Bullshit Drinking Game: Rules, How to Play & How to Call BS

The Bullshit drinking game is the drinking version of the classic bluffing card game also called BS, Cheat, or I Doubt It.

The goal is simple: get rid of every card in your hand before everyone else. Players take turns putting cards face down and claiming they are the required rank. They can be telling the truth. They can also be completely full of shit.

If you think someone is lying, call “Bullshit!” before the next player puts cards down. If you catch them lying, they pick up the entire discard pile and drink. If they were telling the truth, you pick up the pile and drink.

The important part: there is no universal drinking penalty, and there are several established variations of the underlying card game. The rules below use the common American version where ranks move in order from Ace → 2 → 3 → ... → King → Ace.

To play Bullshit: deal everyone the cards, then take turns playing cards face down while claiming the next rank in sequence. Players may bluff, and anyone who suspects a lie can call Bullshit before the next play. The loser of the challenge drinks and takes the discard pile; the first player to empty their hand without being caught on the final play wins.

---

What You Need to Play Bullshit

• 1 standard 52-card deck
• 3–8 players works well
• 4–6 players is a particularly good range
• Drinks for everyone playing the drinking version
• A table or other surface for the discard pile

You technically can play Bullshit with two people, but the bluffing gets considerably less interesting. With a large group, adding a second deck is a common variation so everyone actually gets enough cards to play with.

Remove the Jokers unless your group specifically agrees to use a Joker house rule.

---

How to Set Up the Bullshit Drinking Game

1. Shuffle and Deal the Entire Deck

Shuffle a standard 52-card deck and deal all of the cards as evenly as possible.

Some players may end up with one more card than everyone else. That doesn't matter.

Players should look at their own cards. Keep your hand hidden from everyone else, but you absolutely need to know what you have. The cards you play go face down — your hand does not.

2. Pick a Starting Player

Choose someone to go first. Dealer's left, youngest player, random choice — it doesn't really matter.

Play then moves clockwise.

3. Agree on the Rank Sequence

For the standard version used in this guide, the sequence is:

Every turn moves to the next rank. The actual cards being played can be anything. The claim must follow the sequence.

That distinction is basically the entire game.

4. Choose the Drinking Penalty

Bullshit is originally a card game, so drinking penalties are an addition rather than one universal rule.

The cleanest version is:

The giant pile of cards is already the real punishment. There is no reason to turn twenty accumulated cards into twenty drinks.

---

How to Play the Bullshit Drinking Game

1. The First Player Claims Aces

The first player puts one or more cards face down in the center of the table and announces how many Aces they supposedly played.

For example:

“Two Aces.”

Maybe they actually played two Aces.

Maybe they played a 4 and a Queen.

Nobody knows unless someone calls Bullshit.

2. The Next Player Claims 2s

The next player puts down one or more cards and must claim they are 2s.

Then the next player claims 3s.

Then 4s.

The rank being called is determined by the sequence — not by whatever the previous player feels like saying.

Once you reach Kings, start over at Aces.

3. You Are Allowed to Lie

You do not actually need to possess the required rank.

If it's your turn to play 7s and you don't have a 7, put something else face down and claim it is a 7.

That's not breaking the rules.

That's Bullshit.

You can also bluff when you do have the correct cards. Maybe you have one 7 but would rather dump two useless Kings with it. The problem is that if anyone challenges you, every card you just played needs to match your claim.

4. Anyone Can Call “Bullshit”

After someone plays, any other player may challenge them by calling:

“Bullshit!”

The challenge has to happen before the next player puts cards down.

Once the next play hits the pile, the previous play is generally safe.

This matters when somebody hesitates for ten seconds, finally decides the last player was obviously lying, and then tries to call it two turns later.

Nope. Window closed.

5. Reveal Only the Challenged Play

Turn over the card or cards the accused player just put down.

Do not flip the entire discard pile.

Now there are two possibilities.

If the Player Was Lying

If any card they played does not match the rank they claimed, the Bullshit call was correct.

The liar:

• Picks up the entire discard pile
• Adds all of those cards to their hand
• Takes the agreed drinking penalty

Example: someone claims “three 8s” and reveals two 8s and one Jack.

Still Bullshit.

Close does not count.

If the Player Was Telling the Truth

If every card matches the claimed rank, the accusation was wrong.

