Card Games for 3 People and for Large Groups

Three is an awkward number for cards. Most famous games are built for two or for four in partners, so the third person ends up keeping score. Ten is awkward the other way: you run out of cards, or the turns get so long that half the table drifts off to the kitchen.

Both problems have the same fix: pick a game where everyone plays for themselves and turns are short. Tap your table size below to see which of our games fit, then read on for the classics that need nothing but a deck.

How many are at your table?

How many people are playing?34567 or 8

How much time?Half an hourThe whole evening

10 games fit 3 players.

• Skip-Bo · best with 3

  2–6 players · 30 min · Easy to learn

  How to play, how many cards to deal, and rules for 2 to 6 players.

  How to play Skip-Bo

• Yacht Dice

  1+ players · 20 min · Easy to learn

  Five dice, three rolls, thirteen boxes. The classic Yahtzee-style game.

  How to play Yahtzee

• Mexican Train

  2+ players · 45 min · Easy to learn

  Dominoes for the whole family. Build your train, play on the doubles.

  How to play Mexican Train

• Spite & Malice

  2–4 players · 25 min · Easy to learn

  Play off your pile before your opponent does. The game Skip-Bo grew from.

  How to play Spite & Malice

• Phase 10

  2–6 players · 60 min · Easy to learn

  Rules, the list of all 10 phases and free score sheets.

  How to play Phase 10

• Cribbage

  2–4 players · 20 min · Learn in a game or two

  Five cards each; everyone gives one to the crib and one card from the deck makes it four.

  How to play Cribbage

• Euchre

  2–4 players · 20 min · Learn in a game or two

  Best with four. Three can play a “cutthroat” version: whoever names trump plays alone against the other two.

  How to play Euchre

• Canasta

  2–6 players · 60 min · Learn in a game or two

  Everyone plays alone, 13 cards each.

  How to play Canasta

• Hand and Foot

  2–6 players · 90 min · Learn in a game or two

  Each player has their own hand and foot and plays alone.

  How to play Hand and Foot

• Pinochle

  2–4 players · 45 min · Rewards practice

  Three-handed: each player alone, and the bid winner takes a small widow.

  How to play Pinochle

Card games for 3 people

Cribbage, three-handed

Deal five cards each instead of six. Everyone discards one card to the crib, and one card from the top of the deck goes in too, so the crib still has four. Pegging and counting are exactly the same, first to 121 wins. Three-track boards exist, or print a board. The full rules, including the three-player deal, are in how to play cribbage.

Phase 10

Everyone works through the same ten phases at their own pace, so three plays exactly like four. The 10 phases, with rules.

Skip-Bo

Three players each get a 30-card stock pile; first to play off the last card wins. If you don’t own the special deck, Spite and Malice works on the same idea with ordinary cards. Skip-Bo rules.

Canasta or Pinochle, each player alone

Both are partnership games for four, but they have proper three-handed versions. In Canasta, three players get 13 cards each and play alone. In three-handed Pinochle, each player plays alone and the bid winner takes a small widow of extra cards. Canasta rules · Pinochle rules.

Rummy 500

A rummy game where melds score as you lay them down, and you may dig into the discard pile. With three or more players, deal seven cards each from one deck (pagat.com). Scores go up and down each hand; first to 500 wins. How it differs from gin: Gin Rummy vs Rummy 500.

Oh Hell

A trick-taking game for 3 to 7 where you bid exactly how many tricks you will take, then try to take precisely that many, no more, no less. With three players the first hand is 10 cards each, then one fewer each hand.

Card games for large groups (6 to 13 people)

Spoons

The best card game for a crowd. Put spoons in the middle of the table, one fewer than the number of players. Each player holds four cards; the dealer draws, and everyone passes one card to the left at the same time, trying to collect four of a kind. Whoever gets four of a kind quietly takes a spoon, and then everyone grabs. The player left without a spoon loses the hand. One 52-card deck covers up to 13 players, according to pagat.com. Use soft spoons and a sturdy table: it gets lively.

Oh Hell, with up to seven

With six players deal 8 cards in the first hand, with seven deal 7. Everyone plays every hand, and the scoring is simple: a point a trick and a 10-point bonus for making your bid exactly.

Rummy 500 with two decks

With five or more players, shuffle two decks together (108 cards with jokers). It stays fun up to about eight.

Hand and Foot for six

Six players can play as three teams of two, or everyone alone. Add a deck for each extra player. Hand and Foot rules.

No cards needed: dominoes and dice

• Mexican Train takes up to eight with a double-12 set: 10 dominoes each with seven or eight players. Everyone can play on the shared train, so nobody waits long. How to play Mexican Train.
• Yahtzee-style dice have no upper limit. Pass five dice around; each player fills their own column. Printable score sheets.

• Mexican Train: 2+ players, best with 4.
• Yacht Dice: 1+ players, best with 2.
• Hand and Foot: 2–6 players, best with 4.
• Phase 10: 2–6 players, best with 4.
• Skip-Bo: 2–6 players, best with 3.
• Canasta: 2–6 players, best with 4.
• Pinochle: 2–4 players, best with 4.
• Cribbage: 2–4 players, best with 2.

Quick guide by table size

Tips for a big table

• Pick the game before people sit down. With ten people, explaining two different games costs half an hour.
• Teach with one practice hand, face up. Nobody scores; everyone sees how a turn works.
• Use one score sheet everyone can see. It ends arguments about who is ahead.
• Mix generations on each team in partnership games, so newcomers learn by watching.

For a smaller crowd, see card games to play with family or our list of card games for two.