How Many Cards Do You Deal for Skip-Bo?
Quick answer
How many cards do you deal for Skip-Bo? With 2, 3 or 4 players, deal each player a stock pile of 30 cards. With 5 or 6 players, deal 20 each. Nobody gets a hand at the deal: you draw 5 cards when your first turn starts.
For a quicker game, deal 10 cards to each stock pile. The rest of the 162-card deck is the draw pile.
The deal depends only on how many people play
The dealer shuffles and deals each player a face-down pile, one card at a time. This is your stock pile. Everyone turns their top card face up and leaves it on the pile. The rest of the deck goes face down in the middle as the draw pile.
| Players | Stock pile each | Draw pile left | Short game: each / left |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 players | 30 | 102 | 10 / 142 |
| 3 players | 30 | 72 | 10 / 132 |
| 4 players | 30 | 42 | 10 / 122 |
| 5 players | 20 | 62 | 10 / 112 |
| 6 players | 20 | 42 | 10 / 102 |
Why the drop at 5 players? Five players at 30 cards would need 150 cards for the stock piles alone. That would leave only 12 cards to draw from. At 20 cards each, the draw pile keeps 62 cards.
Work it out for your table
Pick how many people are playing. The calculator shows the stock pile size, how many cards you deal in all, and how many are left to draw.
Skip-Bo deal calculator
| Stock pile for each player | 30 |
|---|---|
| Cards dealt in all | 120 |
| Draw pile after the deal | 42 |
| Draw pile after everyone’s first 5-card draw | 22 |
4 players: deal 30 cards to each stock pile, 120 in all. That leaves 42 of the 162 cards in the draw pile, and 22 once everyone has drawn their first 5.
The last line assumes nobody plays all 5 cards from their hand on their first turn. If someone does, they draw 5 more right away, and the draw pile shrinks faster.
A Skip-Bo deck has 162 cards
- 144 number cards: 12 each of the numbers 1 to 12.
- 18 wild Skip-Bo cards. A wild card can be played as any number.
Some boxes also have a few blank cards. They are spares. Take them out before you shuffle.
You draw your hand on your first turn, not at the deal
The deal is only the stock piles. When your turn begins, draw from the draw pile until you hold 5 cards. On later turns, draw back up to 5. If you play all 5 cards in one turn, draw 5 more and keep playing.
Around the table you will have at most 4 shared building piles, and each player may start up to 4 discard piles. None of these are dealt. They grow during play.
With regular cards, deal 20 each
No Skip-Bo box? Play Spite & Malice, the older game Skip-Bo grew from. It uses two ordinary decks, 104 cards in all, with the 8 kings as wild cards. Each player gets a 20-card pile to empty (it is called the pay-off pile) and 5 cards in hand. With two players that leaves 54 cards to draw from.
Home games vary here: some families deal more or fewer cards to make the game longer or shorter. Agree before you start.
Skip-Bo is a registered trademark of Mattel, Inc. This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by Mattel.
If you like Skip-Bo, try
Spite & Malice
2–4 players · 25 min · Easy to learn
Play off your pile before your opponent does. The game Skip-Bo grew from.
Hand and Foot
2–6 players · 90 min · Learn in a game or two
Canasta’s big-family cousin: play your hand, then pick up your foot.
Phase 10 rules
2–6 players · 60 min · Easy to learn
Rules, the list of all 10 phases and free score sheets.
Questions people ask
How many cards do you deal for Skip-Bo with 2 players?
30 cards each, face down, as a stock pile. That is 60 cards in all, so 102 cards are left for the draw pile.
How many cards does each player get with 5 or 6 players?
20 cards each. With 6 players that is 120 cards dealt, leaving 42 in the draw pile.
Do you deal a hand in Skip-Bo?
No. The deal is only the stock piles. Each player draws 5 cards from the draw pile at the start of their own first turn.
How many cards are in a Skip-Bo deck?
162 cards: 144 number cards (12 each of 1 to 12) and 18 wild Skip-Bo cards. Take out any blank cards before you play.
How do you make Skip-Bo shorter?
Deal 10 cards to each stock pile instead of the full amount. Mattel’s rules call this the short game. Everything else stays the same.
What happens when the draw pile runs out?
Shuffle the finished building piles (the ones that reached 12 and were set aside) and use them as the new draw pile.