Durak

How to play Durak: the rules step by step

Durak is usually played with a 36 card deck, 6 up to Ace in each suit. You can also choose a full 52 card deck, which makes the game longer. Every player is dealt 6 cards. The rest of the deck becomes the talon, and its bottom card is turned face up under it. That card's suit is the trump suit for the whole game, and the face up card itself is the very last card anyone draws.

The game is a series of bouts. In each bout one player attacks and the player on their left defends:

• The attacker leads any card, or two or more cards of the same rank together.
• The defender must beat each attacking card with a higher card of the same suit, or with any trump. A trump can only be beaten by a higher trump.
• Once every card on the table is beaten, attackers may throw in more cards, but only of a rank that is already on the table. The defender then has to beat those too.
• If the defender beats everything and nobody throws in more, the bout is over. The cards go to the beaten pile (players call this bito) and the defender attacks next.
• If the defender can't or won't beat everything, they take: attackers may still throw in, then the defender picks up every card on the table and loses their turn to attack.
• After each bout, everyone draws back up to 6 cards from the talon. The main attacker draws first and the defender draws last.

Durak rules for beginners: who goes first, limits and how it ends

In the first game, the player holding the lowest trump attacks first. In a match of several games, the next game is led by the player to the left of the last durak.

A bout never has more than 6 attacking cards, and never more attacking cards than the defender held when the bout began. If the defender has 3 cards, at most 3 cards can come at them. With the house rule First bout: 5 cards, the opening attack of each game is capped at 5.

When the talon is empty, nobody draws any more, and a player who runs out of cards is out of the game, safe. Play continues until only one player is left holding cards. That player is the durak, the fool, and loses. If the last two players run out of cards at the same moment, there is no durak and the game is a draw.

How to beat a card in Durak

Beating is about suit first, then rank. A 9 of hearts is beaten by the 10, Jack, Queen, King or Ace of hearts, or by any trump. If spades are trumps, even the 6 of spades beats the Ace of hearts. A trump attack, say the 7 of spades, can only be beaten by a higher spade.

Each attacking card is beaten by its own card. If three cards are on the table, you need three beating cards. You never have to beat them in order, and you can take at any point instead, even after beating some of them.

Podkidnoy vs Perevodnoy: what is the difference?

Podkidnoy (подкидной дурак, throw-in Durak) is the classic game described above. Its heart is the throw-in: once cards are on the table, other players can pile on with matching ranks, so a single 7 can grow into a long, painful bout.

Perevodnoy (переводной дурак, transfer Durak) adds one move. Before beating anything, the defender may add a card of the same rank as the attack and pass the whole attack on to the next player, who becomes the new defender. The next player must hold at least as many cards as there would then be attacking cards. An attack can be passed on more than once, so it can travel round the table.

Two more house rules are available. Throw-ins can come from everyone, or from neighbours only, meaning the attacker and the player on the defender's left. In Perevodnoy you can also turn on transfer by showing a trump: instead of playing a card of the attack's rank, you show a trump of that rank and keep it in your hand. Each trump can be shown only once per bout.

Durak strategy tips

Durak rewards memory and patience far more than luck. These habits win games:

• Lead your low non-trump cards early, while the talon still refills your hand. Small cards are a burden later.
• Save trumps, especially high ones, for the endgame. A trump spent on a 6 early on is a trump you won't have when it matters.
• Lead pairs. Two cards of the same rank cost the defender two good cards and leave you less to get rid of.
• Don't throw in a card the defender will happily beat with something cheap. Throw in when it forces out a trump or a high card.
• Watch the beaten pile. Once most of a rank has gone, the defender can't be hurt by throw-ins of that rank.
• Remember who picked up which cards, and who drew the face up trump card. It is known to everyone.
• When the talon is empty, count. With every card accounted for, think about the order that gets you out first.

Durak with 2 players, and with 3 to 6 players

Two player Durak is a duel: one of you always attacks, the other always defends, and there are no throw-ins from anyone else. It is the purest test of card counting, because once the talon is gone you know exactly what the other player holds.

With 3 to 6 players the game becomes social. Several attackers can throw in on the same defender, and the player who takes is skipped, which changes who attacks whom. With 6 players and 36 cards the whole deck is dealt at the start, so the trump card is the only card left in the talon.

Durak online with friends

Tap Invite friends to open a room. You get a room code and a link to share on WhatsApp or anywhere else. Friends who open the link take seats as they join, and computer players fill any seat still empty, so the game can start with whoever has turned up. You can also use quick match to play Durak online with strangers.

At the table you can send emojis and short messages, and talk with voice chat in rooms. The game works on phones, tablets and computers in any modern browser, with no download and no sign-up.

Playing Durak against the computer: the three levels

Choose Play vs computer and every other seat is a computer player. You can set the speed to relaxed, normal or fast.

• **Easy:** plays legal but loose moves. It defends with the first card that fits and throws in at random.
• **Normal:** plays with table sense. It leads low non-trumps and pairs, beats with its cheapest card, saves trumps while the talon is thick and takes when holding on would cost too much.
• **Hard:** does all that, tracks the beaten pile and the cards it has seen picked up, and looks ahead by playing out many possible deals before it chooses. Once the talon is empty and two players are left, it searches the endgame and plays it out perfectly.

Controls, hints and the bout log

Tap a card to play it. To lead a pair, tap two cards of the same rank and tap a selected card again to play them. You can also drag a card onto the table to attack, or onto the attacking card you want to beat. The buttons are Take, Done (bito), Transfer or Show trump in Perevodnoy, and Hint, the light bulb, which suggests the move the Hard computer would make.

On a keyboard, T takes, D says done, A attacks with the selected cards, H shows a hint, L opens the bout log and Esc opens the menu. The bout log lists every bout of the game with its cards, who attacked whom and whether the cards were beaten off or taken.

An unfinished game against the computer is saved on your device, so you can resume it later. Your games played, games won and best winning streak are kept too. In the setup you can play a single game, or a match that ends when someone has been the durak 1, 3 or 5 times.

History of Durak and what the name means

Durak means fool in Russian, and the name says everything about how the game is scored: there is no winner as such, only one loser. The game became widely popular in Russia in the 19th century and is still the most familiar card game across the former Soviet Union.

The 36 card deck reflects how cards were sold in Russia, where packs commonly ran from 6 to Ace. Podkidnoy is the version most people learn first. Perevodnoy, with its transfers, is a popular faster variant.

Durak vs Bhabhi and other shedding games

Durak belongs to the family of shedding games, where the aim is to get rid of your cards. Most of them are races to go out first. Durak is the opposite: everyone except one player gets out, and the game is about not being that player.

That makes it a close cousin of Bhabhi (Thulla), the South Asian game where the last player holding cards is the Bhabhi. In Bhabhi everyone follows suit on one trick at a time. In Durak one player defends against attacks while others pile on. Crazy Eights, Mau-Mau and Satti are matching games where the first player to empty their hand wins. If you like Durak's attack and defence, try Bhabhi next.

По-русски: коротко

Дурак: самая известная карточная игра в России и во всём бывшем СССР. Здесь можно играть в дурака онлайн бесплатно, прямо в браузере, без скачивания и регистрации, на телефоне или компьютере. Выбирайте подкидной или переводной дурак, колоду из 36 или 52 карт и от 2 до 6 игроков. Играйте против компьютера трёх уровней или зовите друзей по коду комнаты или ссылке. Главное: не останьтесь последним с картами на руках!