Cheat

Players and equipment

Two to ten players and a standard 52-card deck, dealt out entirely. Known as Cheat in Britain, as Bullshit or B.S. in America and as I Doubt It in older and politer books; the rules are the same under every name and so is the grinning. There are no teams, no trumps and no score to keep during a game. The only thing that moves is the pile in the middle, and the game is about whose hand it ends up in.

The deal

The whole deck, dealt one at a time round the table until it runs out. Uneven hands do not matter; nobody is counting them. Players sort their cards by rank, which is the one sort that matters here. The deal passes to the left for the next game.

Play

The player to the dealer's left goes first. They lay one or more cards face down to start the pile, announcing what they are: "two aces". The cards need not be what they say they are. That is the entire game.

Announced ranks go strictly in sequence: the first player claims aces, the next twos, the next threes, and so on up through the kings and back round to aces. Each player in turn must add at least one card face down and claim the rank whose turn it is, whether they hold any of it or not. A player who holds none has no honest play, so they lie. In some schools a player may pass instead, and the rank moves on without them. Agree on that before you start: with passing allowed you are never forced to lie.

Any player may call — "cheat", or the game's other name — before the next player has made their play. The cards just played are turned face up. If any of them is not the rank claimed, the liar picks up the whole pile. If every card is what was claimed, the caller picks up the whole pile instead. Either way the pile is gone, and the player after the one challenged starts a new pile with the next rank. If several people call together, the first to speak is the caller. If nobody calls, the play stands, whatever was in it.

Scoring

There is no score inside a game. There is the pile, and whose hand it ends up in.

A lie called

Pile to the liar

The liar takes the pile

An honest play called

Pile to the caller

The caller takes it instead

Nobody calls

The play stands, whatever it was

A game is over when somebody empties their hand, so what is worth writing down is who won each game, and a table that plays several in a sitting keeps a tally of wins. On SquareScores that is the match table: every game is one row, and one tap on the winner's name records it. If the table plays on for the minor places, the host can choose the ranked table when the game is launched instead, and the top three places score three, two and one.

A worked game

Four players: Alice, Ben, Cara and Dev. They play three games and record each as it finishes.

Game 1

Alice

Alice plays her last two cards as "two nines", is called by everyone, and they are nines

Game 2

Ben

Ben goes out after Cara picks up a forty-card pile

Game 3

Alice

Alice again, unchallenged on her last card

Three rows on the match table, a tap on each winner, and the standing reads Alice 2, Ben 1, Cara 0, Dev 0. Nothing about the size of the piles or how often anyone was caught goes into the record: a game is a game, however it was won.

Ending

The first player to empty their hand wins — but a hand is only empty once the final play has survived the call, and the final play is always called, because a player laying down their last cards has nothing to lose by lying and everybody knows it. A player caught on what would have been their last play picks up the pile and carries on. Play on for the minor places if the table wants an order, or shuffle up and deal again.

When to lie

Lie when you have to and when it is cheap. Early in a game the pile is small, so a caught lie costs little: that is the time to shed the cards you will never play honestly, such as a lone card of a rank that will not come round for twelve turns. Later, when the pile is fat, a wrong call costs the caller dearly, so calls get rarer and a confident lie usually passes. A table that has just caught you will call your next three turns whatever you do, so play honestly for a while.

When to call

Call when the arithmetic says the claim cannot be true, and when a claim is convenient to a degree that strains belief. A player who claims four cards every turn, or always happens to hold the rank that has just come round, is lying some of the time, and the more cards they claim the more of them have to be right. A wrong call costs the whole pile, so call freely while it is small and late only when you are sure.

Counting the cards of a rank

There are four cards of every rank. If you hold two kings and somebody claims three, they are lying and you know it. If you hold one and they claim three, it may be true, but only if nobody else holds a king. Keep a rough count of what has been shown and of what went into other players' hands with a pile: a player who took a pile with three sevens in it and now claims four sevens has given themselves away.

What to do with the pile you pick up

A big pile is not the disaster it looks. You now hold most of the deck, which means you know most of the deck, and every claim anybody makes can be checked against your hand. Sort the pile as you take it in and note which ranks you hold all four of: nobody else can play that rank honestly, and any claim of it is a lie.

The endgame

Coming down to your last few cards, plan the order. Work out which ranks fall to you on your next two or three turns and whether you hold them; if you do not, lie early, while a caught lie still costs you little. The last play is always challenged, so save an honest one for it: keep a card of the rank that will fall to you and go out on the truth.

Cheat, Bullshit and I Doubt It

The three names are one game. Cheat is the British name, Bullshit or B.S. the American, and I Doubt It the polite one, which is what the older rule books call it and what the challenger says in it.

Up or down

Instead of always rising, the next claim may be the rank above or the rank below the one just claimed, at the player's choice, and at many British tables the same rank again is allowed too. It gives every player more honest options and makes lying a matter of choice rather than necessity.

Four of a kind out of the game

A player holding all four cards of a rank may lay them face up and take them out of the game, and the pile does not move. It makes picking up a big pile a little less punishing.

Jokers as wild cards

Two jokers are shuffled in and a joker counts as any rank, so a play that includes one is honest whatever is claimed. A caller who turns up a joker takes the pile. With jokers in play, counting a rank is never certain.

Two decks

With seven or more players, or when the table wants longer games, two decks are shuffled together and dealt out. There are then eight cards of every rank, claims of five or six at a time become possible and hard to check, and the piles grow to a size that makes any call a real gamble.

How do you play Cheat with cards?

Deal the whole deck out. The first player lays one or more cards face down and claims a rank, starting with aces; each following player adds cards face down and claims the next rank up. The cards need not be what is claimed. Anybody who thinks a player is lying calls "cheat" and the cards are turned over: a lie sends the pile to the liar, an honest play sends it to the caller. The first player to get rid of every card wins.

Is Cheat the same game as Bullshit?

Yes. Cheat is the British name and Bullshit, or B.S., the American; I Doubt It is the older and politer name for the same game. Tables differ in small rules, such as whether passing is allowed, but those differences cut across the names rather than following them.

What happens if you call cheat and you are wrong?

You pick up the whole pile and add it to your hand. That is the risk that stops a table calling every play: a wrong call on a small pile costs a few cards, and a wrong call on a pile of forty puts you far behind everyone.

Do you have to play a card on your turn in Cheat?

In the standard game, yes: every player must add at least one card and claim the rank whose turn it is, which is why a player holding none of that rank has to lie. Many tables allow a pass instead. Agree before the deal, because a game with passing is far more honest and slower.

Can you cheat on your last card?

You can, and you will be called for it. A player laying down their last cards has every reason to lie, so the whole table calls as a matter of course, and a lie is always found. The only way to go out is to make your final play honestly, so save a card you can play truthfully for the turn that will end the game.

How many people can play Cheat?

Anything from two to ten with one deck, and more with two decks shuffled together. Two-handed Cheat is thin, since each player knows half the deck; four to eight is where the lying works best.