How to Play Dutch Blitz
Empty your Blitz Pile first and shout Blitz: the full rules, set-up and scoring of the fast family card game.
Dutch Blitz is a fast card game where everyone plays at the same time. Each player has their own 40-card deck, and the race is to build shared piles of 1 to 10 in each colour in the middle of the table while emptying your own 10-card Blitz Pile. The first player to clear it shouts “Blitz!” and the hand ends. You score a point for every card you got into the middle and lose two for every card left in your Blitz Pile. The first to 75 points wins. A hand takes only a few minutes, it is easy to learn, and it plays well with 2 to 4 people, or up to 8 with an expansion pack.
Dutch Blitz Rules at a Glance
| Dutch Blitz | |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 to 4 with one box; up to 8 with an expansion pack. |
| Cards | Four 40-card decks (Pump, Carriage, Plow and Pail), each with 1 to 10 in red, blue, green and yellow. |
| Goal | Be the first to 75 points. |
| Each hand | Everyone plays at once until someone empties their Blitz Pile and shouts “Blitz!” |
| Dutch Piles (middle) | Start with a 1; add the same colour going up to 10. Everyone plays on them. |
| Post Piles (yours) | 3 face-up piles (5 with two players), built down, alternating boy and girl cards. |
| Scoring | +1 for each of your cards in the Dutch Piles, −2 for each card left in your Blitz Pile. |
What’s in the Box
A box has 160 cards in four decks, one for each player. Every deck has its own picture on the back (a pump, a carriage, a plow or a pail) so the cards can be sorted out again for scoring. Each deck has the numbers 1 to 10 in four colours. The red and blue cards show a Pennsylvania Dutch boy, and the yellow and green cards show a girl. That boy/girl split matters when you build on your Post Piles.
The Blue and Purple Expansion Packs are four more decks with the designs in different colours, so a second box lets 5 to 8 people play. Either pack can also be played on its own. There are oversized Jumbo Cards too, and a Dutch Blitz app for iPhone and Android.
How to Set Up Dutch Blitz
- Take a deck each and shuffle it well.
- Post Piles: deal the top 3 cards face up in a row in front of you.
- Blitz Pile: count the next 10 cards into a face-up pile to the right of your Post Piles. Only its top card is in play.
- Hand: hold the other 27 cards face down. You will turn these over three at a time to make your Wood Pile.
- Two players: the rules are the same, but each player sets out 5 Post Piles instead of 3 (so 25 cards in the hand).
Leave the middle of the table clear for the Dutch Piles, and pick a scorekeeper, who usually gives the signal to start.
How to Play Dutch Blitz
On the signal, everyone plays at the same time. There are no turns.
- Play any 1 into the middle. A 1 of any colour, from your Blitz Pile, Post Piles or Wood Pile, starts a new Dutch Pile. With four players there can be up to four piles of each colour.
- Build the Dutch Piles up. Put the next number of the same colour on top: a red 2 on a red 1, then a red 3, all the way to 10. Any player can add to any Dutch Pile.
- Refill your Post Piles from the Blitz Pile. When you use up a Post Pile, fill the gap straight away with the top card of your Blitz Pile. Always keep the same number of Post Piles.
- Build down on your Post Piles. You can move a card from your Blitz Pile, your Wood Pile or another Post Pile onto a Post Pile if it is one lower and the opposite type: a girl 7 on a boy 8, then a boy 6 on that. Only the lowest card of a Post Pile can be played to the middle.
- Turn over your hand three at a time. When you have nothing to play, count three cards off your hand and turn them over together onto your Wood Pile, so the third card ends up on top. Only the top card of the Wood Pile can be played.
- Go round again. When your hand runs out, pick up the Wood Pile, turn it face down without shuffling and keep flipping three at a time.
- Shout “Blitz!” The moment you play the last card of your Blitz Pile, call it out. All play stops at once.
Dutch Blitz Scoring
When someone calls Blitz, each player first counts the cards left in their Blitz Pile. Then the scorekeeper gathers the Dutch Piles, everyone sorts the cards back by the picture on the back, and each player counts the cards they got into the middle.
| Cards | Points |
|---|---|
| Each of your cards in the Dutch Piles | +1 |
| Each card left in your Blitz Pile | −2 |
| Cards in your Post Piles, Wood Pile and hand | 0 |
Example: you got 14 cards into the middle and still have 3 in your Blitz Pile: 14 − 6 = 8 points. A hand is worth at most 40 points and at worst −20, and scores can go below zero, especially in the first hand. The first player to reach 75 wins; if two players pass 75 in the same hand, the higher score wins.
