Durak rules

Cards and players

Durak is usually played with 36 cards: from 6 to ace in each of the four suits. The order is 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, ace. For quick games there is a 24-card deck (from 9 up), for big rounds a 52-card deck (from 2 up).

Two to six people can play: up to three with 24 cards, up to five with 36 and up to six with 52.

Dealing and trumps

Everyone gets six cards. The rest form the talon, the pile you draw from. Its bottom card lies face up and sets the trump suit.

A trump beats any card of another suit – even the lowest trump beats the ace of another suit. Whoever holds the lowest trump attacks first.

Attacking

Play goes clockwise: the attacker places any card face up in front of the next player, the defender. It’s best to attack low and save high cards and trumps for later.

Beating

The defender has to beat every attacking card: with a higher card of the same suit or with a trump. A trump can only be beaten by a higher trump. The beating card goes on top of the attacking card.

Throwing in

While the attack is on, more cards can be thrown in – but only ranks already on the table, whether as attacking or as beating cards. Usually the attacker goes first, then the others. Depending on the table, everyone may throw in or only the defender’s two neighbours.

There are at most six attacking cards in a round – and never more than the defender still holds. Some tables allow only five until the first discard.

Picking up

If the defender can’t or won’t beat the cards, they pick up everything on the table. Before that, the attackers may add any fitting cards. Whoever picks up skips their turn to attack: the player after them attacks next.

Picking up isn’t always bad. Better to take a few cards early than to waste your best trumps on a lost round.

Defending and drawing

Once the defender has beaten everything and nobody adds more, the attack is fended off. The cards go to the discard pile and are out of the game. Whoever defended successfully attacks next.

After each round everyone draws from the talon back up to six cards: the attacker first, then the others in turn, the defender last.

Passing on (Perevodnoy)

In passing Durak the defender may pass the attack on instead of beating it: they place a card of the same rank next to the attacking card. Now the next player has to beat all the cards – and may pass them on in turn.

Passing on only works as long as no card has been beaten yet, and only if the next player holds enough cards to beat everything.

End of the game

Once the talon is empty, nobody draws any more. Whoever has got rid of all their cards is out and can no longer lose. The last player still holding cards is the durak. If the last players run out of cards at the same time, the game is a draw.

Cheating and reporting

At tables with cheating, illegal moves go through too – say, a 7 that “beats” a 9. Anyone can report such a card while it is still on the table. Whoever gets caught takes the card back and pays 15% of the stake into the pot. If the reported card was fine, whoever reported it pays.

Once the table is cleared, the move stands. Without cheating, the table only accepts legal moves.

Podkidnoy and Perevodnoy

The best-known form is Podkidnoy Durak (подкидной, “throw-in”): everyone may throw in, but nobody passes on. Perevodnoy Durak (переводной, “passing”) adds passing on.

At your own table you decide whether passing on and cheating are allowed. In ranked games everyone plays by the same rules.

Tips for beginners

• Attack low. Attack with small cards and save high cards and trumps for defending.
• Save your trumps. Don’t waste a trump on a card you could also beat with its own suit.
• Collect pairs. Towards the end, two or three cards of the same rank are worth gold: they let you shed several cards in one round.
• Keep count. Remember which trumps and aces have already been played. In the endgame you’ll know what the others can still hold.
• Watch closely. Check every card played on yours. You can only report a cheat while it is still on the table.