Chase the Ace Rules

Chase the Ace is a quick British card game for a group: everyone gets one card, you can swap it with the player next to you, and whoever ends up with the lowest card loses a life. It is also known as Cuckoo or Ranter Go Round, and in the US as Screw Your Neighbor. Traditionally each player puts a small stake in a pot, and the last player with a life left takes it. The name is also used for a different, Old Maid-style game, which is explained further down. This guide covers the Chase the Ace rules, the variations, and when to keep or swap your card.

Chase the Ace Rules at a Glance

How to Play Chase the Ace

1. Lives and stakes. Everyone starts with the same number of lives, usually three, and puts an agreed stake in the pot.
2. Deal one card each. The dealer deals one card face down to every player. Look at your own card but keep it hidden.
3. Keep or swap. Starting with the player on the dealer’s left and going clockwise, each player either keeps their card or swaps it with the player on their left.
4. No refusing. You must accept a swap unless you hold a King. If you do, turn it face up and the player trying to swap keeps their own card.
5. The dealer goes last. The dealer may keep their card or swap it for a card cut from the rest of the pack. If the cut card is a King, the dealer must keep their original card.
6. Reveal. Everyone turns their card over. The player with the lowest card loses a life; if several players tie for lowest, they all lose one.
7. Next round. The deal usually passes to the left. A player who loses their last life is out, and the last player left in wins the pot.

When the last players tie

If every player still in has one life left and they all tie for the lowest card, everyone would be out at once. Groups settle this in different ways, so agree one before you start:

• the tied players share the pot;
• they keep their last life and play another round;
• they cut the pack, and the highest card takes the pot;
• the game is void and the pot carries over to the next game, with or without new stakes added.

Screw Your Neighbor: Chase the Ace in America

In the US, Chase the Ace is usually called Screw Your Neighbor. It is the same game: one card each, keep it or swap it with the player on your left, a King blocks a swap, and the lowest card loses a life. The name Screw Your Neighbor is also used for several other card games, so check which one your group means; this page covers the one-card swapping game, also known as Cuckoo and Ranter Go Round.

American groups often play it with a few differences:

• Four lives, played for money. In one American version each player starts with four lives, kept as four equal piles of money in front of them. You give up a pile every time you lose a life, and the last player left in wins all the money.
• Big groups. That version is played by anywhere from 3 to 26 players.
• The dealer’s swap. Some groups let the dealer swap with the top card of the deck instead of cutting the pack.
• Kings. Besides the usual rule that a King blocks a swap, some American groups trade Kings like any other card, and others make anyone dealt a King show it straight away, which stops all trading that round. Queens and Jacks have house rules too; see the variations below.

Chase the Ace Strategy: Keep or Swap?

The only decision in the game is whether to keep your card. A few rules make a real difference:

• Keep a 7 or better at a small table. With four players the best rule for most seats is to keep a 7 or higher and swap anything lower. With six players, keep a 6 or higher; with eight, keep a 5 or higher. The more players there are, the less likely a middle card is to be the lowest.
• Always keep a King. Nobody can take it, so you cannot lose a life with it.
• If someone swaps with you and you get a higher card, keep it. The player on your right now holds your old, lower card and has already had their turn, so you cannot be the lowest.

Why the dealer loses most often

Every swap pushes a low card one seat to the left, so bad cards drift round the table towards the dealer. With six players all following the rules above, the player on the dealer’s left loses a life in about 12% of rounds and the dealer in about 23%, against 20% each if nobody ever swapped. With four players the gap is 20% against 32%. Because the deal passes round the table, everyone takes a turn in the worst seat.

Chase the Ace Variations

The Other Chase the Ace

Some families use the name for a different game, close to Old Maid:

1. Remove the jokers and three of the four aces, leaving one ace in the pack.
2. Deal out all the cards. Everyone puts down any pairs they hold.
3. In turn, take a card from the hand of the player next to you. If it makes a pair, put the pair down.
4. Keep going until all the pairs are down. The player left holding the ace loses.

It is a good first card game for young children.

Chase the Ace the lottery

Chase the Ace is also a fundraising lottery that took off in Canada in 2013 and is now a common pub promotion in Australia. Each week a ticket is drawn, and the winner picks a card from the deck: if it is the ace of spades they win the jackpot; if not, that card is removed and the jackpot rolls over to the next draw.

More Simple Card Games

If you like games decided by the higher card, Casino War is the casino version. For more British pub and family classics, see Three Card Brag, Pontoon and the dice game Shut the Box.

If you play for money, keep the stakes small and agree them before you start. Free, confidential support is available at BeGambleAware.org. 18+ only.

More party card games: Switch (also called Black Jack), the race to empty your hand.

More family card games: Go Fish – how to play, the variations and the odds behind every ask.

Like card-passing games? Try Old Maid (Scabby Queen in Britain), where nobody wants the last Queen.

Chase the Ace: frequently asked questions