by Len Morse

Created on: February 15, 2011

Crazy Eights can be considered the precursor to the card game UNO. While both games focus on the concept of matching, Crazy Eights uses a regular deck of 52 playing cards, relieving the players of having to deal with the Skip, Reverse, Wild, Draw Two, and Draw Four cards of UNO. If you feel like matching cards, but do not have an UNO deck, Crazy Eights is an excellent substitute.

One player deals facedown cards to each player, one at a time, starting with the person to the dealer’s immediate left and moving to the right, until each player has eight cards. This is different than many other traditional card games, which usually start with only seven cards per player. (One deck of 52 cards works well for two to five players, but another deck is needed if you have six or more players.) The dealer then places the remainder of the deck face down in a single stack, in the middle of the table, and turns over the top card from this stack, placing it next to the deck.

All players should be looking at their cards at this point, making sure that no other players can see the card values. The player to the left of the dealer starts by checking his/her hand for a card that matches either the number or the suit of the upturned card in the middle of the table. If this player does not have such a card, s/he can place an eight on the pile as a wild card, calling a suit of his/her choice.

If the player has no usable cards in his/her hand, s/he must draw from the deck until either a match or an eight is found, then play it. Be aware that this may take several draws. When the first player has successfully placed an appropriate card on the upturned pile, his/her turn is over and the next player to the left looks for a match.

The game continues in this fashion, with subsequent shuffling and replacing of the deck as necessary. The first person to run out of cards wins the game.

Players can employ certain simple strategies in Crazy Eights. For instance:

• When you have an eight in your hand, hold it for as long as possible, trying to use your other cards until no other options are available.

• When you play an eight, you would most likely call a suit that is plentiful in your hand. However, if another player is about to go out (holding only one or two cards), and you happen to know that s/he does NOT have a particular suit, you could call that suit to keep him/her from winning.

A single hand of Crazy Eights can go on for quite a while, or it can end relatively quickly. Give it a try the next time your group is in the mood for an easy card game that does not require bidding, betting, or counting.

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