1: Each player needs a whole 52-card deck with a back unlike every other deck.The backs sort the cards when the hand is scored.
2: Deal yourself thirteen cards in one pile, the top card face up. This is your Nertz pile.Getting rid of this pile is the point of the game.
3: Beside it, deal four cards face up in a row. These start your four work piles.Hold the rest of your deck face down as your stock.
4: Everyone starts at the same moment, and nobody takes turns.Play as fast as you like.
5: Aces go to the middle of the table. Anyone may build on any ace, up in suit to the king.The 2 of hearts on the ace of hearts, then the 3 of hearts.
6: On your own work piles, build down in alternating colors.A red 6 on a black 7, a black 10 on a red jack.
7: Turn stock cards in threes onto a waste pile, face up. Its top card can be played.Stock gone? Turn the waste pile over and go through it again.
8: Play the top card of your Nertz pile whenever it fits, then turn up the next one.It can go to the middle, onto a work pile, or into an empty work space.
9: Nertz pile empty? Call "Nertz!" Play stops, and everyone scores.A card already in the air may land.
1: Each player needs a whole 52-card deck with a back unlike every other deck.The backs sort the cards when the hand is scored.
2: Deal yourself thirteen cards in one pile, the top card face up. This is your Nertz pile.Getting rid of this pile is the point of the game.
3: Beside it, deal four cards face up in a row. These start your four work piles.Hold the rest of your deck face down as your stock.
4: Everyone starts at the same moment, and nobody takes turns.Play as fast as you like.
5: Aces go to the middle of the table. Anyone may build on any ace, up in suit to the king.The 2 of hearts on the ace of hearts, then the 3 of hearts.
6: On your own work piles, build down in alternating colors.A red 6 on a black 7, a black 10 on a red jack.
7: Turn stock cards in threes onto a waste pile, face up. Its top card can be played.Stock gone? Turn the waste pile over and go through it again.
8: Play the top card of your Nertz pile whenever it fits, then turn up the next one.It can go to the middle, onto a work pile, or into an empty work space.
9: Nertz pile empty? Call "Nertz!" Play stops, and everyone scores.A card already in the air may land.
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The layout: your four areas and the middle 9
1: The Nertz pile: thirteen cards, twelve face down under one face up.Only its top card can be played.
2: The work piles: four in a row beside it, each started by one face-up card.Overlap the cards as a pile grows, so all can be seen.
3: The stock: the other 35 cards of your deck, face down in your hand.52, less 13, less 4.
4: The waste pile: empty at the start. Stock cards land on it face up, three at a time.Keep each three in the order they came.
5: The middle: the shared foundations, empty until someone plays an ace.Sit so that every player can reach it.
6: The cards you may send to the middle: the top of your Nertz pile or your waste pile.And the end card of each work pile, the lowest one.
7: An empty work space takes a card from the Nertz pile, the waste pile or another work pile.Filling it from the Nertz pile gets you closer to the call.
8: A foundation that reaches its king is finished. Turn it over and set it aside.Its cards still count when the hand is scored.
9: Some players call the middle the Lake, the work piles the River and the stock the Stream.The piles work the same under any name.
Scoring, worked through 9
1: After the call, sort the cards in the middle by the backs of the decks.Finished foundations are sorted too.
2: Score 1 point for each of your cards that reached the middle.Cards on your work piles score nothing.
3: Lose 2 points for each card still in your Nertz pile.The player who called has none left, so loses nothing.
4: A worked hand (ours): 18 cards in the middle and 4 left in the pile score 10.18, less 2 times 4.
5: Scores can drop below zero (ours): 3 cards in the middle and 6 left in the pile score -9.3, less 2 times 6.
6: The caller does not always win the hand: more cards in the middle can outscore the call.It is still the best way to a good score.
7: Add each hand to a running total. A player reaching the target, usually 100, ends the game.The highest total wins.
8: Common bonus: 10 points for the player who calls. Some tables make it 25.Agree on the bonus, or none, before the first hand.
