30 Games You Can Play With Just A Pack Of Cards
By Aaron Love
10 months ago
Poker
Image Source: Reddit
Poker is one of the most classic card games you'll ever come across and is pretty simple once you get a handle on what it is you're supposed to do. The whole game is mainly focused around trying to form the best possible combination of cards. How good your poker face is might affect your chances of victory.Blackjack
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You might also know this game as 21 depending on where you are in the world. All players are pretty much playing against the dealer and try to get a hand value that actually equals 21. You start with 2 cards and can either 'hit' for a new card or 'stand' and keep the cards you have. The closest to 21 wins the round.Bridge
Image Source: NZ Herald
Bridge is very much a game of strategy and one where all 52 cards within the deck are dealt. Players have to bid on the number of tricks that teams expect to take and the team that wins the bid tries to win the specified number of tricks. I know it sounds quite confusing but it isn't!Hearts
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Hearts is a game where players are trying to avoid taking certain cards from the deck. All players will try to score as few points as they can whilst avoiding all the hearts and the queen of spades. It's all about deciding when to pass your cards and when to shoot the moon. You'll understand once you've playedSpades
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Hearts isn't the only game with reference to a suit in its name. Spades is a trick-taking game. Players attempt to bid for the number of tricks their team can win, but the twist in this game is that spades are always the trump suit. It's a bit of luck really, trying to predict the performance of your team.Euchre
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Euchre is a team game, made for 2 teams of 2 (although it can be modified for more) where your chances are much better if you trust and know your partner. Only 24 cards are used from the deck and it all revolves around players trying to win tricks. It's great for social gatherings!Crazy Eights
Image Source: Silver Hill Games
Crazy Eights is quite a simple game in comparison to the previous ones on the list, the whole object is to simply get rid of all your cards. You have to match the rank or suit of the previous card unless it's an eight in which you can then change the suit to help yourself out!Solitaire
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Solitaire has long been a popular game for people to play alone to help pass the time, you might know it as the game that used to ALWAYS be on computers from the start-up. You have to arrange all cards in ascending order in a number of separate foundation piles that contain more cards.Rummy
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Rummy is one of those popular card games that parents often teach their children from a young age. The objective of the game is to form sets of cards of the same rank or consecutive cards of the same suit. You can draw and discard cards to improve the hand and requires some strong observational skills.Gin Rummy
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Gin Rummy is a two-player variation of the traditional rummy card game and is supposedly even more strategic. Whilst trying to form the sets and runs in their hand they also try to knock and end the round with as few dead cards as they possibly can. It's definitely a strategic game to learn!Go Fish
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Go Fish is often one of the early games that children are taught around the world and the goal is to simply collect pairs of matching cards. Players ask other players for cards that they need. If the other player has the card they have to give it up and if not they have to pick up from the central pile.Pinochle
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Pinochle is a game made for four players to play and uses 48 cards from the deck. You have to bid for the trump suit and then try to win some tricks; as with most card games, some cards have higher values than others. It's another great card game to introduce some teamwork and strategy.War
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War is a very simple two player game suitable for people of all ages; the deck is completely split between two players and they have to reveal the top card of their stack. It's kind of like top trumps if you know what that is, the player with the higher cards wins the other players card too.Old Maid
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This is another card game that parents often introduce to their children early. You have to try and take cards from the other players hand to create pairs. The 'old maid' card is removed from the deck and the goal is to not the player left with the last card to match the old maid's at the end.Cribbage
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Cribbage might be cheating a little bit as you actually need a board to keep score too! Each player gets given six cards, two of which they have to discard into the crib where the dealer can also score points. It seems a little confusing right? But you'll get it once you give the rules a proper read through, you just want to get to 61 or 121 points!Canasta
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Canasta is yet another variation of the traditional rummy card game. This version requires two full, standard decks of cards meaning that 108 cards are involved. Besides that, traditional rules of rummy are followed and players attempt to form cards of the same rank against one another.Texas Hold'Em
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Texas Hold'em is perhaps one of the most popular and well-known variants of the traditional poker game. Each player is dealt two private cards with five cards shared publicly on the table surface. Players have to use their own and the shared hand to try and form the best hand possible.UNO
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UNO obviously doesn't use the traditional deck of cards, but it has become one of the most popular games around the world. The provided deck comes with a range of coloured cards featuring numbers and symbols which are action cards to create some great fun and unpredictable results.Seven-Card Stud
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Seven-Card Stud is yet another popular poker variant; players are given seven cards each, three of which are face down and four of them are face up. People then bet around and you have to try and make the best possible five-card hand that you can from the seven cards in your possession.Blind Man's Bluff
Image Source: Wikipedia
Yep, you guessed it, this is another variant of poker you can play with your cards and is definitely one of the more unique versions. Each player holds a card outwards on their forehead. Player's can see other people's cards and have to bet and raise based on other player's cards without knowing their own.Spit
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Also known as speed, this two-player game is solely focused on players trying to get rid of all their cards. Each player will have a stack of cards in front of them, as well as a smaller hand. They have to play cards into a central pile in either an ascending or descending order or else they're picking up.Egyptian Rat Screw
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This is perhaps the most unique game in terms of it's name at least! Players take turn laying down cards and once a combination of two cards of the same rank are played the first player to slap the pile wins all the cards. You eliminate other players by getting all of the cards!President
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President is often referred to by another slightly offensive name too! The goal is to get rid of all your cards and become the president of the next round. The game ultimately becomes one of a mixed hierarchy and power for each individual player depending on where you finished in the prior round.Durak
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Durak is a popular Russian card game and another in which the goal is to get rid of all your cards. However, in Durak you also have to attack and defend against other players in order to avoid becoming the Durak (or the fool). It requires a lot of tactics and bluffing to achieve victory.Scat
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Scat is sometimes referred to as Blitz in some communities and the goal of the game is to either achieve the highest-valued hand or reach a score of 31. Everyone takes turns drawing and discarding cards to try and form a hand with the same suit or rank. It's all about managing the risk!Rummy 500
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As the title suggests, this is another variant of the popular card game, Rummy. The objective in this variant is to reach 500 points by forming either sets or runs of cards within your hand. You are able to take cards from the discard pile too which increases the strategic aspect of the game.Around The Clock
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Around the clock is quite an easy-to-learn card game that you can play on your own to pass the time. Cards are placed in a circle with 12 different sections of a pile to look like a clock. The goal is to get all of the cards of the right rank in the right position of the clock before all the kings are found.Cheat
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Cheat or I Doubt it, is one of the best games to play as part of a social gathering. Players take it in turns to place their cards face down on the deck and they have to say what it is that they put down. They can either tell the truth or lie, but if they're caught by another player they'll have to take all the cards in the pile to their hand.99
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The objective of this game that requires at least three players is to avoid reaching a card sum of more than 99. Players play cards of specific values which will add to the running total of the game. There are a number of confusing special cards and rules that make it quite the complex one to get your head around.Fan Tan
