Bullshit (game)

Infobox CardGame
title =Bullshit
subtitle =
image_link =
image_caption =
alt_names = I Doubt It, Bull, BS, Cheat
type = Shedding-type
players = 3-8
ages =
num_cards = depends on number of players
deck = Anglo-American
play = Clockwise
related = Valepaska, Verish' Ne Verish' (Russian Bullshit), Poker Bull
playing_time =
random_chance =
skills = bluffing
footnotes =

for|the TV show|Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

Bullshit is a shedding-type card game. The object is for the player to discard all the cards from their hand. This is done by placing one or more cards, ostensibly of a stated value, on the discard pile, while others are allowed to challenge the correctness of the player's statement about the cards being played. The game has many nicknames, the most common including BS, Cheat, and I Doubt It.

Dealing

The dealer deals each player an equal number of cards. If there are remainders or too few cards to finish a full revolution of players, those cards are placed face-down to start the discard pile. One or more Jokers can be used for added strategy or to deal all cards evenly; adding both Jokers brings the total to 54, evenly divisible among 3 players, while an extra Joker from a similar deck makes the deck evenly divisible by 5.

The Stack

The center of the table will hold a pile of face-down cards played during the game. Play starts differently according to different rules. Some people start with the player to the dealer's left, while others start with whoever has the two of clubs, or the ace of clubs or spades, while yet others start with a joker (if used) or a special maker's card on some proprietary decks.

Game play

On each turn, the player must play the cards he has of a certain rank. There are three common variants of the game.
*In the first and most common, the rank must be one above the rank played by the previous player (aces, then twos, threes, fours, etc to Kings, then looping back around to aces). The player selects the cards to play, announces how many are being played and their rank (e.g. "two fours"), and places them face down in the pile in the center. If the player does not actually have the cards needed to play at least one of the correct rank, he is still required to play, and so must bluff, or "bullshit", hence the names of the game. It is permissible to bluff when the player does have cards of the given rank, for example, by playing and announcing "two Kings" when he has only one, or announcing "two Kings" and he can play two of any other card.

*In another variant of BS, the player can play a card one rank above, below, or the same rank as the previous card. This game is generally much shorter and involves less cheating.

*In a much rarer version of the game the players should only play one card and play the same suit as the previous player. The version's tactical elements are very different from the one dealt with in this article.

Optionally, jokers may be used as one of the following:
*A "wild card" which is played as the stated value,
*A separate rank from all others played between Kings and Aces, or
*A "null" that is not any value and must always be bluffed.

The next part of the game is subject to two major variations. After each player takes his turn and before the next player has, one of two things can happen.
*In the first variant, any of the other players can call out the name of the game (i.e. "Cheat", "Bullshit", "Bluff") to challenge the cards that were just played. In some games, the players agree to either wait before playing their turn so other players can think carefully about challenging, or to rapidly take their turns to put more pressure on challengers.
*In the second variant, only the player about to lay down cards can challenge the cards laid down instead.

When a player calls out to challenge, they turn over enough cards from the top of the pile to decide if the cards just played were legitimate (this should be the number of the cards that the player who just took his turn announced; however, it is generally acceptable to turn over more if cheating as described later is suspected). If it turns out that the player played the amount and rank of cards that he announced, the challenger takes the whole pile that had accumulated in the center. If the player was bluffing and did not put down what he announced, he takes the whole pile.If the player bluffed, you can choose to either skip the card or make the next player play the same card. (Ex. One person BS on Kings, the next player must put down-if he/she has any or all the kings they have.

Endgame

Depending on the version of the game, either the first player to get rid of all their cards (and not lose any challenge on their final play) is the winner (BS out!), or the game may continue to determine second place, third, etc. Unless variants are used that place cards out of play, once only two players are left the game generally ends as there is little opportunity to bluff and thus a player must win purely on luck. Since Bullshit is almost never played for money or other stakes, players who do not have cards because they have already won may decide to a challenge that they intend to lose so they can get cards to continue playing.

Russian Bullshit

The variant Russian Bullshit is also known as Chinese Bullshit 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 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.

The next player chooses from these options:
# If the player does not have the card in hand, he/she calls "skip/pass" and the next player goes in that order.
# Play more cards of the same rank, "not" the next higher rank as in regular Bullshit. The player may add any number of cards.
# Say "I Doubt It" (i.e., "Bullshit"). Note that a player may only say "I doubt it" if it is their turn. If the challenger is right, the previous person picks up all the cards and the challenger starts a new round. If the challenge is wrong, the challenger picks up all the cards and the next person (in some variants, the previous person gets the right to start a new round) starts a new round with the rank of his choice (there is a variant rule where, upon a call of "Bullshit", the caller only reveals one of the cards played at random. If the card is of the declared rank, the caller picks up the cards; if it is not, the previous person picks up all the cards and a new round begins).
# Say "I Believe". If the player is wrong, he/she picks up all the cards and the next person starts a new round with the rank of his/her choice. If the player is right, all the cards on the table are removed from the game and the challenger starts a new round with the rank of their choice. Another variant involves forcing the last player to pick up the pile of cards if the caller was correct. This option is not used in some variants.
# Pass. This option is not used in some variants; it allows more skill in bluffing because nobody is ever forced to lie. If every player passes, the cards on the table are removed from the game, and the last player to play a card starts the next round.

Although a player cannot challenge if it is not their turn, they are usually allowed to verbally advise the person whose turn it is to challenge.

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.

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.

Hawaii version

The version of bullshit (BS) played in Hawaii is similar to Russian bullshit, where as the rest of the United States play the standard form of bullshit. 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.

References

*cite book|title=Official Rules of Card Games|author=Albert Morehead|ISBN=0449911586|publisher=Ballantine Books|year=1996
* [http://www.usplayingcard.com/gamerules/childrenscardgames.html USPC Card Game Rule Archive (under the name "I Doubt It")] accessed on 2006-05-10.