9: Variations: take off 1 point a card in place of 2, or let each hand be a game of its own.The second suits a short evening.
Rulings for the race 9
1: Move cards with one hand. The other hand may hold your stock.This keeps the race fair.
2: Move one card at a time, except a run of cards moved between your own work piles.The cards on top of the one you move go with it.
3: Two cards hit one foundation together: the first one down stays.The other goes back where it came from. In a true tie, both stay.
4: You never have to play a card. Waiting is allowed.Nothing forces a card off your piles.
5: You need not call the moment your Nertz pile is empty.Playing on can add cards to the middle and points to your score.
6: Hands off another player's piles, and no card comes back out of the middle.You play only from your own cards.
7: With one or two stock cards left: lay them on the waste pile and turn it over.Do not tuck the waste pile under them to make a three.
8: Everyone stuck: all turn their waste piles over and move the top stock card to the bottom.If still nobody can move, the hand ends, and every card left in a Nertz pile costs 2 points.
9: Six or more players: play in pairs. Partners sit side by side and share one deck.One turns the stock while the other watches the Nertz pile.
How this list was compiled: Written for this site on 2026-10-09, in our own words. Nertz, also spelled Nerts and also known as Pounce or Racing Demon, is a traditional card game. The sheets follow the rules on the card game rules site Pagat, https://www.pagat.com/patience/nerts.html, read on 2026-10-09: a regular 52-card deck with its own back for each player or pair, a pile of thirteen with the top card face up, four work piles of one face-up card, the stock turned three at a time onto a waste pile, shared foundations built from the ace up to the king in one suit, work piles built down in alternating colors, no turns, one hand and one card at a time, the call when the pile of thirteen is empty, 1 point for each card played to the middle and 2 points off for each card left in the pile, a target of 100, the tie on a foundation, the stock of one or two cards, what happens when everyone is stuck, pairs for six or more players, piles of 12 or 11 cards, the bonus of 25 and the 1-point penalty. English Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, Nerts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerts, read the same day, gives the same game and scoring, the names Lake, River and Stream for the areas, a bonus of 10 for the call as a common practice, scores that can fall below zero, and the game's start as Racing Demon in 1890s England. Pagat settles the final score as a payment between players; this page scores points only. Decks made for the game are sold under this name; the page is the folk game for regular decks and has no tie to any of them. Rows marked ours are this site's own and are not official; the sums were worked out from the scoring above. Licence: own work
How it works
Nertz, also spelled Nerts, is a race for two or more players with a deck each. It is solitaire played against everyone at once, and the first player to clear a pile of thirteen cards can stop the hand.
Read the full guide
Instructions for playing the card game called Nertz: where one card can go
Say the top card of your Nertz pile is the 6 of hearts. It can go to the middle onto the 5 of hearts, onto a black 7 at the end of one of your work piles, or into an empty work space. Once it moves, turn up the card under it. Stuck? Turn three cards from your stock and look again.
Does the player who calls Nertz win the hand?
Not always. Say you call with 18 cards in the middle: 18 points. A player with 22 cards out and 1 left in the pile scores 20 and takes the hand. Scoring, worked through has more sums, and Rulings for the race settles two cards landing on one pile.
You do not have to call the moment your pile is empty. A few more cards in the middle are a few more points.
Questions and answers
How do you play the card game Nertz?
Each player deals a pile of thirteen and four work piles from their own deck. Everyone plays at once, building shared piles in the middle from ace to king in suit. Empty your pile of thirteen and call Nertz to end the hand.
How is Nertz scored?
One point for every card of yours in the middle, minus two for every card left in your Nertz pile. Hands are added up until someone reaches an agreed target, usually 100, and the highest total wins.
How many decks do you need to play Nertz?
One regular 52-card deck for each player, each with a different back so the cards can be sorted for scoring. With six or more people, play in pairs, and each pair shares a deck.
Is Nerts the same card game as Nertz?
Yes. Nerts and Nertz are two spellings of one game, also known as Pounce and, in Britain, as Racing Demon, the name it began under in England in the 1890s.