The basic game of Crazy Eights uses a standard 52 card pack, or two such packs shuffled together if there are a lot of players. The dealer deals (singly) five cards to each player (seven each if there are only two players). The remainder of the pack is stacked face down on the table as a stock from which cards will be drawn. All the normal rules of Crazy Eights hold for this Zimbabwean version. The big difference is that other cards besides 8s have special abilities too. These special abilities of cards are broken up into three categories: offensive, shifting, and defensive.

Crazy Eights Rules and Game Mechanics

Wild & Crazy 8s race to dump your cards

Crazy Eights is a fun, fast-paced card game that can be played by two to four players per deck of 52 cards. In this game, the goal is not to build the strongest hand. Instead, players race to be the first one to discard all of their cards, and whoever does so wins the round.

Scoring system

The winner of each round collects points from each losing player based on the values of their respective remaining cards:

8 = 50 points
10, J, Q or K = 10 points
Ace = 1 point
Any other card = face value

The deal

Before the game can begin, players must assign a dealer, who then hands out five face-down cards to each player starting with the one on their immediate left. Whatever cards are left after the dealing is done are put face-down in the middle of the table as a stock pile.

The dealer then draws the top card from the stock pile and lays it face up to start a separate starter pile. If this card turns out to be an 8, then it is placed back into the middle of the stock pile and another top card is drawn.

Crazy 8s Gameplay

The player to the dealer’s immediate left must place a face-up card on the starter pile. It should match either the rank or suit of the existing card on the pile – unless the player’s card is an 8, which is a wild card that can be played anytime (more on how to play 8s later).

For instance, if the card on the starter pile is a 9 of clubs, then the player must match it with either a 9 of any suit or a club of any rank. If the player doesn’t have a matching card on hand, then they must keep drawing cards (one at a time) from the stock pile until they either get a playable card or the stock pile runs out. If the stock pile does end up running out, then the player is forced to pass and the starter pile (except for the last card) is shuffled and made into a new draw pile.

The action continues until one player successfully discards all of their cards.

Now, if you want to increase your chances of winning, then click here for some strategies!

Contact about our services or any questions. Write your caption here. Town Pump owns and operates over 200 gas station/convenience store, casino, hotel and car wash properties throughout Montana and Idaho. Sidney, MT, US, 59270. Contact Us - Town Pump. Get reviews, hours, directions, coupons and more for Montana Lil's Casino at 1101 S Central Ave, Sidney, MT 59270. Search for other Casinos in Sidney on The Real Yellow Pages®. Is a privately-held, Montana owned and operated business dedicated to providing excellence in customer service and hospitality at a fair and competitive price since 1953. We are team-oriented and results-driven.

Playing an 8

Players who play 8s must announce the suit that they want it to be. The next player in line can then either also play an 8 or any card of the announced suit.

Variations

Due to the simplicity of the basic form of Crazy Eights, players have come up with a multitude of ways to make it more challenging. Below are some examples:

Pairing Up

Crazy Eights Poker Rules Card Game

In four-player games, the players may choose to group themselves into two teams. The team that discards all of their combined cards wins.

Special Cards

Some games, on the other hand, assign special meanings to specific cards like in the example below:

Card Played	Effect
Queen	Next player in line misses a turn
Ace	Order of play reverses
2	Next player in line must play two cards (except 8s) or draw two cards

Playing 8s

There are also games where players are only allowed to play an 8 when it matches the suit of the latest card on the starter pile – unless the card on the starter pile is also an 8. In contrast, some games allow players to play 8s anytime but not specify a different suit for them.

Forced play

In the basic form of Crazy Eights, players are allowed to draw a card from the stock pile even if they have a playable card in hand. There are variations of the game, however, that require players to always play whenever they can.

Announcement of last cards

In some games, players who fail to announce that they are down to their last card are required to draw a predetermined number (usually two) of penalty cards from the stock pile.

Race to X

A round of Crazy Eights may also be extended by racing to a predetermined score instead of ending when a player successfully discards all of their cards. For example, in a 300-point game, the round will keep going until one player has won enough times to accumulate a total score of 300 points.

The beauty of this game is that while it’s already so much fun in its most basic form, you can reinvent it in whatever way you want to make it even more exciting.

Enjoyed this free poker guide? Get more – along with non-stop online real money poker action – by signing up for a SafeClub account today!

If you’re new to Crazy Eights, it is a similar game to UNO, except it’s played with a standard deck of playing cards. Many other games such as Swedish Gin Rummy and Spoons have originated from Crazy Eights as well. It’s unclear where or how the game itself was developed, but it has been around since at least the 1940s.

The aim of the game is to be the first player to successfully discard all cards onto the playing pile, of course abiding by all the rules of Crazy Eights in the process. Whoever wins the round in Crazy Eights collects points from the cards left in the other players’ hands when they finish. The player with the most points at the end of the round wins.

How to Play Crazy Eights

Here is a step by step guide to how to deal and play out the card game:

1. Deal eight cards to each player. Place what remains of the deck of cards face down in the centre of play and turn over one card so it’s facing up. The upwards card will begin the discard pile.

2. The player to the left of the dealer gets to have their go first. To discard a card, the player must be able to match the card at the top of the pile by rank or suit, or play an Eight (similar to a Wild in UNO). If the top card is a Four of Diamonds for example, the player can do any one of the following:

Play a Four
Play a Diamond
Play an Eight
Pick up from the face-down pile of cards

3. If a player can’t match the card at the top of the discard pile on their turn, they must pick up a card from the turned over stack of cards until they can discard a card of theirs (if the face-down stack runs out of cards, a player who can’t put down a card simply passes their turn).