Shed your hand, your face-up cards, and finally your face-down cards. If you cannot play, you pick up the pile—and the last player still holding cards is the idiot.
Two to five players use a standard 52-card deck without jokers. Each player gets three face-down cards on the table, three face-up cards on top of those, and three cards in hand.
The goal is to shed every card you own. If you cannot play on the pile, you pick up the whole pile and try again.
This version: a 2 resets the pile, a 10 burns it, four of a kind in a row burns it, and ace is the highest regular card.
| Card | Effect |
|---|---|
| 2 | Resets the pile—the next player may play any card |
| 10 | Burns the pile—removed from play |
| Four of a kind in a row | Burns the pile |
| Ace | Highest regular card |
| After each turn | Draw from the stock back up to three cards in hand |
Plan three phases. Hand, face-up cards, face-down cards. Do not spend all your strength in phase one.
Read your opponents. A player holding many cards makes your burn even more valuable.
Remember burned cards. Cards in burned piles are out of the game—this changes the odds of completing four of a kind.
The video explains the rules in English. Check your table's house rules before you begin.
The game is known as Palace, Shed, Mattis, and Shithead, and house rules vary widely: whether four of a kind in hand may be played together, the “below seven” rule, reversed comparisons, and what happens when a face-down card cannot be played. Agree before the first deal.
Nothing up your sleeve—just legal moves that make everyone wonder when you got so sharp.
A two resets the pile and a ten burns it. Keep at least one for a desperate moment.
Sometimes collecting a small pile costs less than spending a high card. Keep strength for when the pile grows.
Three equal cards in a row mean the next matching rank burns the entire pile.
Do not lay your best cards face-up. They must carry you through the middle phase—keep twos and tens in hand or hidden.
Threes and fours become hardest to play once the pile climbs. Shed them while the pile is low.
The whole pile is removed from play and the next player starts fresh. It is the game's biggest game-changer.
Many groups allow it—agree before the game starts.
The last player still holding cards when everyone else has finished.
Rules reviewed on 24 September 2026. House rules vary; this page describes one clear standard version.
Deal the cards and see who sheds everything first—and who ends up the idiot.