Crazy eights rules

Crazy eights is played in a lot of ways, and most families have their own rules. These are the rules used on this site, for two to four players with a standard 52-card deck. Where a common rule differs, we say so. Play crazy eights online as you read.

The goal

Be first to empty your hand, and over several hands be first to 50 points per player: 100 with two players, 150 with three and 200 with four.

1. The deal

With two players, each gets 7 cards. With three or four, each gets 5. The rest of the deck goes face down as the stock, and its top card is turned up to start the pile. The deal moves to the next player every hand, and the player after the dealer goes first.

On this site, if the first card turned up is an eight, it goes back into the middle of the stock and another is turned up. Some people instead let the dealer name a suit.

2. Your turn

Play one card onto the pile. It has to match the top card’s suit or its rank. On a 7 of clubs, you can play any club or any 7.

3. Eights

An eight can be played on anything. When you play one, you name a suit, and the next player has to match that suit or play another eight. The suit you name doesn’t have to be the one on the eight.

4. Drawing

If you can’t play, draw from the stock, one card at a time, until you can. You can also choose to draw when you could play, if you’d rather hold your cards. Either way, you play a card before your turn ends.

5. When the stock runs out

If the stock is empty and you can’t play, you pass. If everyone passes in a row, the hand is blocked and ends. Many people instead reshuffle the pile into a new stock; we don’t, so every hand has an end.

6. Scoring

Any eight: 50 points.
Kings, queens, jacks and tens: 10 points.
Nine down to two: face value.
Aces: 1 point.

The player who goes out scores the cards left in every other hand. For example, an opponent caught holding these cards hands over:

Eight of hearts 50, king of clubs 10, six of diamonds 6, ace of spades 1: 67 points.

If the hand is blocked, the player with the lowest hand scores the difference between their hand and each other hand. If the lowest hands tie, nobody scores.

7. Winning

Keep dealing until someone reaches the target at the end of a hand. They win the game.