- Trash card game setup: decks, layout and players
- What each card does in Trash
- How a turn of Trash works
- Using a jack, then swapping it out later
- Winning a hand and shrinking your layout
- Shorter games and other Trash house rules
- Garbage, Ten and other names for Trash
- My verdict on Trash for family card night
- Frequently asked questions
Trash is a fast card game for two or more players where you race to fill a face down layout of ten cards, Ace to 10, with the right face up card in every position. Two players need one standard 52 card deck, jacks are wild, queens and kings end your turn, and the first player to win a hand with a single card layout wins the whole game.
You'll also hear Trash called Garbage or Ten. Pagat.com, the standard reference for card rules, describes it as an American children's game and says plainly that it's mostly luck, with only the odd decision to make. That's exactly why it works so well with kids. Nobody needs a strategy lecture, and an eight year old can beat a grown up fair and square.
Trash card game setup: decks, layout and players
| Players | Cards you need | Layout each |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | One standard 52 card deck | 10 cards face down, two rows of five |
| 3 or 4 | Two decks shuffled together | 10 cards face down, two rows of five |
| 5 or 6 | Three decks shuffled together | 10 cards face down, two rows of five |
Deal each player ten cards face down in two rows of five. Nobody looks at their cards. The rest of the deck goes face down in the middle as the stock pile. The top row is your Ace to 5 positions, left to right, and the bottom row is 6 to 10. So the top left card is your Ace spot and the bottom right card is your 10 spot.
What each card does in Trash
| Card | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ace | Counts as 1 and goes in your first position |
| 2 to 10 | Go in the position that matches the number |
| Jack | Wild: it can go in any position that still has a face down card |
| Queen or King | Unplayable: drawing one ends your turn straight away |
How a turn of Trash works
- Draw the top card of the stock. From the second turn on, you can take the top card of the discard pile instead.
- If it's an Ace to 10, put it face up in its matching position.
- Pick up the face down card that was sitting there and turn it over.
- If that card fits an empty face down position, place it there and pick up the card it replaces.
- Keep going like a chain until you turn up a card you can't use: a queen, a king, or a number whose spot is already filled face up.
- Put that unusable card face up on the discard pile. Your turn's over and play passes clockwise.
Pagat.com adds a small piece of common sense: if the top card of the discard pile fits a gap in your layout, you'll always want it over a blind draw from the stock. Watch what the player before you throws away. Their trash might be the exact card you need.
Using a jack, then swapping it out later
This is the rule that trips people up the first time. A jack is wild, so you can drop it into any position that still has a face down card, pick up that card and carry on your chain. But the jack doesn't have to stay there forever.
If you later draw or turn up the real card for a spot your jack is holding, you can put the real card in and move the jack to another face down spot. Pagat.com gives the example of a jack sitting in your 2 spot. Turn up a 2, and the jack can slide across to become your 7, so the 2 takes its own place. Used well, one jack can fill two gaps in a single turn.
Winning a hand and shrinking your layout
The first player to have every position filled face up wins the hand. Then everyone's cards get shuffled and dealt again, but the winner gets one fewer card in their layout. Win once and you only lay out Ace to 9, and 10s become unplayable for you. Win twice and you're down to Ace to 8, and so on.
The winner of each hand goes first in the next one. The game ends when a player is down to a single position and fills it with an Ace or a jack. That player wins the whole game. If the stock ever runs out, which pagat.com says is very unlikely, shuffle the discard pile except its top card to make a new stock.
Shorter games and other Trash house rules
A full game can run a while with four players, so pagat.com lists a few ways to speed it up or change the feel:
- Play to a set size: the first player to get down to a six card layout wins.
- Play a fixed number of deals or a set time, and the smallest layout at the end wins.
- Pass the first turn clockwise each hand instead of giving it to the last winner.
- Make kings wild and jacks and queens unplayable, or add jokers as extra wild cards.
- Make all picture cards wild. Then the only dead cards are numbers you already have face up or numbers bigger than your largest open spot.
- Give the losers a lifeline: at the end of a hand, they turn up their remaining face down cards, and anyone who happens to have them all in the right places also drops a card.
Garbage, Ten and other names for Trash
Trash, Garbage and Ten are all the same game. Pagat.com chose Trash as the main name because the other two are also used for different card games, so if a friend says Garbage and describes something with a different layout, they may mean another game altogether. If the rules involve a two row layout of ten face down cards and jacks wild, you're playing this one.
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My verdict on Trash for family card night
Trash is one of my favourite first card games for children. It teaches number order Ace to 10 without feeling like a lesson, the chain reaction of turning cards over is exciting every single time, and luck keeps the score close between ages. I'd start young players with the six card target so the game ends before attention runs out.
The mistake to avoid is forgetting the discard pile. New players draw from the stock out of habit and miss the card that was sitting right there. Once they've got the hang of it, try Go Fish or Crazy Eights next, and if it's just the two of you, there are more ideas in my list of games for two with one deck.
Frequently asked questions
How many cards do you deal in Trash?
Each player gets ten cards face down in two rows of five. After you win a hand, you get one fewer card in the next deal.
Are jacks wild in the Trash card game?
Yes. A jack can go in any position that still holds a face down card, and you can move it later if the real card for that spot turns up.
What happens when you draw a queen or king in Trash?
Queens and kings can't be played, so drawing one ends your turn. You put it on the discard pile and play passes on.
Is Trash the same as Garbage?
Yes. Trash is also called Garbage or Ten. Pagat.com uses Trash because the other names belong to different card games too.
How do you win the game of Trash?
You win a hand by filling every position face up. The overall winner is the first player to win a hand with a single card layout, filled with an Ace or a jack.
How many decks do you need for Trash?
Two players use one 52 card deck. Three or four players use two decks, and five or six players use three.
