What is Points game?
The standard game here is a single hand: the first player to get rid of all their cards wins.
In the points game you play hand after hand, and the player who goes out scores the cards left in everybody else's hands: 50 for each eight, 10 for each king, queen, jack or ten, 1 for each ace, and the pip value of every other card. Being caught with an eight costs the most, so holding eights back for the end carries a risk.
The game ends when a player's score reaches the target at the end of a hand: 50 points for each player at the table, which is 100 with two players, 150 with three and up to 350 with seven. That player wins. The deal moves one seat round the table each hand, so the first turn moves round too.
If nobody can play or draw, the hand is blocked. The player with the lowest total in hand then scores the difference between their total and each other player's. If two or more share the lowest total, nobody scores and the next hand is dealt.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Crazy Eights | Points game |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Standard Crazy EightsOne hand. | Points gameSeveral hands, until someone reaches the target. |
| Going out | Standard Crazy EightsThe first player out wins the game. | Points gameThe first player out scores the cards left in the other hands. |
| Card values | Standard Crazy EightsCounted only to settle a blocked hand. | Points gameEight 50; king, queen, jack and ten 10; ace 1; two to seven and nine their pip value. |
| Blocked hand | Standard Crazy EightsThe lowest total in hand wins; a tie for lowest is a draw. | Points gameThe lowest total scores the difference to each other hand; a tie for lowest scores nothing. |
| Dealer | Standard Crazy EightsOne deal; the player after the dealer starts. | Points gameThe deal moves one seat each hand, and the player after the new dealer starts. |
| Winning | Standard Crazy EightsGo out first, or hold the lowest hand in a blocked game. | Points gameReach 50 points per player (100 with two players) at the end of a hand. |
| Other options | Standard Crazy EightsTwos draw two, the queen of spades drawing five, jacks skip, aces reverse and draw until playable can be chosen. | Points gameThe points game works with all of them. Action cards count their usual value: a two 2, a jack or the queen of spades 10, an ace 1. Going out on an action card ends the hand without its effect. |
History
Crazy Eights is often played over several hands and scored by the cards left in the losers' hands. The values used here, 50 for an eight, 10 for a king, queen, jack or ten, 1 for an ace and the pip value of the rest, are the ones given in the rules published by a major American playing-card maker and in other common accounts of the game.
The length of the game varies more. One common account sets the target at 50 points for each player, so 100 with two players and 150 with three, and that is the target used here.