Up the River, Down the River – the Drinking Game

Up the River, Down the River a popular drinking game involving a deck of cards and two or more players. The game has different levels, where the players must try to guess about the cards. A correct guess allows the player to pass out drinks and an incorrect answer forces the player to take drinks. Different rounds call for a different amount of drinks passed out or taken.

In the first round players guess red or black, meaning the suit of the card that the dealer is holding. If the player is correct they pass out a drink to another player of their choice, if they guess wrong then they must drink one drink themselves. The second round the player tries to guess if the card is higher or lower than their previous card, again if they are correct they pass out 2 drinks, if they are wrong they drink 2 drinks. Third round is where the players guess if the card is in between or outside the other two cards they already have. If they are correct they pass out 3 drinks, if they were wrong they drink 3 drinks. Fourth round is where the players pick a suit, if they are correct in the choice they pass out 4 drinks, and if they are wrong they drink 4 drinks.

After this point the dealer will create a river, which is two lines of cards placed next to each other, there are four cards in each line. The line on the left is the give pile and the line on the right is the take pile. The first card is worth two drinks, second is worth four drinks, third is worth six drinks, and the last card is worth eight drinks or chug (it all depends on your preferences).

After the dealer creates the river they will flip over the take pile first, if a player has a matching card in their hand then they take two drinks. For example if the card is a 7 and a player has a 7 from the previous cards dealt to them then they drink 2 drinks. Now the give pile is flipped and anyone with a matching card now gives out 2 drinks. This is continued in this fashion until the last card is flipped and the drinks are given out. After the last card in the river is flipped and the drinks are passed out, you acn repeat the game.

There really is no winner to this game you are all winners because you are accomplishing your main goal of getting drunk. That is why many times we play that the final river card is chug the rest of your drink. This ensures you will get tore up very fast, and you will have a good time.