1: Use 36 cards: take the 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s out of a regular deck. Aces are high, 6s low.Two to six can play. High to low: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6.
2: Deal six cards each. Turn the next card face up, and lay the stock across it.The suit of the face-up card is trumps for the whole game.
3: The player with the lowest trump attacks first. The player on their left defends.The attacker may lead any card, not only that trump.
4: Attack: lay any card face up before the defender.The defender always defends alone.
5: Defend: beat it with a higher card of its suit, or with any trump.A trump is beaten only by a higher trump. The 6 of trumps beats any other suit's ace.
6: Throw in: attackers may add cards that match the rank of any card played in this bout.Six attack cards a bout at most, and never more than the defender has cards in hand.
7: Every card beaten? The bout's cards go to a discard heap, and the defender attacks next.Discards are out of the game, and nobody may look through them.
8: Cannot beat a card, or would rather not? The defender picks up every card on the table.That defender misses the turn to attack. The player on their left attacks next.
9: After each bout, draw back up to six cards. Stock gone: the last player holding cards loses.The loser is the durak, the fool. Nobody wins: everyone else simply got out.
1: Use 36 cards: take the 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s out of a regular deck. Aces are high, 6s low.Two to six can play. High to low: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6.
2: Deal six cards each. Turn the next card face up, and lay the stock across it.The suit of the face-up card is trumps for the whole game.
3: The player with the lowest trump attacks first. The player on their left defends.The attacker may lead any card, not only that trump.
4: Attack: lay any card face up before the defender.The defender always defends alone.
5: Defend: beat it with a higher card of its suit, or with any trump.A trump is beaten only by a higher trump. The 6 of trumps beats any other suit's ace.
6: Throw in: attackers may add cards that match the rank of any card played in this bout.Six attack cards a bout at most, and never more than the defender has cards in hand.
7: Every card beaten? The bout's cards go to a discard heap, and the defender attacks next.Discards are out of the game, and nobody may look through them.
8: Cannot beat a card, or would rather not? The defender picks up every card on the table.That defender misses the turn to attack. The player on their left attacks next.
9: After each bout, draw back up to six cards. Stock gone: the last player holding cards loses.The loser is the durak, the fool. Nobody wins: everyone else simply got out.
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Attack and defense rulings 9
1: The first attacker has priority. Others throw in only when that player lets them."Go ahead" or "Wait, I am playing" is enough.
2: With five or six players, only the defender's two neighbors may attack.Tables agree on this so the first defender is not swamped.
3: A card thrown in may match an attack card or a card the defender played.A 7 beaten by a 10 lets the attackers add any 7 or any 10.
4: The defender may trump a card even while holding a higher card of its suit.There is no rule to follow suit.
5: An attacker may lay two or more cards of the same rank at once.Two 6s can open a bout together. Led one after the other they would do the same.
6: A defender who picks up can be handed more: any card that could have been thrown in.The limit of six attack cards still holds, counting the ones already beaten.
7: A defender with fewer than six cards faces no more attack cards than they hold.Beat the attack with your last card and the bout is won.
8: Drawing order: the first attacker, then the other attackers clockwise, the defender last.The face-up trump is the last card of the stock.
9: Dealt or drew the 6 of trumps? You may swap it for the face-up trump while a stock remains.Only its first holder may swap it. Some tables do not allow the swap.
The end of the game and the next deal 8
1: When the stock runs out, nobody draws. From then on the aim is to empty your hand.A hand can still grow: a defender who picks up takes the whole bout.
2: A player with no cards drops out. The turn passes to the next player who holds cards.This starts once the stock is gone.
3: The game ends at the end of a bout, when only one player still holds cards.That player is the fool for this game.
4: Nobody left with cards after the last bout? The game is a draw.It happens when the last attack uses up the attacker's hand and the defender's.
5: The loser shuffles and deals the next game.After a draw, the loser of the game before deals again.
6: From the second game on, the player on the dealer's left attacks first.Some tables have the player on the loser's right attack the loser instead.
7: Some tables name a winner: whoever empties their hand first.Others say the game has only a loser and no winner. Settle it before the first deal.
