Durak Game Objective
Play all of the cards in your hand to avoid being the Durak. Each game of Durak is made up of multiple rounds of attacks called bouts. During a bout, the attacker plays cards from their hand, and the defender has to play higher-valued cards to block them. Cards get discarded if the attacks are completely blocked, but the defender adds them to their hand if any attack hits them. After multiple rounds, whoever the last person with cards in their hand is the only loser and gets called the Durak!
Durak Game Setup
Remove 2s-5s from a deck of cards. Durak uses a standard deck of playing cards with some of the lower values removed. Take out the jokers along with all of the 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s, so you have 36 cards left for the deck. If you want to play a longer game of Durak, you can use the full deck of cards. Just remember to remove the jokers first. In Durak, Aces are the highest value in the deck and 6s are the lowest value.
Shuffle and deal 6 cards to each player. Choose a random person to be the first dealer. Shuffle the deck thoroughly, and then deal out the cards one at a time to each player until everyone has 6 cards in their hand. Set any leftover cards face-down in the middle of the table. Durak works best as a 4-player game, but you can play with anywhere between 2 to 6 people. Players can look at their own hands, but keep them secret from everyone else. The deck is traditionally called the “Talon.”
Place the top card face-up under the deck to reveal the trump suit. Take the top card of the deck and flip it face-up for everyone to see. Turn the card perpendicular to the deck and place it underneath the stack so the suit is still visible. This suit is the trump suit, or the strongest suit for your game. After that, you’re ready to start playing! If you’re playing with 6 people and there are no cards in the Talon, then the dealer places their last card face-up in front of them to determine the trump suit. Once everyone has seen it, the dealer puts the card back in their hand.
How to Play Durak
The first attacker plays any card to start the attack. Whoever has the lowest card in the trump suit gets to be the first attacker and the person to their left becomes the first defender. The attacking player can choose any card from their hand and play it face-up in front of the defender as the opening attack of the bout. While you can choose any card, lower-valued cards are better for the first attack. Check out our section on winning strategies to learn why.
The defender can block with a higher card of the same suit or a trump card. The defender now has a chance to block the attack. However, attacks can only be blocked by a higher-valued card of the matching suit or by any trump card. If the defender has a legal card to play, they may play it face-up on top of the attack card to block it. Example: If the trump suit is hearts and the attacker played a 7 of spades, the defender could play an 8 of spades or higher, or any card in the trump suit to block the attack. Trump cards are stronger than any other suits in the game, so they work for defending even if the card has a higher printed value. If the attack card is in the trump suit, then the defender has to block with a higher-valued trump card.
Attackers may play more matching cards to continue their attack. The first attacker gets the opportunity to attack with another card from their hand, but only if it matches the value of any other card played in the bout. If the first attacker can’t or decides not to attack, the player to the left of the defender gets a chance to attack as well. In a 4-player game, if the second attacker also cannot attack, the remaining player becomes the third attacker and can play a card from their hand.
End the attack when the defender runs out of cards or is unable to block. After each attack, the defender has a chance to block the attack with a card from their hand. If the defender uses all of the cards in their hand to block or if they’re unable to block an incoming attack, then the bout immediately ends. There can only be a maximum of 6 attacks during a bout. After the 6th attack and the defender’s response, the bout ends. Even if the defender has a card they can use to block, they don’t have to play it. Saving stronger cards can be advantageous during a future turn.
The defender discards or adds the played cards to their hand. If the defender was able to block all of the incoming attacks, discard all of the cards from the bout and remove them from the game. However, if the defender is unable to block even a single attack, they take every card played during the bout and add it to their hand.
Refill your hands back to 6 cards. Starting with the first attacker, players draw cards from the Talon until they have 6 cards in their hand again. After the first attacker, anyone else who joined the attack draws their cards. Lastly, the defender draws their cards. If a player already has more than 6 cards in their hand, they don’t draw anything from the Talon. Once the deck is empty, the person who draws next takes the revealed trump card into their hand. After that, no one else can draw cards at the end of a bout.
Continue the game with a new attacker and defender. If the defender wins the bout by blocking all attacks, they become the new attacker. If they lose, the person to the left of them becomes the attacker instead. The new defender is whoever is the next person to the left of the attacker. Play another bout as normal. When the defender loses a bout, they also lose the opportunity to attack during the next bout.
Continue playing bouts until 1 person has cards left in their hand. Keep taking turns attacking and defending. After the deck runs out of cards and you aren’t able to draw, players keep playing bouts until they get rid of all the cards in their hands. When only player has cards left in their hand, they become the Durak and lose the game! Near the end of the game, the number of cards in the defender’s hand determines how many times they can be attacked. If they only have 2 cards, they can only be attacked twice.
Durak Strategies
Attack with low-value cards to draw out stronger cards. Rather than using your highest cards right away during the attack, start with a lower value in the beginning. The defender may have to use their higher cards to block your attacks, so they won’t be able to defend themselves when you play a high value later in the bout.
Save trump cards as a defender. While it may be tempting to use trump cards right away in your defense, use a card that matches the suit of the attack if you’re able to. That way, when an attacker plays a higher-valued card, you can surprise them by blocking with a lower-valued trump.
Try to keep a balanced number of cards from each suit. Having a couple of cards in each suit helps keep you prepared for defending against attacks. It also makes you a little more dangerous when you’re attacking because you play suits the defender doesn’t have to force them into losing.
Keep track of what cards have already been played. Once cards are discarded, they’re out for the rest of the game, so try to remember what you’ve seen players use in a bout. If you know that some of the higher value cards in a suit are already out, then you may be able to successfully attack with a low value. Keep in mind what cards players have added to their hands if they lost a bout because they may be able to block or attack more easily.
Durak Variations
Transfer Durak In this variation, if the defender has a card with the same value as the first attack, they can play it to become the new attacker. The player to their left becomes the new defender and has to block both of the attack cards. An attack can be transferred up to 4 times because there are 4 copies of each value in the deck.
Team Durak Rather than each person playing by themselves, you can split into teams of 2. Sit across from your partner so an opposing team member takes a turn before and after you. During an attack, both players of a team can attack the defender, but the defender’s partner cannot help them out. Once both team members get rid of all the cards in their hands, they win the game together.
Durak with Points While a standard game only plays one round, you can keep score over multiple rounds for a longer game. Choose a number of rounds you want to play, like 5 or 10, to keep the game competitive. Keep track of who was the Durak at the end of each round. After the set number of rounds, tally up who was Durak the most to call them the ultimate loser!
Durak Card Game History
Durak became widely popular after the Russian Revolution. For a while in the 18th century, Durak was more popular among commoners and lower-class citizens in the Russian Empire. When the Russian Revolution happened in the early 1900s, the game quickly got big with the upper class as well. At the time, almost everyone knew the rules for the game and it became the most popular card game in Russia.
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