Durak

How to play Durak

1. 1Played with 36 cards, six through ace (aces high). Everyone gets six cards; the next card is turned face up under the stock and its suit is trump for the whole game.
2. 2The player holding the lowest trump attacks first, against the player on their left. The attacker leads a card (or several of one rank).
3. 3The defender must beat every attacking card: with a higher card of the same suit, or with any trump if the attack isn’t a trump. A defender who can’t (or won’t) beat them all picks up every card in play instead.
4. 4Once the attack is covered, any other player may throw in more cards of a rank already in play, which the defender must also beat. Each player taps Done when they have nothing to add. A bout has at most six attacking cards (five in the first bout), and never more than the defender held when it began. Players may also pile on extra matching cards when the defender is picking up.
5. 5If the defender beats everything, those cards are out of play and the defender attacks next. If they pick up, they lose their turn to attack and the player on their left attacks.
6. 6After each bout everyone draws back up to six from the stock: the attacker first, the defender last. Once the stock is gone, players who run out of cards are safe.
7. 7The last player left holding cards is the durak, the fool, and loses. (To keep things moving, after 200 bouts whoever holds the most cards is the durak.)

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