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Getting Crazy with Crazy Eights

If you have ever played cards with a bunch of rangy eight year olds then you know how the game of Crazy Eight's came about. Its wild, it's crazy and it is a fun way to wile away a rainy Sunday afternoon. In different variations it is played all over the world. It goes by a number of different pseudonyms: Crates, Switch, Last One, and Hold-out to name a few.

Game Play:

The rules may vary from country to country and even from family to family but they basically go like this:

1. Deal five cards to everyone and then flip the top card of the rest of the deck to start the discard pile.

2. The person to the left of the dealer goes first and must play a card of the same suit or the same rank as the up card. If an 8 is the up card then the player may play a card of any suit and rank.

3. The same rules apply if you play an 8. The player may call any suit.

4. If a player is unable to play he must draw a card and miss his turn.

5. They game continues until one player uses up all his cards. However he will have to draw one if he doesn't announce "last card" when he is down to one card.

Variations:

To make the game a little more fun and surprising there are a number of variations. Normally the dealer gets to call the variations. Here are a few my family enjoys.

1. If the person before you plays the Old Maid (queen of spades) you must pick up 5 cards.

2. If the person before you finishes a run of three (9, 10, Jack, for example) you must pick up 3 cards.

3. When an ace is played, the direction of play reverses (clockwise becomes counter clockwise). 4. The dealer may decide that anyone caught touching their head during the game must pick up a card.

5. The dealer might decide that if anyone says the word "man" during the game must pick up a card.

Make up your own variations and change them with each hand. It keeps the kids interested and a "head touching" by a parent can bring on some wonderful giggles.

Scoring:

Scoring isn't mandatory but if you want, you may score left over cards as follows: 8's are 50 points, Old Maid (or any other "specially designated card") is 30 points, Aces are 20 points, Face cards are 10 points and the rest of the cards are 5 points each. The game can go to 100, 200 or 500 points depending on how much time you have, and of course the lowest score wins.

On-line Crazy Eights:

If you want to practice before teaching your friends and family you can try the following websites http://www.valusoftarcade.com/ games/gamepage.aspx?GameID=10 http://www.gamedesire.com/onli ne.game-crazy.eights.html

Good Luck! Have Fun! Don't Hoard Your Eights!

Learn more about this author, Minnie Chatterfield.
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