What Is Beggar My Neighbour?
Beggar My Neighbour — also called Strip Jack Naked — is one of the oldest children’s card games still played today, requiring absolutely no skill or decisions. Two players simply alternate placing cards face-up onto a pile. The moment a face card or Ace appears, the other player must pay tribute — a specific number of cards placed on top. If they pay without revealing another face card, the first player wins the entire pile. If a face card appears during tribute, the roles reverse. The player who collects all 52 cards wins.
What You Need
- One standard deck of 52 playing cards
- Exactly two players
The Tribute Values — Memorize These Four
- Ace: the other player must pay 4 tribute cards
- King: the other player must pay 3 tribute cards
- Queen: the other player must pay 2 tribute cards
- Jack: the other player must pay 1 tribute card
- All other cards (2 through 10): no tribute — play passes normally
Setting Up the Game
- Shuffle all 52 cards thoroughly.
- Deal 26 cards to each player face-down. Players hold their pile face-down without looking.
- Decide who goes first.
How to Play — Step by Step
- Player 1 takes the top card of their pile and places it face-up in the center to start the center pile.
- If it is a number card (2 through 10), Player 2 takes the top card of their pile and places it face-up on top. Players keep alternating.
- When a face card or Ace is played: STOP. The other player now owes tribute — they must play a specific number of cards from their pile onto the center pile, one at a time, face-up.
- The tribute player flips their cards one at a time, counting as they go. For a King, they flip 3 cards. For a Queen, 2 cards. For a Jack, 1 card. For an Ace, 4 cards.
- If ALL tribute cards are plain number cards with no face card or Ace among them: the player who played the original face card wins the ENTIRE center pile. They take all the cards, shuffle them into their pile, and play the first card of a new center pile.
- If a face card or Ace appears during the tribute: immediately STOP paying tribute. Now the ROLES REVERSE — the player who was paying tribute has just played a face card, so the other player must now pay tribute based on this new card. This reversal can happen many times in a single sequence.
An Example Chain
Player 1 plays a Queen — Player 2 owes 2 tribute cards. Player 2 flips: a 6 (one of two), then a King (face card — stop!). Now Player 1 owes 3 tribute for the King. Player 1 flips: a 9 (one of three), a 4 (two of three), a 2 (three of three) — no face cards. Player 2 wins the entire pile because Player 1 paid tribute without hitting a face card.
Running Out of Cards
If a player runs out of cards while paying tribute, they lose immediately — the other player wins the game.
Winning
The player who collects all 52 cards wins. Games can be very long — set a time limit if desired.