How to Play The Gauntlet

Author Info

Updated: March 21, 2018

So, you're sitting there at a party, and you're getting just a little bored. Here's a drinking card game to help pass the time.


  1. 1
    Lay five cards on the table, left to right. The first two cards go face-up, the third card goes face-down, and the last two cards go face-up.
  2. 2
    Place the remainder of the deck face-down in front of the dealer.
  3. 3
    Starting with the left-most card, the player must guess whether the next card in the deck will be higher or lower than the face-up card.
  4. 4
    The dealer turns over the top card in the deck, and matches it with the player's guess. A tie counts as a loss.
    • For example, if a 6 of hearts is showing, and the player guesses "higher", he wants a number greater than 6 to show up.
    • If the card matches the player's guess, he moves on to the next card.
    • If his guess is wrong, the player takes a drink, and starts back at the beginning.
  5. 5
    When the player gets to the third card, he must guess red or black instead of higher or lower.
  6. 6
    The fourth and fifth cards are played the same as the first card.
  7. 7
    The player is not done playing until he guesses all five cards in the sequence correctly -- even if he moves through the entire deck.
  8. 8
    When a player finishes running the gauntlet successfully, the deck is reshuffled and the game moves to the next person.

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  • This game can be played using a scoring method instead of as a drinking game.
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Things You'll Need

  • deck of cards
  • a drink

About This Article

4 votes - 75%
Co-authors: 9
Updated: March 21, 2018
Views: 20,701
Categories: Drinking Games

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