Crazy Eights strategy: eights, suits and tempo

Crazy Eights is a race to empty your hand. This guide uses the standard five-card-deal rules on our Crazy Eights rules page. These are practical tactics, not a solved game.

An eight is a guaranteed exit

An eight can be played on any card, so it is always a legal move. That makes it the safest last card. If you can plan to finish on an eight, you can never be stuck with a card you cannot play at the end.

Eights are also expensive. If an opponent goes out first, each eight you hold costs 50 points. Treat them as insurance you should use before a rival is close to finishing.

Do not waste an eight early

You are allowed to play an eight whenever it is your turn, even with other legal cards. Use ordinary cards first when you have a good play. Spend the eight when you have no other legal play, when you need to change to a suit you hold a lot of, or when an opponent is about to go out.

Call the suit you hold most

When you play an eight, name the suit where you have the most cards. That gives you playable follow-ups and makes your next turns easier. Count your hand before you choose: the suit of the eight you played does not matter.

Read what opponents draw

Players must draw until they have a legal play. A player who draws several cards had no legal play, so no matching suit, no matching rank and no eight, at the start of that turn.

Say the top card is 6♥ and an opponent draws three cards, then plays 9♥. Before that turn they held no hearts, sixes or eights, and neither did the two cards they drew first. Hearts is a suit they are short in, so keeping play in hearts, or calling hearts with an eight, makes them more likely to draw again. This is a clue, not a certainty, because a player may also draw voluntarily while holding a legal card.

Worked decision

The top card is 6♥. You hold K♥, 8♠, 9♣, 4♣ and 2♣.

Only two plays are legal: K♥ (it matches the suit) and 8♠ (an eight always plays). You want to call clubs, where you hold three cards.

Play the K♥ now. Next turn you can still play the 8♠ and call clubs, because an eight is legal on anything. If you played the eight first, the K♥ might not be legal next turn once the suit changes, and you would be stuck with it. The general rule: play the cards that are legal only now, and keep the always-legal eight for later, unless a rival is close to going out.

Think about the stock

Voluntary drawing is allowed, but it adds cards to your hand. Use it sparingly, for example to look for an eight when you have no good play. When the stock is empty you cannot draw and unable players simply pass.

For counting the result, see Crazy Eights scoring. For rules disputes, see common Crazy Eights mistakes.