How to Play Durak

What you need

• 2–6 players. Everyone for themselves. No partners. Two is this game. Three is a real table. Four is typical.
• A 36-card pack for 2–4: pull 2 through 5 from a 52, keep 6 through ace. No jokers. 5–6 people: use the full 52. Deal 6 each. Remaining stock face-down; turn the bottom card face-up as trump and slide it half-under the stock.
• No pad. Last player still holding cards is the fool. Optional rematch: first to make someone else the fool 3 times, or just deal again.

Sit, pick a dealer, agree on the house

Sit where everyone can see the trump card under the stock and the cards in the bout. Cut for the first deal, or point at someone. After each hand, the fool deals — or pass the deal clockwise if you would rather not wait on the name.

Say these out loud before the first card:

1. 36 cards. 6 through ace. 6 each. Two to four people tonight. Five or six: use the full 52, still 6 each. No jokers. Trump is the suit under the stock.
2. Attack the person on your left. One card face-up. Defender beats it with a higher card of the same suit, or any trump if the attack is not trump. Trump beats non-trump. Higher trump beats lower trump.
3. Throw-ins are ranks already on the table. One at a time, up to the cards the defender still holds, max 6 in a bout. Night one: only the main attacker plus the player immediately before the defender may throw in.
4. Beat every card, or pick the bout up. Then draw back to 6, attacker first, defender last. Last with cards is the fool. Not President (no ranks next hand). Not War.

The 36-card pack and trump

Shuffle a 52. Pull every 2, 3, 4, and 5. What remains is 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, ace in four suits — 36 cards. That is the pack for two, three, or four. At five or six, skip the pull and deal the full 52, still 6 each.

Deal clockwise: 6 each. Put the rest of the pack face-down in the middle. That is the stock. Turn the bottom card face-up and slide it half-under the stock so everyone can see the suit. That suit is trump for the hand. The physical trump card under the stock is the lowest of that suit and is drawn last from the stock.

Rank, low to high on the 36: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, ace. Ace is high. On a 52 at five or six, 2 through 5 sit under the 6. If someone has the wrong count, throw it in and deal again.

Left of the dealer attacks first.

Attack and defend

The person to the attacker's left is the defender. The attacker plays one card face-up in front of the defender. That is the lead of the bout.

The defender must beat it:

• Higher card of the same suit — 10♣ beats 9♣. Ace of clubs beats jack of clubs.
• Or any trump if the attack is not trump — 6♥ beats king of spades if hearts is trump.
• Trump on trump: higher trump beats lower trump. Ace of trump beats 9 of trump.
• A non-trump never beats a trump. A 6 of a different fail suit never beats a 9 of clubs.

Play the covering card on top of the attack, slightly offset so both ranks stay visible. If the defender cannot beat it, or will not, they pick up every card in the bout — attacks and successful covers already on the table.

Throw-ins of ranks already there

If the defender beats the lead, the attacker may throw in another card — but only a rank already on the table. One at a time. The defender must beat each new card the same way, or pick up everything.

At three or more, the player on the defender's other side may also throw in, same rule: ranks already in the bout. Night one: only the main attacker plus the player immediately before the defender may throw in. That keeps it teachable. Do not invent teams. Do not let the whole table pile on tonight.

You may not throw more cards than the defender still holds. Cap the bout at 6. Two people: no throw-in from a third — it is attacker vs defender only.

Bout ends, then draw to 6

Two ways a bout ends:

1. Defender beats every card. Those cards go to a face-down discard, out of play. The defender becomes the next attacker and attacks the next person clockwise.
2. Defender cannot or will not beat a card. They pick up every card in the bout. Skip them as attacker (the fool-for-now). The next player clockwise attacks the person after the one who picked up.

At two: if they pick up, you attack them again. If they beat everything, they attack you.

After each bout, everyone draws from the stock back up to 6, attacker first, then others clockwise, defender last. When the stock is gone — including that last lowest-trump card under it — play out the remaining cards. No refill.

Last with cards is the fool

When one player has no cards and the stock is gone, they are out — they won their seat. Keep going until only one player still holds cards. That person is Durak — the fool. No points. Say it. Deal again if you want.

This is not President. You do not sit President, Neutral, or bottom next hand. Last with cards is just the fool tonight. Optional rematch: first to make someone else the fool 3 times, or just deal again.

Walk through one first-night bout

Four people. 36-card pack. Trump is hearts. You are South. You attack West with 9♣.

West covers with J♣ — higher club. The ranks on the table are 9 and jack. You may throw in a 9 or a jack of another suit. You throw 9♦. Not 9♥ because you are saving trump — 9♦ is the clean teach: same rank, already on the table.

West must beat 9♦ too: a higher diamond, or any heart (trump). If West covers, the bout can keep going with more 9s or jacks, up to what West still holds, max 6. If West cannot or will not, West picks up everything on the table — the 9♣, the J♣ that covered it, and the 9♦.

Say West covers 9♦ with A♦. You have no more 9s or jacks. East sits before West and may throw a jack if East holds one. Night one, North (the other neighbor) does not throw in. West beats the last card. The bout goes to the discard. West becomes the attacker and attacks North.

Then everyone draws back to 6 — you first (attacker), then West, North, East, defender last if West still needed a card. Nobody sat President. Nobody slapped a pile. Nobody picked a blind or counted 61.

Night-one habits

• Say trump out loud. The card under the stock is the lowest of that suit and comes out last.
• Throw-ins match a rank already on the table. Not a new rank. Not a random trump.
• Night one: only the main attacker plus the player immediately before the defender throw in.
• Draw to 6 after every bout, attacker first, defender last. When the stock is gone, play out.
• Two people is this game — attacker vs defender, no third throw-in. Three is a real Durak table. Last with cards is the fool, not President.

You know enough to deal. Keep this page beside the table. Four people is a tonight pick. Three people is a tonight pick. Two people is a tonight pick. Five people is a tonight pick. There is no Durak trainer on CardPractice — this how-to is the product. If you wanted roles next hand, that is President. If you wanted a slap pile, that is Egyptian Rat Screw — not War, and not this. If you wanted a 32-card picker and 61, that is Sheepshead.