Most card games deal a fixed number of cards per player, and that number doesn't change when more people sit down. UNO is 7. Phase 10 is 10. Texas Hold'em is 2 hole cards. The exceptions are worth knowing, because they're exactly the games where someone at the table insists they're right and everyone else is wrong.
Here's the full list, then the reasoning behind the ones people ask about most.
The cheat sheet
| Game | Cards each | Players | Decks needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNO | 7 | 2 to 10 | 1 (108-card deck) |
| Phase 10 | 10 | 2 to 6 | 1 (108-card deck) |
| Texas Hold'em | 2 hole + 5 board | 2 to 12 | 1 |
| Five-card draw | 5 | 2 to 8 | 1 |
| Blackjack | 2 | 2 to 7 | 1 to 8 (shoe) |
| Gin Rummy | 10 | 2 | 1 |
| Rummy 500 | 7 (some groups 10) | 2 to 8 | 2 |
| Canasta | 11 | 2 to 6 | 2 + jokers |
| Crazy Eights | 5 (7 with two players) | 2 to 7 | 1 |
| Go Fish | 5 (7 with two players) | 2 to 6 | 1 |
| Spoons | 4 (some groups 3) | 3 to 13 | 1 per 4 to 6 players |
| Golf | 6 | 2 to 6 | 1 |
| Cheat / BS | whole deck split | 3 to 10 | 1 to 2 |
| Snap | whole deck split | 2 to 8 | 1 |
| Egyptian Rat Screw | whole deck split | 2 to 8 | 1 |
| War | 26 | 2 | 1 |
| Nerts / Pounce | one full deck per player | 2 to 8 | 1 per player |
| Bridge | 13 | 4 | 1 |
| Spades | 13 | 4 | 1 |
| Euchre | 5 | 4 | 1 (24-card deck) |
Where rules traditions differ, the number is a house rule. Settle it before the first deal rather than at hand twelve.
UNO: 7 cards, and no, it doesn't scale
Seven cards each, whether you're playing heads-up or with eight people. The deck is 108 cards, which stretches to about 10 players before the draw pile gets thin and reshuffles start happening every few turns.
The one number worth memorizing: when you can't play a card, you draw one and lose the turn. If that card is playable, official rules say you can play it immediately. A lot of families play it as a hard pass instead. Decide before you deal.
Phase 10: 10 cards, every round, every player count
Ten cards each, all ten rounds, and the count never changes. What does change is how many cards stay in hand. Lay down your phase and the round ends the moment one player empties their hand, so four players can end a round with three of them still holding 10 cards apiece.
That's the whole reason scoring matters so much in this game. We broke down the phase order and the penalty values in the full Phase 10 rules if you want the rest.
Poker: 2, 5 or 7
Texas Hold'em, the game most home nights mean, deals 2 cards face-down to each player and then 5 community cards face-up in three stages. No fifth street surprises there.
Five-card draw deals 5 cards to each player, with an optional exchange after the first betting round. Seven-card stud deals 2 face-down and 1 face-up to start, then 4 more face-up in stages. If your group is arguing about this, check which game you actually agreed to play before you argue about the cards.
One more number that isn't about dealing but matters just as much: at 12 players, Hold'em is roughly 35 card movements per hand once you count holes, burns and community cards.
The rummy family
Gin Rummy is the clean one: 10 cards each, two players, one deck.
Rummy 500 uses two decks and deals 7 cards each in most published rules, though plenty of groups deal 10. Both work, but the 10-card version plays noticeably longer.
Canasta needs two full decks plus four jokers, and deals 11 cards each. If you're running a Canasta night, that's 22 cards out of the machine before anyone plays a single card.
Games where the whole deck gets split
Cheat, Snap, Egyptian Rat Screw and War don't deal a set number. The deck gets divided among the players and the dealing is the setup, not a per-round thing.
Two consequences worth knowing. First, with an odd number of players someone gets an extra card, which matters in War and doesn't in Snap. Second, these are the games where a two-bay machine earns its price, because you can keep a shuffled deck ready while the current one is being destroyed.
Nerts is the outlier: every player needs their own full deck. Two decks means two players, full stop.
Does the deal size change with player count?
Usually no. The two real exceptions are Go Fish and Crazy Eights, which deal 7 cards each when only two people are playing and 5 each once a third player joins. The reason is the same in both: with two players you need more cards in hand to have any decisions to make.
Spoons is the other one, and only because 4 cards is already tight. Some groups drop to 3 with a big crowd so the round doesn't drag.
Why this matters if you use a machine
On an automatic shuffler with a dealing function, the player count setting is what determines how many cards each seat receives. It's not decorative.
Set the player count to 6 and deal to 10 and the distribution is wrong from the first card. If you normally keep the deal at the same count, note it on the machine or on a card by the table, because it's a setting that quietly resets expectations. Our setup guide walks through the mode and player count settings in order.
For 10 to 12 players, a shuffler and dealer handles both decks and the distribution, so the count you set is the count everyone gets. For Phase 10 and UNO nights at a smaller table, the Dealtron X1 just keeps the 108-card decks moving, and you deal by hand.
Frequently asked questions
How many cards do you deal in UNO? Seven per player, at every player count. The draw pile absorbs the rest.
How many cards do you deal in Phase 10? Ten per player, every round. The number never changes.
How many cards does each poker player get? Two hole cards in Texas Hold'em. Five in five-card draw. Seven-card stud starts with three and adds four.
Do you deal more cards with more players? Normally no. Go Fish, Crazy Eights and Spoons are the exceptions, and only at specific player counts.
How many cards should be left in the draw pile? Enough that you don't reshuffle every second round. If you're reshuffling more than once a round, you're dealing too many cards or playing with too many people for one deck.
If your group plays 10 to 12 and the dealing has become the slow part, the Dealtron MAX6 deals to every seat from two decks with 8 wireless remotes. Free US shipping, 30-day returns and a 6-month replacement guarantee.