Poo Head Rules & Instructions

2 to 5 players (can play with as many as 20+ people)

1 Poo Head deck for every 5 players 

2-5 Players sit in a circular formation usually around a table.

The Deal

  1. Using the Poo Head deck, shuffle the deck.

  2. Deal 3 cards face down on the table to each player. Do NOT look at these cards!

  3. Deal 3 more cards to each player and place these cards face up, one on top of each of their face-down cards.

  4. Deal 3 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.

  5. 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 3 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.

The Play

The player with the lowest card (typically a 0) in his/her hand begins play by playing the 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: 0,1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (see Special Cards).

Play continues clockwise 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).  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 anymore 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 creates a “bomb” (see Special Cards).

If you do not have a card that is higher than the previous play, you must pick up all of the cards in the play pile and place them in your hand. This constitutes your turn and you do not get to play any cards. If a 10 is played, you must play a 10, a Pooh Head, or a bomb. If you cannot play any of these cards, you must pick up the pile.

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/card. Once you have played all of your face-up cards, begin playing your face-down cards WITHOUT LOOKING AT YOUR CARD.  Choose one card and play it.  If the card is not the same or higher than the previous card, you must pick up all of the cards. The last player to play all of his/her cards is the Poo Head.  All of the other players point fingers and call this player “Poo Head”. DON’T BE THE POO HEAD! This is the objective of the game. Again, DO NOT BE THE POO HEAD. NO ONE LIKES A POO HEAD!

Special Cards

Poo Head (green card) - Can be played on top of ANY card at ANY time.  Resets the pile back to 0.

The Number 4 (blue card) - The next player ONLY must play a 4 or lower. CANNOT be played on any card (must be played on a card of equal or lesser value). 

Bombs (grey card with bomb) - Can be played on top of ANY card at ANY time (even a 4).  The entire pile is then discarded and those cards are out of the game.  The player that played the bomb may then play again.

Four-of-a-kind (AKA the homemade bomb) - If all four cards of the same number are played on top of each other, the entire stack of cards is discarded (just like if a bomb were to be played).  These cards are out of the game.  This happens if one player plays all four, or if multiple players play the same card example: Billy plays one 3, Sam plays two 3s, and George plays the last 3.  George, the player who completes the four-of-a-kind, blows up the pile and plays again.

Playing with Points to Win (optional)

This game can be played as explained above, with the objective being to just not be the Poo Head. But with points, you are playing to not only not be the Poo Head, but to win. When playing with 4 or more players, the first person to play all of their cards and get out of the game receives 3 points, The second player to get out receives 2 points, the third player receives 1 points and anyone after that receives 0 points. The Poo Head of the round receives -4 points! DON’T BE THE POO HEAD!

Multiple rounds are played until 1 of the players points adds up to 7 or more. That player is the winner and the game ends. If you are only playing with 2 players with the point system, the winner of the two will receive 3 points and the loser (the Poo Head) -4 points and is played to 11. (Only the top 3 players can receive points.) Last rule… Have fun and DON’T BE THE POO HEAD!!!