Crazy Eights Strategy: What Really Wins, Measured
How to win more at Crazy Eights: name your longest suit with an 8, save your 8s, shed picture cards early, and why watching your opponent's draws barely helps.
Sunroom Games · Updated
Crazy Eights looks like a game of pure luck: you play what fits and draw when nothing does. But on most turns you have a choice of cards, and every time you play an 8 you choose a suit. Those choices add up. We measured which habits matter by letting Anne, our computer player, play thousands of games against copies of Anne that each ignored one piece of advice. A habit that wins a lot of dominoes games turned out to make no real difference here.
If you'd like the rules first, see how to play Crazy Eights.
What our test games showed
We played 4,000 games to 100 points for each comparison, with the two players taking turns to deal. Against a player who ignored one habit, the player who kept it won:
| Habit | Games won out of 100 |
|---|---|
| Naming the suit you hold most of when you play an 8 | 69 |
| Saving 8s until nothing else fits | 65 |
| Getting rid of picture cards and 10s early | 63 |
| Following with your longest suit | 52 |
| Watching which suits the other player draws on | 51 (no real difference) |
A few more facts from the same games: a game to 100 took seven or eight hands, a hand was worth about 22 points, about one hand in eight ended blocked, and the player who started a hand went on to win it 52 times in 100.
1. Name the suit you hold most of
When you play an 8, you name the suit that must be followed next. It's tempting to treat that as a free choice, or to name whatever suit comes to mind. In our tests, that was the most expensive mistake: a player who named a suit at random lost about 7 games in 10 against one who named their longest suit.
The reason is simple. An 8 is your rescue when nothing fits, and naming your longest suit makes the rescue last: it gives you the best chance of having a card to play next turn, and the turn after.
Count your cards by suit before you choose, and don't count your other 8s: they fit anything anyway.
2. Save your 8s
An 8 counts 50 points against you if the other player goes out first, so it feels sensible to play it early and be rid of it. Our tests say otherwise. A player who played 8s early, to be rid of their 50 points, lost about 65 games in 100 against one who saved them.
Saving an 8 costs less than it seems. Because an 8 always fits, you'll get to play it the first time nothing else does, and in our games between two players who saved their 8s, the loser of a hand was still holding one only about 1 time in 200.
Being dealt an 8 is a real advantage. In our tests, a player dealt an 8 when the other player had none won the hand about 69 times in 100. Only about 45 hands in 100 contain an 8, so make the most of one when you have it.
3. Get rid of picture cards and 10s early
Kings, Queens, Jacks and 10s count 10 each if you're caught with them. When two cards fit, play the higher one, and save the low cards for later. Aces count only 1, so they're the last thing to worry about. A player who ignored card values lost 63 games in 100 in our tests.
4. Follow with your longest suit, but don't fuss over it
When everything else is equal, play from the suit you hold most of, so you can follow again next turn. It helped, but only a little: 52 games in 100. Saving 8s and shedding high cards matter far more, so don't break those habits for it.
5. Watching what your opponent draws barely mattered
When the other player draws, they have no card in the suit to follow, so it seems clever to steer the game back to that suit. It's good advice in dominoes, where it was the most valuable habit of all. In Crazy Eights it made no real difference in our tests, even when combined with following your longest suit (53 games in 100).
A player who can't follow keeps drawing until they can, so they're never stuck for long, and you usually need an 8 to change the suit on purpose. It's worth noticing, but not worth giving up a better play for.
6. Ask for a hint
The Hint button in our game picks a card the way Anne would and explains why: keeping your 8 for later, getting rid of a high card, or which suit to name. It's a quick way to make the habits above second nature.
How often should you win?
Crazy Eights has plenty of luck in it, so even good players lose a lot of hands. In our tests, Anne's way of playing beat a player who chose cards at random about 74 games in 100, and one who simply played the first card that fit about 67 games in 100. Two players with the same habits each won about half their games. If you're winning half against Anne, you're playing as well as our computer.
For more games to enjoy with a partner, see our guide to card games for two, and if you like Crazy Eights, try Gin Rummy next: our Gin Rummy strategy guide will get you started.