8: Keeping count (ours): tally each loss. Fewest losses after an agreed number of games wins.Some tables count the losses with matchsticks.
Two players, teams and variations 8
1: Two players: beat off an attack and you attack next.Pick up, and the same player attacks you again.
2: Two players, short deck: use 24 cards, the 9s up to the aces.The 9 of trumps is then the card that can be swapped for the face-up trump.
3: Four players can play as two teams, partners facing each other.You never attack your partner and never help them defend.
4: Six players can play as two teams of three, seated alternately.The team left holding cards loses.
5: Six players use up all 36 cards. The dealer's last card is shown to set trumps.There is no stock, so nobody draws.
6: Variation, passing on: a defender may lay a card of the attack's rank beside it.Now the next player defends and must beat both. Not allowed if they hold too few cards.
7: Variation, first bout: the first defender of a game faces five attack cards at most.Common when four or more play as individuals.
8: Variation, full deck: five or six players may use all 52 cards, with the 2s low.The rest of the game is the same, and there is always a stock.
How this list was compiled: Written for this site on 2026-10-09, in our own words. Durak is a traditional card game from Russia with no governing body. The sheets give the best-known form, the game with throwing in (Podkidnoy Durak), as the card game rules site Pagat describes it: https://www.pagat.com/beating/podkidnoy_durak.html, read on 2026-10-09: two to six players, 36 cards ranking from the ace down to the 6, six cards each, a card turned up for trumps with the stock laid across it, the holder of the lowest trump attacking first in the first game, an attack card beaten by a higher card of its suit or by a trump, further attack cards matching a rank already played, six attack cards a bout at most and never more than the defender holds, a beaten attack discarded and the defender attacking next, a defender who picks up missing the turn to attack, hands drawn back up to six with the attacker first and the defender last, and the last player holding cards losing. The first attacker's priority, the limit to the defender's two neighbors with five or six players, several cards of a rank led at once, the cards handed to a defender who picks up, the swap of the 6 of trumps, players dropping out once the stock is gone, the draw, the loser dealing, who attacks first in later games, teams, the deal for six, the 24-card game for two, the first bout limited to five cards and the 52-card game are as Pagat gives them. English Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, Durak: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durak, read the same day, gives the same deck, deal, trumps, attack, defense, limit of six and drawing order; it adds that nobody may look through the discards, that some tables call the first player out the winner, and the variation in which a defender passes an attack on. Pagat notes that losses are sometimes counted with matchsticks and mentions forfeits for the loser; this page keeps a tally only and leaves forfeits out. The row marked ours is this site's own suggestion and is not official; the two-player sequence of turns is worked out from the rule that a defender who picks up is attacked by the next player. Licence: own work
How it works
Durak is the most popular card game in Russia, for two to six players and 36 cards. The name means fool: the game has no winner, only the fool, the last player left holding cards.
Read the full guide
How to play the Russian game Durak: one bout
Say hearts are trumps and the attacker leads the 7 of spades. You beat it with the 10 of spades. The attackers may now add any 7 or any 10, and a 10 of clubs needs a higher club or a heart. Beat everything and you attack next. Fail once and the whole bout goes into your hand.
How to play Durak, the card game, with two or in teams
Four play best as two teams, partners facing each other, and two can play with the same 36 cards. Two players, teams and variations has both. Attack and defense rulings settles who may throw in, and how many cards a defender can be made to face.
Lead one card at a time. Laying a pair at once only shows the defender more of the attack before they decide.
Questions and answers
How do you play Durak, the card game?
Deal six cards each from a 36-card deck and turn up a trump. The attacker leads a card. The defender beats it with a higher card of its suit or a trump, or picks up. Everyone draws back to six. Last with cards loses.
What does Durak mean?
Fool. It is what the loser is called: the last player holding cards after the stock has run out. The standard game has no winner, though some tables call the first player out the winner.
How many cards do you need to play Durak?
Thirty-six: a regular deck with the 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s taken out. Each player holds six and the rest form the stock. Two players can also use 24 cards, the 9s up to the aces.
Can you play Durak with 2 players?
Yes, two to six can play. With two, a defender who beats off the attack becomes the attacker, and a defender who picks up is attacked again.