| Alternative name(s) | I Doubt It/Don't Think So, Bull, Bullshit Cheat, Liar, BS, Bluff, Bullcrap, Bullfrog, Bologna, No Way, Bacon Sandwich |
|---|---|
| Type | Shedding-type |
| Players | 3-8 |
| Skill(s) required | lying, card skills |
| Age range | any |
| Cards | depends on number of players |
| Deck | Anglo-American |
| Play | Clockwise |
| Related games | |
| Valepaska, Verish' Ne Verish' (Russian Bullshit), Poker Bull | |
Cheat (also known as Bullshit and I doubt it[1]) is a card game where the players aim to get rid of all of their cards.[2][3] Normally played with 3 or more players it is often classed as a party game[2]. It is a game of deception and lying. A challenge is made by players calling-out (normally the name of the game) but whoever is wrong has to pick up all the cards in the middle.
As with many card games, cheat has an oral tradition and so people are taught the game under different names, called I doubt it by Hoyle[4] and sometimes known as Bullshit in the USA[5]. with other names including: Bluff, BS, Bologna, Bible Study, Challenge, No Way, Liar, Bus Stop, I don't think so, Bull, Boy Scout, Cooner, Sheep, and Shredder often used in situations where yelling 'bullshit!' may not be desirable.
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Normally, a standard pack of 52 playing cards is used, but the game can be played with multiple packs of cards and often includes the jokers as wild cards. A dealer is chosen and the cards are shuffled and dealt (normally using a Western deal) until all the cards are dealt. The first player is either the first player dealt to or sometimes in variants the first person with a specified card and play proceeds in the order of the deal.
What constitutes a valid play varies between version, but always restricts the cards that can be played without making a false claim depending upon the last card played.
In cheat the valid plays can be any number of cards which are either the same rank as the last card played or one rank above or below the played card. With Ace counting either high or low.
For example, for a single pack without jokers, if the last player had claimed 3 Queens, the next player can either call cheat or chose to claim to play 1-4 Kings, 1-4 Jacks or 1 Queen. Although larger numbers could be placed, there would be little point as a player could simply call cheat against you.[1]
Some versions allow a different number of cards to be played to the number of cards claimed.
Despite the name of the game, a common strategy is to play honestly. Players often do this simply because they are unused to cheating, consider themselves bad liars, or have a subconscious moral objection to cheating. Others may use honest playing as part of an intentional strategy of forcing those who wrongly call cheat to pick up. Others play mostly honestly but cheat occasionally without giving much thought to the method of cheat.
Since most variants of the game require a player to put down cards close to those of the previous player, a more advanced player may put down those cards in his hand which are far from the rank being played (while claiming they are legal cards) early in the round so that he has legitimate cards to play later, when being caught cheating has a greater penalty. A particularly effective strategy is to claim the cards are the rank of cards of which the player really does have several of in his hand. For example, if a player has 3 tens, he may put down 3 lower ranked cards and claim he is putting down 3 tens. This is unlikely to be called, as only one player will have a ten. The cheating player may then use his actual 3 tens later on. Although the other players will realise that one of those turns was a cheat, they may be unsure which. The cheating player may even do this multiple times. This is highly effective, since every time the cheating player performs this move, other players find it increasingly incredulous that he would be claiming 3 tens without actually playing them.
In general, it is advantageous to direct the play towards those cards that the player has. For example, if play is currently on fours, a player with many high cards will find it useful to play a five (or to claim a five, even if he does not actually play it) to bring play closer to those cards in his hand.
It is advisable to be cautious about ever calling cheat. If correct, the advantage is shared between all players except the cheating player (although in some variants there is also the relatively small advantage of being allowed to decide the starting card); if incorrect, only the person who calls suffers. It is advisable therefore to require a relatively high degree of certainty before calling cheat. However, if a player is close to finishing, it is useful to encourage other players to call cheat, since if he is cheating, his victory will be slowed or prevented.
Advanced players will deliberately cast doubt on the honesty of the turns preceding his, in order to make himself look like an honest player.
The first player to get rid of all cards (and not lose a challenge on the final play) is the winner. The game may be continued to determine second place, third place, etc., and in some versions the game continues until there is a loser (the last player still holding cards) but the game can also end with only a winner (the first player to get rid of all his/her cards) and playing stops. If a player gets rid of his/her cards and there is no challenge, play continues with playing making claims and placing cards on top of the pile. If there is a challenge and the player who gets rid of all of his/her cards is correct, the challenger picks up all the cards and the player to the winners left starts a new round (if that player was the challenger, then it is the player to his or her left).
Optionally, jokers may be used as one of the following:
Similar to Russian cheat, it is a version used by at least some in Canada and known in Spain. The rules are rather strict and, while a variation, is not open to much variation. It is also known in English as Fourshit (single deck) and Eightshit (double deck), the game involves a few important changes to the general rules mentioned above. Usually two decks are used[5] instead of one so that there are 8 of every card as well as four jokers (though Jokers are optional), though one deck may be used if desired. Not all ranks are used, the players can arbitrarily chose which ranks to use in the deck and if using two decks, should use one card for each player plus two or three more. Meaning four players may choose to use 6,8,10,J,Q,K,A or may just as easily choose 2,4,5,6,7,9,J,K, or any other cards. It's a useful way to make use of decks with missing cards as you can remove those ranks. The four jokers are considered wild (they may represent any card in the game).
