How to Play I Doubt It

Objective

Empty your hand before anyone else. Every turn you must claim a set rank, whether or not you hold it. The skill is in lying when you have to, telling the truth when you can, and spotting when someone else is bluffing.

Setup

Shuffle and deal out the whole deck, one card at a time. It does not matter if some players get one more card than others. Everyone picks up and sorts their hand. Leave space in the middle for a face-down pile.

With five or more players, many tables shuffle two decks together so everyone starts with a decent hand.

How to play

The player on the dealer’s left starts by putting one to four cards face down in the middle and announcing them as aces: “two aces,” for example. The next player must play twos, the next threes, and so on through the ranks. After kings, the count starts again at aces.

You must play at least one card on your turn, and you must announce the rank that is due. The cards you put down do not have to be that rank. The number you announce does have to match the number of cards you put down, since everyone can see it.

Before the next player plays, anyone at the table may say “I doubt it.” The cards just played are turned face up. If any of them is not the announced rank, the player who lied picks up the whole pile. If they are all correct, the doubter picks up the whole pile. Then play carries on with the next player and the next rank in order.

1. 1Play one to four cards face down
2. 2Announce them as the rank that is due
3. 3Anyone may say “I doubt it” before the next turn
4. 4Liar or wrong doubter takes the whole pile
5. 5Move on to the next player and the next rank

Winning

There are no points. When you play your last card, the others have their chance to doubt it. If nobody doubts, or someone doubts and your claim was true, you win the game. If you lied on that last play and someone catches it, you pick up the pile and play goes on.

For a longer evening, keep playing after the first player goes out to decide second and third place, or play several games and count wins.

Variations

Two decks: with two decks shuffled together, you may put down one to eight cards on a turn, since there are eight of each rank.

Up, down or same: a popular Cheat variant lets each player claim the same rank as the last play, one rank higher or one rank lower, instead of following a strict sequence. It gives honest players more room and makes bluffs harder to read.

Cheat: in Britain the same game is called Cheat, and you call “Cheat!” instead of “I doubt it.” The rules are the same apart from small house twists, so players from either side of the Atlantic can sit down together.

Tips from the table

Track the ranks coming up. If you count around the table, you can see which rank you will be asked for on your next turn and hold those cards back for it.

Mix a true card in with your bluffs. Playing three cards with one real one among them is still a lie, but a cautious table may let it go.

Doubt when the numbers do not add up. If you hold three sevens and someone claims two sevens, you know they are lying.

Late in the game, everyone watches the player with the fewest cards. That is the moment to be honest if you can.

Frequently asked