Shithead
The best card game... ever!

Shithead

• Introduction
• Players and Cards
• The Deal
• The Play
• The Endgame
• Special Cards and Plays
• Variations

Introduction

This game is also sometimes known by other names, such as Palace and Karma. The first version of the page was based on a contribution from Michael Labranche, and Jim Curtis, Ciaran Gultnieks, Sean Daly, William Putt and Jane Guarducci have added variations.

I am not sure of the origin of the game. It seems to be known in many parts of the world, and it is quite closely related to the Finnish game Paskahousu. Ciaran Gultnieks says that it is popular among "travelling types" of all nationalities, which perhaps explains how it has spread so widely.

Shithead is a beating game in which the players try to avoid being the last to get rid of all their cards. The loser typically suffers some forfeit such as having to make the tea, or at least has the job of shuffling and dealing the next hand.

Players and Cards

From two to six may play. The game is best is with at least three.

The game requires one regular 52-card deck (plus 2 Jokers, when six play). The cards rank highest to lowest 2, A, K, Q, J, 10, . . . , 2 (twos are high and low - see below).

Deal

The dealer is randomly selected for the first hand. The deal rotates clockwise after each hand.

1. The dealer deals a row of three face-down cards to each player, one at a time.
2. The dealer deals three cards face-up to each player, one at a time, covering the face-down cards.
3. The dealer deals a three card hand face-down to each player, one at a time.

Any cards remaining undealt are placed face down to form a draw pile. The players pick up their three card hands and look at them.

Before play each player may exchange any number of cards from the hand with her face-up cards. A player may never look at the face-down cards until they are played. (Players usually take lower ranking face-up cards into their hands.)

Play of the Cards

The first player is the person who receives the first 3 dealt face-up. If no 3 is face-up, the first person to call a three in a hand is the first player. If there is no 3 dealt to a hand, then the same procedure is followed for the first 4, and so on, if need be.

The first player begins a discard pile on the table, playing face-up from her hand any number of cards of the same rank, and taking cards from the draw pile to replenish her hand to three cards. Taking turns clockwise, each player must either play a card or a set of equal cards face up on top of the discard pile, or pick up the pile. The card or cards played must be of equal to or of higher rank than previous play. This continues, possibly several times around the table, until eventually someone is unable or unwilling to equal or beat the previous play. If after playing you have fewer than three cards in your hand, you must immediately replenish your hand by drawing from the stock so that you have three cards again. If there are too few cards in the stock, you draw as many as there are. When there are no cards left in the stock at all, play continues as before, but without replenishment.

If at your turn you cannot or do not wish to play a card, you must pick up all the cards in the discard pile and add them to your hand. If you pick up you do not play any cards on that turn, but your left hand neighbour, who is next in turn to play, starts a new discard pile by playing any card or set of equal cards she wishes. Play then continues as before.

As long as you begin your turn with cards in your hand, you are not allowed in that turn to play from the cards you have on the table; you can only play from the cards in your hand on that turn.

The Endgame

If you begin your turn with no cards in your hand (because you played them all last time and the draw pile was empty), you may now play from her face-up cards. When you are playing your face-up cards and cannot (or do not wish to) play a card of equal or higher rank than the card(s) played by previous player, you add one of your face-up cards to the pile before taking the whole pile into your hand. It is then the next player's turn to begin a new discard pile by playing any card or set of equal cards. Having picked up the pile, you will have to play from your hand on subsequent turns until you have once more got rid of all your hand cards and can begin playing from your table cards again.

When you have played all your face-up table cards, and have no cards in your hand, you plays your face-down cards blindly, flipping one card onto the pile when your turn comes. If the flipped card is playable, it is played, and it is the next player's turn to equal or beat it. If your flipped card is not playable (because it is lower than the previous play), you take the whole pile into your hand including the flipped card. It is then the next player's turn to start a new discard pile. Having picked up the pile, you will have to play from your hand on subsequent turns until you have once more got rid of all your hand cards and can flip your next table card.

When you completely get rid of all of your hand and table cards, you have successfully avoided being the loser and can drop out of the game. When you flip your last table card, you can only drop out at that point if it beats the previous play (or if you are flipping it to an empty discard pile). If you flip your last card and it is not playable, you must pick it up along with the pile. As people drop out of the game, the remaining players continue playing. The last player left holding cards is the loser (also known as the shithead). This player must deal the next hand, and must also make tea (or perform any other duty the group require for general comfort and wellbeing).

Special Cards and Plays

Twos may always be played on any card, and any card may be played on a two.

When a ten is played to the pile, the discard pile is removed from play and the same player who played the ten takes another turn, playing any card or set of equal cards to start a new discard pile.

If someone completes a set of four cards of the same rank on top of the discard pile (either by playing all four cards at once or by equalling the previous play), the whole pile is removed from play, and the same player who completed the four of a kind takes another turn, playing any card or set of equal cards to start a new discard pile.

