How Many Cards Do You Deal in UNO? Setup Rules for Every Player Count

Tessa Hargreaves
November 12, 2026

Setting up a game of UNO takes less than a minute once you know the routine, but the very first question new players ask is how many cards everyone should start with. The short version: in standard UNO you deal seven cards to each player, and that number never changes no matter how many people are at the table. Below you will find the full setup, the deck breakdown, what to do when the first card flipped is a special card, and how the deal differs across popular UNO versions.

Quick Facts

Cards dealt per player: 7
Number of players: 2–10
Recommended age: 7 and up
Deck size: 108 cards (112 in sets made since 2018)
After the deal: remaining cards form the draw pile; top card is flipped to start the discard pile

The short answer: deal 7 cards each

Every player in a standard game receives exactly seven cards at the start. This is the rule Mattel prints in the official instructions, and it is the same whether you are playing a quick two-person round or a noisy group of ten. The remaining cards stay in the middle of the table to form the draw pile, and one card is turned face up to begin the discard pile.

If you are brand new to the game, our definitive UNO guide for beginners walks through a full round from deal to victory. This article focuses specifically on the deal and the table setup.

What is inside a UNO deck?

Knowing what the deck contains makes the deal easier to picture. A classic UNO deck holds 108 cards, split across four colours — red, yellow, green and blue — plus a set of black Wild cards:

Number cards: each colour has one 0 and two each of 1 through 9.
Action cards: each colour has two Skip, two Reverse and two Draw Two cards.
Wild cards: four Wild and four Wild Draw Four cards.

Decks manufactured since 2018 contain 112 cards, adding one Wild Shuffle Hands card and three blank customisable Wild cards. Either way, dealing seven cards to a full table of ten players uses 70 cards and still leaves a healthy draw pile. Understanding how each card behaves is covered in our breakdown of the core UNO mechanics.

How to set up UNO step by step

1. Pick a dealer and shuffle

Choose any player to act as dealer — a common house method is to have everyone draw one card, with the highest number dealing. Shuffle the full deck thoroughly so colours and action cards are well mixed.

2. Deal seven cards to each player

Deal the cards one at a time, face down, going around the table until every player holds seven. Players keep their hands hidden. Do not deal extra cards to “balance” a large group; the seven-card start is fixed.

3. Form the draw pile and discard pile

Place the rest of the deck face down in the centre — this is the draw pile. Flip the top card face up beside it to start the discard pile. The first player (to the dealer’s left, with play moving clockwise) must match that card by colour, number or symbol, or play a Wild. If you ever exhaust the centre stack mid-game, see what happens when the draw pile runs out in UNO.

Does the number of players change the deal?

No. Whether you have two players or the maximum of ten, each person still starts with seven cards. UNO is officially designed for 2 to 10 players, ages 7 and up. The only thing that changes with more players is how quickly the draw pile shrinks, which is why the game scales comfortably to a full table without altering the deal.

2 players: 7 cards each (14 dealt) — fast, duel-style rounds.
3–4 players: 7 cards each — the most common family setup.
5–7 players: 7 cards each — more action cards in play, faster colour changes.
8–10 players: 7 cards each — consider shuffling two decks together for a longer game.

Because every hand is equal, no player has a size advantage at the start. If your group ever splits into teams or someone joins late, our guide to UNO with uneven player counts explains the fair ways to handle it.

What if the first card flipped is a special card?

Sometimes the card you turn over to start the discard pile is not a plain number. The official rules tell you exactly how to handle it. Note that Mattel updated this guidance in 2018.

Wild Draw Four: in every version of the rules, return it to the deck, reshuffle and flip a new card. It should never be the starting card.
Any other action or Wild card (current rules): ignore its effect and flip another card until a number card appears.
Under the older pre-2018 rules: a starting Skip skipped the first player, a Reverse reversed direction (the dealer plays first), a Draw Two made the first player draw two and lose their turn, and a Wild let the first player choose the opening colour.

Groups that prefer the older behaviour can simply agree on it before the game — that is one of many popular tweaks in our list of UNO house rules.

Do UNO variants deal a different number of cards?

Most UNO spin-offs keep the seven-card deal, but a few change it because their decks are larger or smaller. The table below shows how the deal compares across common versions.

Deal Size by UNO Version

Version	Cards dealt per player	Deck size	Players
Classic UNO	7	108 (112 since 2018)	2–10
UNO Flip	7	112	2–10
UNO No Mercy	7	168	2–10
UNO Junior	5	56	2–4

Common setup mistakes to avoid

Dealing more cards for bigger groups. The deal is always seven; adding cards just makes rounds drag and can empty the draw pile too fast.
Leaving a Wild Draw Four as the starter. It must go back into the deck and be re-flipped.
Forgetting to keep hands hidden. Cards are dealt face down and stay private until played.
Skipping the shuffle. A poorly shuffled deck clusters colours and action cards, making the first few turns lopsided.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

How many cards do you deal in UNO?

Seven cards to each player. This is the official starting hand in standard UNO and it applies to every player at the table.

Does the number of players change how many cards you deal?

No. From two players up to the maximum of ten, everyone still starts with seven cards. Only the speed at which the draw pile depletes changes with more players.