Section 3: Setup & Deal
- Shuffle and deal the entire deck — 26 cards to each player, face down.
- Players do not look at their cards. Each keeps a face-down stack.
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Section 3: Setup & Deal
War
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What is setup & deal in War?
Verdict
Shuffle and deal the entire deck — 26 cards to each player, face down.; Players do not look at their cards. Each keeps a face-down stack.
Why people argue about this
People often assume that dealing cards face down means they're supposed to be kept secret from other players, leading them to argue about who should have which card or what might be hidden in their stack. However, the rule actually just instructs players not to look at their own cards until later in the game when they reveal them for everyone's benefit.
Send this to your friend — argument over.
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Rules sourced from Traditional public-domain game — standard two-player rules · Last verified: Aug 2026