Card Yahtzee: Playing Yahtzee With Cards
Quick answer
Card Yahtzee means one of two things: Hasbro’s Yahtzee Hands Down card game, or classic Yahtzee played with a deck of cards instead of dice. For the home version, keep the aces through 6s, and each card counts as one die: ace = 1, 2 = 2, up to 6 = 6.
Use two decks, because one deck has only four cards of each number and can never make a Yahtzee.
Hasbro’s card game is called Yahtzee Hands Down
Hasbro makes a card game in the Yahtzee family called Yahtzee Hands Down. According to Hasbro, it is for 2 to 6 players, ages 8 and up. The box holds 84 dice cards, 12 combo cards, 12 chance cards, a starter card, a reminder card and a combo sheet.
Players collect dice cards to make the familiar combinations, like three of a kind, a full house, straights and a Yahtzee. To “reroll,” you discard cards you don’t want and take your chance on new ones. Hands are matched against other players’ to win the points on combo cards. For the full rules, see the instructions on Hasbro’s site, linked under Sources.
With a regular deck, every card from ace to 6 is one die
No dice in the house? You can play the classic game with playing cards. This is a home method, so agree on it before you start:
- Take two decks and keep only the aces, 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 6s. That is 48 cards, 8 of each number.
- Shuffle and deal 5 cards face up. That is your first roll.
- Discard and draw, up to two times. Put aside the cards you want to keep, discard the rest, and draw the same number. That gives you the same 3 “rolls” as Yahtzee.
- Score one box on a normal Yahtzee score card or on our online score card.
- Shuffle everything back before the next player’s turn.
Read the cards as dice and score them as usual
The fourth hand has two 4 of hearts. That can only happen with two decks, and it is the reason you need them.
Cards change the odds a little, and one deck makes a Yahtzee impossible
Cards are not quite dice. Once a card is dealt, it can’t come up again until you shuffle. Here is the chance of five of a kind in a single deal of 5, worked out exactly:
| What you use | Chance of a Yahtzee at once |
|---|---|
| 5 dice | 1 in 1,296 (0.077%) |
| One deck, ace to 6 (24 cards) | Impossible (0%) |
| Two decks, ace to 6 (48 cards) | 1 in 5,096 (0.020%) |
With two decks a Yahtzee is still rarer than with dice, so card games tend to score a little lower. That is fine for a family game. If you want the real dice odds without dice, play Yacht Dice online, which rolls for you.
Yahtzee is a trademark of Hasbro. This site is not affiliated with Hasbro; our free game is called Yacht Dice.
If you like Yacht Dice, try
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Canasta’s big-family cousin: play your hand, then pick up your foot.
Phase 10 rules
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Rules, the list of all 10 phases and free score sheets.
Questions people ask
Is there a card version of Yahtzee?
Yes. Hasbro sells Yahtzee Hands Down, a card game for 2 to 6 players, ages 8 and up. Players collect dice cards to make the familiar combinations, such as a full house or a large straight, and discard to take a chance on new cards.
Can you play Yahtzee with a regular deck of cards?
Yes, as a home version. Keep the aces through 6s, let each card count as a die (ace = 1), deal 5 cards and allow two rounds of discarding and drawing. Score on a normal Yahtzee card.
Why do you need two decks to play Yahtzee with cards?
One deck has only 4 cards of each rank, so five of a kind, a Yahtzee, is impossible. Two decks give you 8 of each, which makes a Yahtzee possible again.
Do suits matter in card Yahtzee?
No. Only the number counts. Hearts and spades are just the same die face in a different color.