When Jokers are used (and they must be for the six-player game), they may be played at any time, singly or in a group, and serve only to reverse the direction of play (from clockwise to counter-clockwise or vice versa). Therefore, if the next player after you plays a joker, the turn comes back to you and you must now beat your own previous play, or take the pile. Jokers are not wild and cannot be played in combination with other cards.

Variations

A different method of dealing is commonly used: first deal a row of three cards face down to each player; then deal a hand of six cards face down to each player. The players look at their hands and select any three of their six cards to place face up on top of their three face down cards. This has the same result as the method of dealing given in the main description above, except that in this version the players will not have seen any of the cards which end up in their opponents' three card hands.

The game is occasionally played to find a winner rather than a loser. In that case, the winner is the first player who manages to get rid of all their hand and table cards.

Some people play that a ten can be played at any time, clearing the discard pile. (In the main description a ten cannot be played on a jack, queen, king or ace). Ciaran Gultnieks gives the following extra rules for special cards:

• When a seven is played, the next play must be lower than or equal to seven, or an eight (see below), or a ten (tens can be played at any time).
• When an eight is played, the direction of play is reversed (so its fuction is similar to that of the joker in the main description). In this variation an eight can be played on any card. Eights are transparent - when playing on an eight, you must beat the first card under it that is not an eight. If an eight is played to the empty table, it reverses the direction of play as usual, and any card can beat it. If an eight is played on a seven, it will be the person who played the seven who has play a lower or equal card (or another eight or a ten).

Sean Daly, describes a version of the game Karma, from Radford, Virginia, USA. The differences are as follows:

• When placing cards face up on top of your three face down cards at the start of the game, if you have two or more cards of the same rank, you can put them face up on top of the same card. You still place face up cards on each of your three face down cards, so if you have placed two or more equal cards on top of the same card, you will have fewer than three cards in your hand. You now replenish your hand to three cards by drawing from the stock. If you draw further cards equal in rank to your face up cards, you can put these face up too if you wish, on top of the matching cards, and replenish again to three cards; this process can be repeated as long as you continue putting out matching cards. At the end of the process you should have three cards in your hand. In the endgame, sets of equal face up cards in the same pile are played together as a group.
  Example: Your six visible cards are A, K, K, J, J, 9. You place the ace one of your face down cards, the two kings on another and the two jacks on the third. You now just have one card in hand (the nine) and must draw two cards from the stock - say a jack and a six. You put the jack on your jacks and draw again, getting another jack. You put this on your jacks too and draw again, getting a six. At this point you must stop. Your hand is 9, 6, 6. Your four jacks will be useful for clearing the table in the endgame.
• When a player picks up instead of beating the previous play, the next play is made by the previous player - i.e. the person who played the last card before the pickup - not by the next player in rotation.

William J Putt describes a version (locally known as Smeghead) with the following differences:

1. They use several decks of cards shuffled together.
2. At the start each player has four cards face down, four face up and a hand of four (rather than three, three and three).
3. The first person to play a 10 or complete a four of a kind, clearing away the pile, is known as the "flush" person, and has to clear away the pile each time this happens in future.
4. As players run out of cards they continue playing until only one player has cards left. This player is known as the "smeg head".

Jane Guarducci has contributed the following variation(s):

1. A seven can be played on anything and is "glass", meaning that the next player must play a card which could legally have been played on the card before the seven. For example, if a 7 is played on an Ace, the next player must beat an Ace. If a 7 is played to the empty table (nothing under it) it has the value of 7.
2. When an eight is played the next card must be lower than 8, or another 8, or a joker.
3. A ten can be played on anything except an eight and causes the pile to be cleared as usual. The player of the 10 plays again to the empty table.
4. A joker can be played on anything and next player misses a turn. If there are just two players in the game this means that the player of the joker immediately plays another card of any value. In games of more than two players the joker is treated in one of three ways: as glass (like a 7) or with a value of 7, or with a value of 2. To avoid arguments decide before starting which of these variations is being played.
5. At your turn you can play an ascending sequence of consecutive cards in a single suit, provided that the first card beats the previous play. All the subsequent plays must also be legal, so the sequence would be terminated by an eight, since after an eight the next card is required to be lower or equal. If the sequence reached 10 the pile would be thrown away and the same player would start a new pile with any play.
6. An optional rule for games with more than two players: when the pile is picked up, play reverts to the previous player, rather than passing on to the next player.

Super Hyper/Twisted Knot is an elaborate variation in which nearly all the cards have special effects. It was created by Galbraith/Lewis/Constance/Mabely (1993); the description is by Paul JaYmes (1997).

Reverse Shithead is a variation contributed by Andrew Duthie, which includes a reverse phase where beating the previous player's card is compulsory but disadvantageous.