Introduction: Poohead
Welcome to the classic game of ‘Poohead!’
Poohead is a game where there is no winner...there is only the Poohead. The Poohead is the last player to remain in the game. The object of the game is to play all of your cards as quickly as possible. Once you have succeeded in playing all of your cards, you are out and are guaranteed to not be the Poohead...at least for that round. Game play then continues clockwise around the table until all but one player has played their cards. This player then becomes the new Poohead!
Poohead is a game where there is no winner...there is only the Poohead. The Poohead is the last player to remain in the game. The object of the game is to play all of your cards as quickly as possible. Once you have succeeded in playing all of your cards, you are out and are guaranteed to not be the Poohead...at least for that round. Game play then continues clockwise around the table until all but one player has played their cards. This player then becomes the new Poohead!
Step 1: Materials Needed
- 2 to 4 players
- 1 standard deck of 52 cards for every 4 players
- 1 standard deck of 52 cards for every 4 players
Step 2: Game Setup
2-4 Players (typically 4) sit in a circular formation usually around a table.
Using the standard deck of 52 cards, remove any Joker(s) and/or other advertisement cards outside of the 52 Ace-King cards and shuffle the deck.
Deal three cards face down on the table to each player.
Deal three more cards to each player and have them place the cards face up, one on top of each of their face-down cards. Do not look at these cards.
Deal three final cards face down to each player. These cards will comprise the player’s starting hand, thus each player takes them
and holds them in their hands.
Place the remaining cards on the center of the table. This remainder of the starting deck will constitute the draw pile for the game.
After everyone has received their nine cards (3 face-down, 3 face-up, 3 in their hand), each player may then trade out cards from their hand for any of the three face-up cards, taking the face-up card and putting it into their hand and putting a card from their hand to where the face-up card was (on top of a face-down card). The new card is also placed face-up. Players may do this as many times as they desire before the start of the game.
Using the standard deck of 52 cards, remove any Joker(s) and/or other advertisement cards outside of the 52 Ace-King cards and shuffle the deck.
Deal three cards face down on the table to each player.
Deal three more cards to each player and have them place the cards face up, one on top of each of their face-down cards. Do not look at these cards.
Deal three final cards face down to each player. These cards will comprise the player’s starting hand, thus each player takes them
and holds them in their hands.
Place the remaining cards on the center of the table. This remainder of the starting deck will constitute the draw pile for the game.
After everyone has received their nine cards (3 face-down, 3 face-up, 3 in their hand), each player may then trade out cards from their hand for any of the three face-up cards, taking the face-up card and putting it into their hand and putting a card from their hand to where the face-up card was (on top of a face-down card). The new card is also placed face-up. Players may do this as many times as they desire before the start of the game.
Step 3: Game Play
The player with the lowest card in his/her hand begins play by playing said lowest card in a pile next to the drawing pile. This becomes the play pile. You may play more than one card if they are the same number.
The card order is as follows from lowest to highest: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, J, Q, K, A (2s and 10s are special cards-see Special Cards).
Play continues clockwise (or counter-clockwise if you prefer) with each player in turn playing a card on the play pile that is higher or the same as the previous player, unless a special card is played (see Special Cards). A player may lay down more than one card at a time if and only if the cards are the same number and they are the same number or higher than the previous card played. If four cards of the same number are played this constitutes a “bomb” (see Special Cards).
If you do not have a card that is higher than the previous play, pick up all of the cards in the play pile and place them in your hand. This constitutes your turn--you do not get to play any cards.
If an Ace is played, you must play an Ace, a 2 or a 10. If you cannot play any of these cards, you must pick up.
After you have played, draw as many cards as you need to bring the number of cards in your hand back to 3.
If you have more than 3 cards in your hand, do not draw any more cards.
Play continues until all of the cards have been drawn from the drawing pile. When this happens, continue to play the cards in your hand until you have no more left. After you have played all of the cards in your hand, begin playing your face-up cards. The same rules apply--you must play a card that is the same or higher than the previous card (unless a special card is played), and you can play more than one card if they are the same number.
Once you have played all of your face-up cards, begin playing your face-down cards. Choose one card and play it. If the card is not higher than the previous card, you must pick up all of the cards. You may look at the card before you play it, if you don’t want the other players to know what the card is.
The last player to play all of his/her cards is the Poohead. All of the other players point fingers and call this player “Poohead”.
The card order is as follows from lowest to highest: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, J, Q, K, A (2s and 10s are special cards-see Special Cards).
Play continues clockwise (or counter-clockwise if you prefer) with each player in turn playing a card on the play pile that is higher or the same as the previous player, unless a special card is played (see Special Cards). A player may lay down more than one card at a time if and only if the cards are the same number and they are the same number or higher than the previous card played. If four cards of the same number are played this constitutes a “bomb” (see Special Cards).
If you do not have a card that is higher than the previous play, pick up all of the cards in the play pile and place them in your hand. This constitutes your turn--you do not get to play any cards.
If an Ace is played, you must play an Ace, a 2 or a 10. If you cannot play any of these cards, you must pick up.
After you have played, draw as many cards as you need to bring the number of cards in your hand back to 3.
If you have more than 3 cards in your hand, do not draw any more cards.
Play continues until all of the cards have been drawn from the drawing pile. When this happens, continue to play the cards in your hand until you have no more left. After you have played all of the cards in your hand, begin playing your face-up cards. The same rules apply--you must play a card that is the same or higher than the previous card (unless a special card is played), and you can play more than one card if they are the same number.
Once you have played all of your face-up cards, begin playing your face-down cards. Choose one card and play it. If the card is not higher than the previous card, you must pick up all of the cards. You may look at the card before you play it, if you don’t want the other players to know what the card is.
The last player to play all of his/her cards is the Poohead. All of the other players point fingers and call this player “Poohead”.
Step 4: Special Cards
2s - Can be played on top of ANY card. Resets the pile to 2.
8s - Skip the following player. CANNOT be played on any card (must be played on a card of equal or lesser value).
9s - The next player only must play a nine or lower. CANNOT be played on any card (must be played on a card of equal or lesser value).
10s - Can be played on top of ANY card (even a 9). The entire pile is then discarded and those cards are out of the game. The player that played the 10 may then play again.
Four-of-a-kind (“Bomb”)- If all four cards of the same number are played on top of each other, the entire stack of cards is discarded. These cards are out of the game. This happens if one player plays all four, or if multiple players play the same card e.g. Bob plays one 6, Sally plays two 6s, and George plays the last 6. The player who completes the four-of-a-kind plays again i.e. George.
8s - Skip the following player. CANNOT be played on any card (must be played on a card of equal or lesser value).
9s - The next player only must play a nine or lower. CANNOT be played on any card (must be played on a card of equal or lesser value).
10s - Can be played on top of ANY card (even a 9). The entire pile is then discarded and those cards are out of the game. The player that played the 10 may then play again.
Four-of-a-kind (“Bomb”)- If all four cards of the same number are played on top of each other, the entire stack of cards is discarded. These cards are out of the game. This happens if one player plays all four, or if multiple players play the same card e.g. Bob plays one 6, Sally plays two 6s, and George plays the last 6. The player who completes the four-of-a-kind plays again i.e. George.