All cards are dealt, some players may get more cards than others.
The first player can be chosen by any means.[6] Spanish variation calls for a bidding war to see who has the most of the highest card. The winner of the challenge is the first player. In Canada, a version is the first player to be dealt a Jack face up, and then the cards are re dealt face down.
The first player will make a "claim" of any rank of cards and any amount he/she chooses. In this version each player in turn must play as many cards as he/she chooses of the same rank.[5] (the rank played never goes up, down nor changes in any way). If the first player plays kings, all subsequent players must also play kings for that round (it is non incremental). Jokers represent the card of the rank being played in each round (if the first player played Kings, then a Joker represents a King, meaning there are 12 possible Kings to be played in that round. A player may place whatever they like face down on the table (the first player may choose Jacks, but he/she is not obliged to play any jacks), though it is important that if a challenge is made, the exact cards played can be identified. A player may also play more cards than they claim to play though hiding cards under the table or up the sleeve is not allowed. This is also penalised if the claim is challenged.
At any moment any player can challenge the last player to play cards on the table by saying "bullshit" and turning the cards around. If the cards played were correctly called, the challenger picks up all cards on the table, if the challenger was correct and the cards don't match the claim, the player who made the claim has to pick up all the cards. Whoever won the challenge (did not pick up cards) begins a new round by making any claim of his/her choice (any amount of any card rank).
If at any point a player picks up cards and has all 8 natural cards of a certain rank, he declares this out loud when realised (players should always be checking for this) and removes them from the game (placed somehow to the side). If it is realised that a player had had all 8 cards and leads a round with this card, he/she automatically loses the game and is severely penalised (i.e. will have to do something embarrassing, drink lots of alcohol or say something ridiculous to a common friend the next day).
With jokers included, a player may claim to have up to 11 of one card (seven natural ones and four jokers).[7]
Once a player has played all his/her cards he/she is out of that particular hand. Play continues until there are only two players (at which point some cards have probably been removed from the game). The players continue playing until there is a loser.
The object of the game is not so much to win, but not be the loser. The loser is usually penalised by the winners either in having the dishonour of losing, having to do something undesirable or having to drink a quantity of alcohol or something disgusting (mustard in milk or equally revolting).
In Egyptian bluff, like Russian bullshit the entire deck is evenly dealt to all players, the player with the ace of hearts goes first, the following player can can play a card one rank above, below or the rank as the first player. Where Egyptian bullshit differs is when a player challenges a players call. If the challenger calls correct the player who put down the cards and got caught cheating picks up all the cards. The game is restarted by the challenger, who is rewarded for correctly noticing that the previous player was cheating. However if the challenger was incorrect the challenger subsequently picks up all the cards in the pile and the player who originally played down the cards restarts the game as a reward for deceiving the challenger.
In Hawaiian bluff, like Russian bullshit, the entire deck is evenly dealt to all players and it does not matter who plays first. However, the next player only has options 1, 2, and 4. A player can challenge/BS (i.e., option 2) another player at any time, even if it is not their turn. Similar to Russian bullshit, bluffing can escalate to the point where there are 16 supposed "queens" on the table.
The Indian variant is called Bluff and is exactly the same, except that players do not have the "I Believe" option. Also players say "Bluff" instead of "I doubt it" and once a player has called "pass" they cannot play until the next round. 420
Another version of cheat, where rules follow as in regular cheat save that royal cards (Jack, Queen and King) are not valid plays. The player is required to "cheat" out their royal cards and so increasing the tactical challenge of the game. The order of cards is altered so that 10 loops back to Ace to close the gap left by the royals.
The variant Russian Bluff is also known as Chinese Bluff or, ambiguously, as Cheat.
The dealer deals out all the cards to all players, as evenly as possible. The first player to go chooses any rank to start with, and places any of the number of cards of that rank face-down. For example, the player may play "three Kings" or "five fours" or "eight Jacks". Bluffing is, of course, permitted.[8]
The next player chooses from these options:
Even if Bullshit, bluff or BS or I Doubt is NOT yelled, just by simply turning over an opponent's hand signifies that they think their opponents last card play was Bluff(Bullshit) or the incorrect card to be played
The bluffing encouraged by this game becomes apparent when, for example, there are 16 supposed "queens" on the table from two decks of cards. Some rounds of play will escalate to the point that there are ludicrous numbers of cards in play, but nobody wants to challenge, because of the risk of picking up all the cards if the previous player was telling the truth.
Another variation is where if the player is caught cheating, their hand can be hit hard by the other players as they go to retrieve their card across the table. After one player goes out, the game may continue to determine second place, third, etc.
There exist many variations of the game, including one where there are no turns and anybody may play or call another player's bluff at any time.