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Poker guide
Play no-limit Texas Hold’em with friends.
Tabletop guide
How to play Durak
Learn to attack, defend, and save your trump cards.
Play throw-in Durak online with a 36-card deck and two to six players. Invite friends or fill empty seats with bots. The goal is to avoid being the last player holding cards once the stock is empty. This table uses a six-card attack cap and does not allow transfers.
01 / The essentials
Durak rules
- Cards run from six through ace. The bottom stock card sets trump and is drawn last. The player with the lowest trump attacks first.
- Attack with a card, then throw in ranks already on the table. Defend with a higher card in the same suit, or a trump against a non-trump. This table uses a six-card attack cap, also limited by the defender’s hand at the start of the bout.
- Pick up if you cannot or do not want to defend. Attackers may finish throwing in matching ranks first. Beaten cards leave play. Refill to six, beginning with the attacker and ending with the defender.
- Once the stock is empty, empty hands leave the game. The last player holding cards is the Durak. If everyone empties their hand together, the game is a draw. No transfer rule is used.
02 / Build the habit
Durak strategy
Compare suit before rank
A higher card of the same suit beats an attack. Any trump beats a non-trump, but only a higher trump beats a trump. Select the attack you want to cover before choosing your defending card.
Watch the ranks on the table
After the opening attack, a throw-in must match a rank already present among the attacking or defending cards. Defending with a new rank can give attackers another opportunity.
Plan for the empty stock
Early in the game, spent cards are replenished. Once the stock is empty, every card you get rid of brings you closer to finishing. Save useful defense cards when a cheap pickup is preferable.
03 / Worked example
Trump changes the comparison
With hearts as trump, an attacking queen of clubs can be beaten by a king or ace of clubs, or any heart. A king of spades cannot beat it. If a heart is played as the defense, its rank also becomes available for further matching throw-ins.
04 / Put it into practice
Learn with your table
- Start a private two-player table with a bot and check the highlighted legal cards.
- Practice choosing a specific attack and covering it, then try picking up instead.
- Invite more players to see how throw-ins and the order of refilling hands affect a bout.
A common mistake
Picking up does not immediately end the bout: attackers may still throw in matching ranks within the cap. A higher non-trump of another suit never beats the attacking card.
Can I transfer an attack to the next player?
No. This version is throw-in Durak. Defend the attacks or pick them up; transfer Durak is a different variant.
Guide updated . Rules describe the version on Logic Games.