Garbage is an easy to learn card game for 2 or more players using a standard 52 card deck. The object is to get your cards in a specific sequence. To begin, shuffle the deck.

The dealer deals 10 cards to each player (if 3 or more people are playing, 2 decks will be required). The players then place their cards face down in 2 rows, and the dealer puts the remaining cards in a pile in the middle. This is called the GARBAGE pile. The top card is placed face up creating the discard pile.

The first player to make a move is the player immediately to the dealer’s left. They will either draw the top card off the draw pile or use the card in discard pile. If the card is between an Ace and a ten, they will place it face up in the corresponding spot in the layout before them. For example, if they draw a five, it would be placed on the fifth spot in the layout.

Then, the player would turn over that first card that is being “replaced” by the card they just drew. It would be moved accordingly, if possible. So, if you flip over the fifth card in the lineup and have a ten, you would move that ten to the tenth spot and continue.

This continues until the player reveals a number already face-up in the line-up or until they draw a Jack or a King. The Jacks and Kings are garbage and end up in the discard pile. That signifies the end of a turn.

The Queens are wildcards and can replace any face-down card in the layout. If a Queen is being used as a wildcard and the player reveals the correct card for that wildcard spot, the card can replace the wildcard. Then, the wild card can be moved to another spot. When a move is no longer possible, the last card a player has is placed in the pile and the game moves onto the next player.

A player wins when the cards are all face-up and in sequential order from Ace to ten, with any Queens in the appropriate wildcard slots. At this point, the player wins the round.

In this next round, the cards are reshuffled and dealt again. The player who won the previous round is dealt one less card than the round before.

For example, if this is the second round and the first layout of ten was just cleared, the winner of the round would be dealt nine cards instead of ten. Every other player receives the same number of cards they had in the previous round.

Being dealt one less card makes it just slightly easier for the player to clear their layout. Instead of going Ace to ten, they will now only need to go Ace to nine. This continues until a player is down to one card in the layout.

The final win occurs when a player is down to just one card and is able to clear it with an Ace or a wildcard. There are many variations in this game–some prefer to use Kings as wildcards, some allow every player a final turn after the winning player completes their turn.

My granddaughter taught us this game several years ago and it has become a family favorite. So much so that the Garbage Champion is a much contested opinion. I believe myself to be the champion while my granddaughter believes herself to be the champion.

To settle the disagreement, I have challenged her to a championship match and fashioned a Garbage Trophy to boot!

I’ll update when a winner is determined!

UPDATE: The Garbage Championship was played this weekend. My granddaughter won the first 2 rounds…I came back defiantly and won the next 2 rounds…so it came down to the final round! We were neck and neck, but in the end she finally beat me!

She’s taken the trophy home to put proudly on her trophy shelf, with an offer to let me take another crack at her at Christmas! Challenge accepted!!