The person who called Bullshit:

• Picks up the entire discard pile
• Adds it to their hand
• Takes the agreed drinking penalty

Confidently yelling “BULLSHIT” does not earn partial credit.

6. Continue With the Next Rank

Under the common sequential rules, play continues with the player to the left of the challenged player, using the next rank in the normal sequence.

So if someone was challenged while claiming 8s, the next player claims 9s.

Some groups restart the sequence after a challenge. That's a legitimate house-rule variation, but decide that before playing.

---

How Do You Win Bullshit?

The first player to successfully get rid of every card in their hand wins.

There is one important catch.

Your final play can still be challenged.

If you put down your last cards, claim “two Queens,” and somebody calls Bullshit:

• If both cards are Queens, you survive the challenge and win.
• If either card is not a Queen, you pick up the entire pile and you're very much not done.

Getting your hand to zero is not a magical force field against being called out.

---

Can You Play Multiple Cards in Bullshit?

Yes. Players commonly put down multiple cards of the required rank on one turn.

With one standard deck, claiming more than four of one rank is obviously impossible because only four exist.

If someone announces “five Jacks” in a one-deck game, you don't need a poker face. You need basic arithmetic.

There is one variation worth clarifying: some groups allow players to lie about the number of cards they played as well as their rank. For example, putting down four cards while claiming “three 6s.”

That is an established variation, but it makes challenges harder to resolve cleanly. Our recommendation is that the announced number must equal the number of cards physically played. Bluff about rank, not quantity.

---

Do You Have to Play a Card?

Under the version we're using, yes.

You play at least one card on every turn. If you don't have the required rank, bluff.

Allowing players to pass is a known variation of Cheat/Bullshit, so your group may have learned it differently.

For the drinking game, mandatory play works better. Passing lets players dodge the exact bluffing decisions that make the game interesting.

---

Bullshit Drinking Game House Rules & Variations

There isn't one universal Bullshit ruleset. The core idea stays the same — face-down cards, claims, bluffs, challenges — but several parts commonly change.

Descending Ranks

Instead of Ace → 2 → 3 and upward, play:

Ace → King → Queen → Jack → 10 → ... → 2 → Ace.

Mechanically, nothing else changes.

High-or-Low Bullshit

Some versions let the next player claim either one rank above or one rank below the previous claim.

If the previous player claimed 8s, the next player can claim either 7s or 9s.

This creates more choices but makes the game slightly harder to teach.

Same Rank Allowed

Another variation allows the next player to repeat the current rank rather than automatically moving forward.

This gets closer to some versions of I Doubt It, where multiple players may continue claiming the same rank.

Passing

Some groups allow you to pass instead of playing a card.

This can make sense in non-drinking versions, but it reduces forced bluffing. We prefer mandatory play.

Restart After a Challenge

Some groups let the winner of a challenge start a new sequence at a chosen rank.

Others simply continue with the next rank that would have been played.

Both versions exist. Continuing the existing sequence is easier because nobody has to remember who gets control of the restart.

Multiple Decks

For a large group, shuffle two decks together.

Just remember that probability changes. With two decks, someone claiming five Queens is no longer automatically lying.

Jokers as Wild Cards

Some groups include Jokers and treat them as wild.

If you do this, decide whether a Joker counts as truthful for any claimed rank.

We usually recommend leaving Jokers out. Bullshit already works without adding card-game legislation halfway through the pregame.

---

Our Recommended Bullshit Drinking Game Rules

This keeps the game recognizable, easy to teach, and difficult to argue about.

More importantly, it makes picking up the pile the main punishment instead of stacking increasingly stupid drinking penalties onto a card game that can last a while.

---

Bullshit vs. Cheat vs. I Doubt It

Bullshit and Cheat are commonly names for the same basic bluffing game. “BS” is simply the polite abbreviation.

I Doubt It is messier.

The name is sometimes used for this exact game, but there is also a closely related version where players continue claiming the same rank until a challenge ends the round rather than automatically progressing Ace, 2, 3, 4 and so on.

So if two people are arguing because one insists that everyone should still be playing Queens while somebody else is demanding Kings, there's a decent chance they learned two legitimately different versions.

Pick one before starting.

---

Bullshit Strategy That Actually Matters

Count the Cards

There are only four cards of each rank in a standard deck.

If you have three 9s and someone announces “two 9s,” somebody's arithmetic has gone horribly wrong.

