How to play Crazy Eights

Updated October 2026 · 2 or more players · A deal takes about 5 minutes

Crazy Eights is a game for two or more players. You try to be the first to get rid of every card in your hand. On your turn you put one card on a pile in the middle. It has to match the card on top, either by suit (hearts, diamonds, clubs or spades) or by rank (the number or picture on it, such as 7 or queen). An 8 can be played on anything, and whoever plays one chooses the suit that comes next. When someone gets rid of their last card, everyone else counts the points still in their hand.

What you need

Two or more players and one full 52-card deck, with the jokers taken out. A card’s suit is hearts, diamonds, clubs or spades. Its rank is the number or picture on it: ace, 2 through 10, jack, queen or king. Matching is the only thing suits and ranks are used for, so the ace is neither high nor low, and a king is no better than a 2. Paper and a pencil are handy for keeping score.

The deal

One deal is everything played with one dealing of the cards, from the first card until someone gets rid of their last. Any fair method decides who deals first, and the job of dealing usually passes one player to the left after each deal. Play goes clockwise, to the left.

The dealer shuffles, then deals the cards one at a time, face down, starting with the player on the dealer’s left. Every player gets 5 cards, or 7 cards when only two play. The cards a player holds are their hand. Everyone keeps their hand hidden.

The rest of the cards go face down in the middle. This is the draw pile. The dealer turns its top card face up beside it. That card starts the discard pile, the face-up pile where played cards go, and it is the starting card. If the starting card is an 8, it goes back into the middle of the draw pile, and the dealer turns over the next card instead, until the starting card is not an 8.

Playing a turn

The player to the dealer’s left goes first, and play goes clockwise. On your turn, if you hold a card you can play, you put one such card face up on the discard pile. A card can be played if it matches the top card of the discard pile in one of these ways:

1. The same suit. A heart can be played on any heart.
2. The same rank. A 7 can be played on any 7, a queen on any queen.
3. It is an 8. An 8 can be played on anything (see the next part).

For example, the top card is the 6 of clubs. You may play any club, any 6, or any 8. You may not play the 9 of hearts. If you hold a card you can play, you must play one: you may not draw instead. (Many groups let a player draw anyway; see “Common variations”.) If you have no card you can play, you draw cards, as described below.

The 8s

An 8 can be played on any card, whatever the top card is and whatever the 8’s own suit is. The player who plays it names a suit: hearts, diamonds, clubs or spades, never a number. The next player must play a card of the suit that was named, or another 8. The 8’s own suit no longer counts: only the named suit does. Once the next card is played, the game goes on as usual, and that new card decides what comes next.

For example, you play the 8 of spades on a 5 of hearts and say “diamonds”. The next player must play a diamond or another 8. A spade is not allowed, and neither is a 5: the 5 of hearts is covered now, and the 8’s own suit no longer counts.

You may name any of the four suits, including the suit that was already showing and a suit you have no cards of. You may also play an 8 on another 8.

If you cannot play: drawing

If none of your cards can be played, you draw. Take the top card of the draw pile into your hand. If you can play it, you play it, and your turn is over. If you cannot, keep it and draw another, and carry on until you draw a card you can play. The cards you drew that could not be played stay in your hand. An 8 can always be played, so drawing an 8 stops the drawing.

Drawing is how a hand grows. A big hand is a problem: every card in it has to be played before you can win, and every card left in it counts against you at the end of a deal.

If the draw pile runs out, take the discard pile, leave its top card where it is, shuffle all the other cards, and turn them face down to make a new draw pile. If there is nothing at all to draw, because every other card is in a hand, a player who cannot play simply passes. If every player has to pass in a row, nobody can ever play again, so the deal ends there with nobody out, and everyone adds the points left in their hand.

Getting rid of your last card

The first player to put down their last card wins the deal, and play stops at once. If that last card is an 8, nobody needs to name a suit, because nobody plays again.

Scoring

The player who got rid of every card adds nothing. Every other player counts the points on the cards still in their hand and adds that number to their running total:

Points are bad, so the lowest total wins. When any player’s total reaches or passes 100 at the end of a deal, the game is over and the player with the lowest total wins. If two or more players share the lowest total, play another deal and add its points, and carry on until one player has the lowest total. (Some printed rules count the points in the opposite way, giving them to the winner of the deal; see “Common variations”.)