Dutch Blitz Rules Questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Can I go back and play a card I missed? | No. Once you have flipped the next three cards, you move on. |
| Can I move cards between my Post Piles? | Yes, one card at a time. You can’t move a whole pile. |
| Do I always have to flip three cards? | Yes. If only 1 or 2 are left in your hand, turn your Wood Pile over beneath them so you can still flip three. |
| What if nobody can play? | If play stops, a player can take the top card of their Wood Pile and put it on the bottom, which brings up new cards. |
| What happens if someone makes a mistake? | Anyone who spots it calls “Dutch!” Play stops, the wrong card goes back, and the game carries on. The scorekeeper settles any argument. |
| Can I use both hands? | No. One hand only, one card at a time, and cards must be placed on the Dutch Piles, not thrown. |
| Can a Dutch Pile start with a 2? | No. Only a 1 can start a Dutch Pile, and every card on it must be the same colour. |
| Do the expansion packs need the original game? | No. Any one pack can be played on its own. |
Dutch Blitz with 2 Players, and with 5 to 8
Two players use 5 Post Piles each instead of 3. With fewer people feeding the middle, the extra piles give you more cards to work with and keep the game from stalling. Five to eight players need a second set of four decks from an expansion pack. Play the same way, with more Dutch Piles in the middle and a bigger scramble for each one.
Running Dutch Blitz
Also called Full Contact or Life Size Dutch Blitz, this version uses large cards, and players have to run each card to its pile. It can also be played in teams.
Dutch Blitz vs Nertz
Dutch Blitz is close to Nertz (also called Nerts), which uses ordinary playing cards, and to Ligretto, a German game with its own cards.
| Dutch Blitz | Nertz | |
|---|---|---|
| Cards | A 40-card deck per player, numbered 1 to 10 | A standard 52-card pack per player |
| Pile to empty | Blitz Pile, 10 cards | Nerts pile, 13 cards |
| Personal piles | 3 Post Piles (5 with two players) | 4 work piles |
| Shared piles | Dutch Piles, 1 to 10 by colour | Foundations, Ace to King by suit |
| Building your own piles | Down, boy and girl alternating | Down, red and black alternating |
| Discard pile | Wood Pile | Waste pile |
Dutch Blitz Strategy
- Play from the Blitz Pile first. Emptying it ends the hand and stops the −2 penalties, so a Blitz card beats any other play.
- Empty a Post Pile on purpose. Every Post Pile you clear is filled from your Blitz Pile, which is another way to dig through it.
- Don’t clog your Post Piles from the Wood Pile. Building long Post Piles out of Wood Pile cards ties up cards you will want later. Build from the Blitz Pile instead.
- Turn your hand quickly. The faster you go through your hand, the more often a playable card comes up.
- Watch the middle, not just your cards. Know which Dutch Piles are one away from your top cards and be ready to play the moment they change.
- Calling Blitz usually wins the hand. In simulated games, the player who called Blitz had the top score for that hand 96% of the time with two players and 94% with four.
Dutch Blitz Odds
The first three rows below are exact. The rest come from 10,000 simulated games for each group size, with equal-speed players who play from the Blitz Pile first.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Chance a 1 is showing in your Post Piles or on your Blitz Pile at the start (3 Post Piles) | 36% |
| The same with 5 Post Piles (two players) | 49% |
| Chance your 10-card Blitz Pile has no 1 in it | 30% (it holds one 1 on average) |
| Average hands in a game to 75 | 6.6 with two players, 6.5 with three, 8.9 with four |
| Average points per player per hand | 10 with two players, 6 with four |
| Chance a player scores below zero in a hand | 12% with two players, 23% with four |
| Typical winning total | About 81 to 82 points (the winner usually passes 75 by a few) |
Where Dutch Blitz Comes From
Dutch Blitz was invented by Werner Ernst George Muller, a German immigrant and optometrist who settled in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and hoped the game would help his children learn colours and numbers. It caught on across eastern and central Pennsylvania and is especially popular in Amish and Mennonite communities. Today it is a Fisher family business based in Flourtown, Pennsylvania, and sold in more than 200 places in 11 countries.
More Games to Try
If you like Dutch Blitz, try Nertz with ordinary cards, Spit (Speed) for two players, or the slower builders Skip-Bo and Spite and Malice.
The one-player game behind it: how to play solitaire.
Dutch Blitz: frequently asked questions
How do you play Dutch Blitz?
How do you score Dutch Blitz?
How many points do you need to win Dutch Blitz?
How do you play Dutch Blitz with 2 players?
How many people can play Dutch Blitz?
What are the boy and girl cards in Dutch Blitz?
What happens if nobody can play in Dutch Blitz?
What is the difference between Dutch Blitz and Nertz?
Fadi Hayek
Author & Casino Expert
After going through several successful experiences with several industry pioneers, Fadi Hayek has managed to excel in the world of content for online gaming by providing unique content for several projects that allowed him to obtain the necessary experience to launch his career. Last but not least, Fadi also holds several certificates, including but not limited to content marketing and iGaming.