You don't need to memorize the whole discard pile. Just tracking ranks you hold can give away impossible claims.

Don't Automatically Bluff When You're Missing the Rank

You obviously have to lie if passing isn't allowed and you don't have the required card.

But the other players don't know that.

Playing one card confidently is usually less suspicious than panic-dumping four cards and announcing, “Yeah, uh... four Queens.”

Being Truthful Can Look Suspicious Too

If you've been bluffing aggressively, eventually putting down the exact cards you claimed can bait somebody into a terrible Bullshit call.

The game isn't just about convincing people that lies are true.

It's also about convincing them that the truth is probably bullshit.

---

Is Bullshit Good for a Pregame or Party?

Yes, especially for a group of roughly four to six people.

Bullshit needs almost nothing to set up, everybody stays involved, and the drinking mechanic doesn't need to control the actual game.

It's especially useful when you want a drinking game that can be played sitting around a table without cups flying across the room.

For larger competitive setups, games with clearer head-to-head scoring may fit a Beer Olympics better. Bullshit produces a winner, but round length can vary wildly depending on how often giant discard piles get picked up.

If you want another card game with substantially more structure, check out the Ride the Bus drinking game.

---

Bullshit Drinking Game FAQ

How do you play the Bullshit drinking game?

Players take turns placing cards face down while claiming the next rank in sequence, and anyone can challenge a suspected lie by calling Bullshit. If the player lied, they drink and take the discard pile. If they told the truth, the challenger drinks and takes the pile. The first player to successfully empty their hand wins.

What order do the cards go in Bullshit?

The common sequence is Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, then back to Ace.

Descending and high-or-low sequences are established variations.

Can you lie in Bullshit?

Yes. Lying about the rank of the cards you play is a central part of Bullshit. You place the cards face down, announce the required rank, and hope nobody successfully challenges you.

What happens when someone calls Bullshit?

The cards from the most recent play are revealed. If any of them do not match the claimed rank, the player who made the claim picks up the entire discard pile. If every card was truthful, the challenger picks up the pile instead.

In the drinking version, the person who takes the pile also takes the agreed drinking penalty.

When can you call Bullshit?

You must call Bullshit after the suspected play and before the next player puts down cards. Once another play has been made, the previous claim normally cannot be challenged.

Can anyone call Bullshit or only the next player?

Any other player can generally call Bullshit. You do not need to wait until it is your turn.

Can you play more than one card in Bullshit?

Yes. Players can normally play multiple cards while claiming that all of them are the required rank.

If challenged, every card played must match the claim or the entire play counts as a bluff.

Can you play five of the same card in Bullshit?

Not truthfully with one standard 52-card deck. There are only four cards of each rank.

If multiple decks are being used, claims above four become possible.

Can you pass in Bullshit?

It depends on the version. Some Bullshit and Cheat rules allow passing, while others require every player to put down at least one card each turn.

CollegeWares recommends mandatory play because it keeps bluffing central to the game.

What happens if you don't have the card you're supposed to play?

You bluff. Put another card face down and claim it is the required rank.

Forcing players into exactly this situation is half the point of Bullshit.

Do you have to tell the truth about how many cards you played?

Usually, yes — but there is a variation that allows lying about card quantity.

For cleaner gameplay, announce the real number of cards you physically placed and restrict bluffing to their rank.

What happens after someone picks up the pile?

In the common sequential version, play continues with the player to the left of the challenged player and the next rank in sequence.

Some groups instead restart the rank sequence after every challenge. Establish this before playing.

Can someone call Bullshit on your last card?

Yes. Your final play is still open to a challenge.

If you lied, you pick up the pile and remain in the game. If the challenge fails, you win.

How many players do you need for Bullshit?

Bullshit works with at least three players, with roughly four to six being a strong group size. Two-player games are possible but remove much of the social deduction. Larger groups can add another deck if needed.

Is Bullshit the same as Cheat?

Yes, Bullshit and Cheat commonly refer to the same card game. BS and I Doubt It are also commonly used names, although some games called I Doubt It use a different same-rank format.

Can you play Bullshit without alcohol?

Absolutely. Bullshit is already a complete card game without drinking.

Simply remove the sip penalty. Whoever loses a challenge still has to pick up the pile, which is punishment enough.

---

Bullshit in One Sentence

Basically: lying is allowed. Being bad at lying is expensive.