Practice Crazy Eights

Crazy Eights takes a minute to learn. What takes practice is the 8s: when to play one, which suit to name, and how much a forgotten one costs. The practice game deals you in against two computer players, five cards each, one deal at a time, with a running total that carries on to 100. It follows the rules above, with one small difference. The discard pile is turned over to make a new draw pile at most three times in one deal, so that a deal always ends. After that, a player who cannot play simply passes. It does not use any of the special card powers listed under “Common variations”. The Coach tells you when to keep an 8, how to choose the suit after one, and how to count the points left in your hand.

Three things beginners get wrong

Playing an 8 the moment you can

An 8 is the one card that can always be played, so it saves you from drawing when nothing else in your hand matches the top card. Play it too early, and a few turns later you may have no card that matches and have to draw one card after another. When another card matches, play that one, and keep the 8 for a turn when nothing else does.

Keeping an 8 for ever

An 8 still in your hand when someone else goes out costs you 50 points, more than any other card. Good times to play an 8: when nothing else matches, when it is your last card, and when another player has only one card left. In that last case, an 8 lets you pick the suit and make that last card harder to play. With two cards left, an 8 and a card you can play, play the other card first: the 8 can always be played, so you can go out with it on your next turn.

Naming a suit you hold few of

The suit you name is the suit the next player has to match, and it is also the suit you will be trying to match on your next turn, if nobody changes it. Name a suit you hold several cards of, not counting your 8s. Remember what has been played, too: there are 13 cards in each suit and four 8s in the deck, so you can tell when a suit is nearly used up. A player with one card left is the one to worry about, and the suit with the fewest cards still hidden from you is the least likely to match their last card.

Questions people ask

Can I play an 8 on another 8?

Yes. An 8 can be played on any card, including another 8. The player of the second 8 names a suit, and the next player must play that suit or an 8.

Can I name the suit that is already showing?

Yes. You may name any of the four suits, including the one already showing, and including a suit you do not hold.

If I can play a card, may I draw instead?

Not in the rules on this page: if you have a card you can play, you must play one. Many groups let a player draw anyway, and some published rules say so. See “Common variations”.

How many cards can I draw?

As many as it takes to get a card you can play. Some groups put a limit on it; see “Common variations”.

What if the starting card is an 8?

It goes back into the middle of the draw pile, and the next card is turned over. Some groups play it differently; see “Common variations”.

What if my last card is an 8?

You win the deal, and nobody names a suit.

Do queens, aces or 2s do anything special?

Not in the game described on this page. Many groups give them special powers as house rules; see below.

Common variations

Crazy Eights is played a little differently almost everywhere, and it would be rare to find two groups with exactly the same house rules. Agree on these before you start.

• Cards dealt — seven each when two play and five when three or more play is the usual way. Some printed rules deal five to everyone, and some groups deal more, such as eight each.
• More players — with a lot of players, some groups shuffle two decks together.
• An 8 as the starting card — instead of putting it back, some groups treat it as if the dealer had played it. The dealer looks at their own hand and names a suit, and the first player must play a card of that suit or another 8.
• Drawing even when you can play — in many groups, and in some published rules, you may draw a card on your turn even if you have a card you could play.
• Drawing one card — some groups let you draw just one card on your turn, and play it if you can, or end your turn if you cannot.
• A limit on drawing — some groups let you draw up to a set number of cards, such as three. If you still have nothing to play after that, your turn passes.
• When the draw pile runs out — some rule books do not turn over the discard pile. Instead, play goes on without drawing, and a player who cannot play passes. If every player passes in a row, the deal is over and everyone adds the points left in their hand.
• Scoring in the opposite way — in some published rules, the player who gets rid of every card collects the points left in all the other players’ hands. The first player to reach a target wins. One such rule sets the target at 50 points for each player, so 150 points for three players.
• Saying “last card” — some groups make a player say “last card” out loud when they are down to one card. A player who forgets before the next player takes a turn has to draw two cards.
• Special cards — many groups give other cards a power. The usual ones: a queen makes the next player miss a turn; an ace reverses the direction of play; a 2 makes the next player draw two cards, unless that player can play a 2 too. Groups change these around freely, using jacks or other cards, or adding cards with other effects. None of them is part of the game described above, and the practice game does not use them.
• A different card changes the suit — some groups use jacks or aces instead of 8s. This page, and the practice game, use 8s.
• Playing several cards at once — some groups let a player put down two or more cards of the same rank in one turn, as long as the first one can be played.
• Limits on playing an 8 — some groups say an 8 may only be played on a card it matches by suit or rank. In others, the 8 keeps its own suit instead of the player naming one.