Bluffer

[30 Minutes]

This is a card game where the best “bluffer” wins! The goal is to be the first to get rid of all of your cards.

You'll need:

• 1 ½ of cards for four players • 2 decks for more than four players

What to do:

1. If possible, print out these directions. Read them through with your child before you begin.
2. With your child, gather everything you’ll need.

How to play:

1. Show your child how to shuffle the cards well.
2. Challenge your child to deal out all of the cards evenly to the players.
3. Instruct each player to arrange their cards in their hands by numbers.
4. Determine who will go first (youngest, left of dealer, etc.); play will move to the left.
5. The first player will lay down (face down) as many aces as possible, while announcing the amount. For example:. “I had three aces.” If they choose to be sneaky, players can bluff and pretend to put down the correct cards.
6. Players determine whether or not they believe player 1; they may suspect she’s bluffing.
7. If anyone suspects that the current player is bluffing, all they have to say is, “I call your bluff!”
8. The accused has simply to prove that she told the truth, by turning over her cards. If she was truthful, the accuser must take the cards that were suspect. If the accused did bluff, she must take all of the cards in the pile back, and play moves to the left.
9. The next player lays down 2’s, then comes 3’s, 4’s, etc.
10. As the bluffs are called, the player who loses the challenge must always take all of the cards that had been discarded.
11. The winner is the first player to have no cards at all!

Let's Talk: Ideas to Explore Together.

• Why do you think we call this game bluffer?
• What do you like about this game?
• What is the most challenging part of this game?