Burro rules: how to play

How do you play Burro?

In Burro, each player gets some cards and the rest form the stock. The first player leads a card, and everyone must play a card of the same suit. A player who has none draws from the stock until one turns up. The highest card wins the round. Players with no cards are safe. The last one is the donkey.

Goal of the game

The goal is to run out of cards. The game does not have a single winner: it has one loser, the last player still holding cards. That player is the burro, the donkey.

The name burro is used for several similar games. This page teaches the follow-suit version with drawing from the stock, a form played in Brazil. Other versions are listed under Variations.

Setup and deal

• Use a 52-card deck and remove the jokers. Two or more people can play.
• Agree on how many cards each player gets. Three, four or five cards are common choices. For your first game, try five.
• The dealer shuffles and deals one card at a time, face down.
• The rest of the deck sits face down in the middle of the table. This is the stock.
• Card order, from highest to lowest: ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2. All suits are equal.

How to play

1. The player to the dealer's left goes first and plays any card from hand, face up on the table.
2. In order, going left, each player plays a card of the same suit as the first card.
3. A player with no card of that suit draws from the stock, one card at a time, until a card of that suit turns up. They play that card and keep all the others they drew.
4. If the stock is empty and you do not have the suit, pass without playing.
5. When everyone has played or passed, the highest card wins the round.
6. The cards of the round leave the game. They go to a waste pile, face down.
7. The winner of the round leads the next one, with any card they like.
8. A player with no cards in hand leaves the game and is safe. If that player won the round, the next round is led by the player to their left who still has cards.
9. The game goes on until only one player holds cards. That player is the donkey.

Card values and scoring

• The ace is the highest card, and the 2 is the lowest.
• Only cards of the suit that was led compete for the round. There is no trump.
• Cards are not worth points. What matters is getting rid of them.
• Single game: the player left with cards is the donkey, and the game starts over.
• Letters game: the loser of each game gets one letter of the word BURRO, in order. The first player to complete the word loses.

End of the game

The game ends when only one player has cards in hand. All the others are safe.

Sometimes the last two players run out of cards in the same round. Agree beforehand on what happens then. The simplest way is to say the game ended with no donkey.

Common variations

• Number of cards: some tables deal three cards, and others deal seven. The more cards, the longer the game.
• Take the table: at some tables, when the stock is empty, a player without the suit picks up the cards already played in the round instead of passing.
• Low ace: some tables count the ace as the lowest card, below the 2.
• Burro em pé: the game goes by this name in several places, and the details change from region to region. Ask how your hosts play it.
• Another game with the same name: in other countries, donkey is a game of passing cards until someone collects four of a kind. That is a different game.

Tips to play better

• Play high cards early to win the round. The winner picks the suit of the next round.
• Watch who drew from the stock. That player did not have that suit. Leading it again may make them draw more.
• Lead the suit you hold the most cards in. You use up yours while the others draw.
• Count the cards that have been played. Each suit has 13 cards. Late in the game, this shows which suit the others still hold.
• When the stock is almost gone, avoid holding many different suits.

Frequently asked questions