Cheat Card Game: Rules, Bluffing Odds and When to Call
Cheat is a card game about getting rid of all your cards by lying with a straight face. It is also known as I Doubt It, and in some places by a ruder name. It works for three to six players with one standard deck, and the maths of card hands tells you a lot about when to bluff and when to call.
Rules
- Deal the whole deck face down as evenly as possible. Choose who starts with a coin flip or the Random Name Picker.
- The first player puts one or more cards face down in a central pile and says what they are, starting with aces: for example “two aces”.
- The next player must play the next rank, twos, then threes, and so on up to kings, then back to aces. They put down one or more cards and say how many, for example “three twos”.
- You may lie: the cards you put down do not have to be what you say.
- After any play, any player may shout “Cheat!”. The played cards are turned over. If the player lied, they pick up the whole pile. If they told the truth, the player who called picks it up.
- The first player to get rid of all their cards, and survive any call on their last play, wins.
How Often Will You Have to Bluff?
Each rank has 4 cards in the deck. The chance that your hand holds at least one card of the rank you must play depends on how many cards you hold. Worked out from the number of possible hands:
| Players | Cards | Hold it |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 17 or 18 | 81% |
| 4 | 13 | 70% |
| 5 | 10 or 11 | about 60% |
| 6 | 8 or 9 | about 52% |
So with four players, roughly three turns in ten you will not have the right card and must either bluff or play fewer cards than you claim. As your hand shrinks, that chance rises, which is why the end of the game is full of lies.
When to Call Cheat
- Count your own cards: if a player claims three queens and you hold two queens, that adds up to five, and there are only four. It must be a lie.
- Watch big claims: claiming three or four of a rank is far less likely to be true than claiming one.
- Watch the last cards: a player going out with their final card has every reason to lie.
- Remember the pile: if you picked up a pile after a call, you know where those cards went.
- Do not call too often: a wrong call hands you the whole pile, which can undo several good turns.
How to Bluff Well
- Mix true plays with false ones so other players cannot read a pattern.
- Slip one wrong card in among true ones: “three fives” with two real fives is hard to catch.
- Bluff early, while the pile is small and getting caught costs little.
- Keep the same voice and speed whether you are telling the truth or not.
- Save a true card for your last play if you can; that is when you are most likely to be called.
Variations
- Free choice: you may play the same rank, one above or one below the last rank.
- Two decks: for seven or more players, shuffle two decks together; then up to eight of a rank are possible.
- Gentle version: for young children, a wrong call means picking up only the last play, not the whole pile.
If you enjoy bluffing, try Liar’s Dice, or for fast, noisy card games, Spoons and Snap.
FAQ
How do you play Cheat?
Deal out the whole deck. Players take turns putting cards face down and saying they are the next rank in order. Anyone can call Cheat; a liar picks up the pile, and a wrong caller picks it up instead. First to empty their hand wins.
Is Cheat the same as I Doubt It?
Yes, they are two names for the same card game, which also has a ruder name in some countries.
How many players can play Cheat?
Three to six with one deck. With more players, shuffle two decks together.
When should you call Cheat?
Call when the claim is impossible given your own cards, when a player claims three or four of a rank, or when someone is playing their last cards.
How often do you have to lie in Cheat?
With four players and 13 cards each, there is about a 30% chance at the start that you hold no card of the rank you must play, and that chance grows as your hand shrinks.