all of his cards first. The other players left with cards have to face a penalty. Ten points for Jack, King and Queen, 50 points for eight. Penalty on face cards according to their face value like 3 for three, 4 for four and only 1 point for an ace.

Play would be continued even if the stock pile is empty. Player can pass his turn either he wish to do that or he cannot play. In case the entire players pass their turn the game would be blocked. The game stops and score of each player are decided according to the cards in their hand.

People play a variation of this game when the stock is empty they make a new stock is made from the player’s card kept face down except the last card drawn.

Variation

There are many variations of this game but all are simple to comprehend and to play.

1. A player has to pick 1 card if he cannot discard a card before passing the turn to the next player. This variation is further divided into variations as the card drawn from the stock can be played immediately or not.

2. The dealer is permitted to draw the first discarded card if it is a special one and proceeds on draw card till an Ordinary one appears. This variation is also known as Dealer’s Goodies. It is mandatory to proclaim “Last Card” if player is left with only one card. Sometimes, 4 cards as a penalty would be given to the player if he fails to make this call. The other variant is player have to reveal his last card to all the players if it is an eight.

3. Multiple cards can be discarded consecutively of the same rank while in other variant players can opt to hold for wild eight’s. Other version permits playing the five, etc. of a suit collectively while discarding.

4. The top card from the pile should be removed and the remaining cards should be reshuffled together and make a separate pile when the stock pile runs out. Some variants require that the player should finish on eight to win while in others player with the minimum points is winner.

4. The top card from the pile should be removed and the remaining cards should be reshuffled together and make a separate pile when the stock pile runs out. Some variants require that the player should finish on eight to win while in others player with the minimum points is winner.

5. This variation is popularly known as “Domineights”. Cards having the same rank or rank just below or above the previous rank is used to discard multiple cards consecutively. Like, a player can discard a 6♥ or 6♦ if the top card of the discard pile is 5♥. Player has to continue to play if the discarded rank is not within 1 rank above the previous one or the player proclaims he has completed his turn.

Some other well known variants are as follows:

1.Skip

– It means the number of players would miss their turn in a rotation according to the number of cards played. The player being skipped has the flexibility to cancel his skip by playing a Skip Card. The other 2 players would miss their chance in rotation as it is Skips on Skips. They are also known as Aces. The similar variant of Skip is Draw Cards. If the current player plays a Queen or having a rank higher than the Queen, then to the next player would miss his turn in the rotation is another variant in Skip.

2. Reverse

The game would proceeds in the reverse direction if a Queen or Joker is played by any player.

3. Variants of Eight

A player can oblige another player if he plays an 8. However, playing an 8 would cancel out any draw cards. Other variant need that player to play an additional card after wild eight, thus setting up the next rank. The wild card is less beneficial when a player has to block another player from calling out a specific suit.

4. Draw Cards

Another player has to pick up number of cards if the current player plays a draw card. If an Ace is played as Draw card then another player has to pick 4 cards while 2 cards have to be on number 2. Third player have to deal with the total draw if the second player also plays a Draw Card unless this player also play Draw Card or a Wild Eight.