Higher or Lower — known on the night as Play Your Cards Right — is the most-requested game at Premier SpeedQuizzing events. Simple rules, enormous tension, and an ending that always produces a genuine, audible reaction from the whole room. Because the rules take seconds to explain, everyone in the room can follow along and shout advice from the very first card.
How to play Higher or Lower (Play Your Cards Right)
We lay ten cards face-down on a board, visible to the whole room. We then turn one card face-up at one end to start the game. After that, we randomly pick a player, who must predict whether the next card in the row is higher or lower than the one just revealed.
- Get it right and move to the next card
- Get it wrong and the game resets
- Make it through all ten cards in a row and win the jackpot
A correct sequence of ten cards is rarer than it sounds. The odds shift with every card — for example, whether the next card is likely to be higher or lower depends entirely on which cards are still left in the deck, not on gut feeling. Significance magazine, published by the Royal Statistical Society, has actually worked through the real probability behind exactly this kind of higher-or-lower run. The cards are fair — a standard deck — but the tension by card seven, eight, nine is extraordinary, and as a result the room always reacts to the final card.
The jackpot
The jackpot builds each week nobody wins it. The longer the run without a winner, the more dramatic it eventually becomes — and, because tension builds card by card, the room gets noticeably louder with each successful guess.
Play Your Cards Right rules: your questions answered
Is ace high or low in Play Your Cards Right?
Ace is high. In the standard game the order runs from 2 (lowest) up to King, with the Ace above the King as the highest card.
How many cards do you use in Play Your Cards Right?
A standard 52-card deck. The classic TV game laid out a row of five cards per contestant; at our quiz nights we use a row of ten, which is what makes the jackpot so hard to win.
What happens if the next card is the same value?
In the TV version a matching card counts as a wrong guess and the turn ends. At our events the host explains the house rules before the first card is turned, so everyone knows where they stand.
How do you play Play Your Cards Right at home?
All you need is a deck of cards. Deal a row of face-down cards (five is plenty at home), turn the first one over, and ask the player whether the next card will be higher or lower. Turn it over: if they are right they carry on to the next card, and if they are wrong their turn is over. The first player to reach the end of the row wins.
How do you make a Play Your Cards Right board?
Stick a row of ten playing cards, face-down, to a sheet of stiff card or a pinboard using removable tape or small pockets, so each one can be flipped over in turn. That is essentially what you can see in the photo above. For a pub or party, keep the row large enough for the whole room to see.
What does “play your cards right” mean?
As an expression, it means making the best use of the opportunities you have been given. It is also the name of the long-running UK game show, hosted for years by Bruce Forsyth, in which contestants guess whether each card is higher or lower than the last.
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Play Your Cards Right is a regular feature at our corporate and private events too. Book a quiz night for your workplace or event →
