How to play Durak

By the Editorial team. Reviewed October 2026.

Durak is one of the most widely played card games in Russia and much of the former Soviet Union. The name means "fool", and the player left holding cards at the end is the durak. There is no winner, only a loser, which gives the game its sense of humour.

Players and cards

Durak is played by two to six players with a 36-card deck: the 6 through to the ace in each of the four suits. Remove the 2s to 5s from a standard deck if you do not have a Durak deck. Cards rank from 6 low to ace high.

Dealing and trumps

Deal six cards to each player. Turn the next card face up and place it under the remaining stack, half visible. Its suit is the trump suit for the whole game. The stack is called the talon. The turned-up trump is the last card anyone will draw.

The first attack

The player with the lowest trump attacks first. They play any card face up in front of the player on their left, who is the defender.

Defending

The defender must beat each attacking card. A card is beaten by a higher card of the same suit, or by any trump if the attacking card is not a trump. A trump can only be beaten by a higher trump. The defending card is placed on top of the attacking card, crossways.

Adding cards

Once the defender has beaten a card, the attacker, and in most games the other players, may add another card of a rank already on the table. If a 7 and a 9 are on the table, any 7 or 9 can be added. The total number of attacking cards in one round cannot exceed six, and cannot exceed the number of cards in the defender's hand at the start of the round.

Ending the round

If the defender beats every attacking card and nobody adds more, all the cards on the table are discarded. The defender then becomes the next attacker.

If the defender cannot or will not beat a card, they pick up every card on the table and add them to their hand. They lose their turn to attack, and the player on their left attacks next.

Refilling hands

After each round, players draw from the talon until they have six cards again. The main attacker draws first, then the other attackers, and the defender draws last. Once the talon is empty, players carry on without drawing.

The end of the game

Players who run out of cards after the talon is empty are out of the game. The last player holding cards is the durak.

A worked first round

Hearts are trumps. Anna holds the 6 of hearts, the lowest trump, so she attacks Ben with the 8 of clubs. Ben beats it with the jack of clubs. Anna adds the 8 of spades. Ben has no higher spade, so he beats it with the 7 of hearts, a trump. Chris, on Ben's other side, adds the jack of diamonds, since jacks are on the table. Ben has no higher diamond and no trumps left, so he picks up all five cards. Chris attacks next. Everyone refills from the talon, Anna first, Ben last.

Variants

The version above is often called podkidnoy, or "throw-in" Durak. In perevodnoy, or "passing" Durak, the defender can pass the attack to the next player by playing a card of the same rank, before beating anything. Tables differ on whether everyone may add cards or only the first attacker, so agree the rules first. The full Durak rules on durakcardgame.com cover these variants in more detail.

Tips for a first game

Keep your trumps for as long as you can, and get rid of low cards early while the talon still refills your hand. Watch which cards have been discarded. Players who track the trumps can often tell, late in the game, exactly what an opponent is holding. For more on this, see these Durak strategy tips.

Ready to find a table? Read our guide to card game nights in Bangkok.