Dreidel is a spinning-top game everyone already half knows. The trouble is the other half: people remember the letters but not the house rules, and a game with no ending can grind on long after the latkes are gone. Here is the whole thing.
What you need
One dreidel per table of two to eight players, and something to bet. Chocolate gelt is traditional. Pennies, raisins, nuts, or wrapped candy all work. Give every player the same starting stash, 10 to 15 pieces each, so nobody starts ahead.
The four letters
A dreidel has a Hebrew letter on each side: Nun, Gimel, Hei and Shin. Together they stand for Nes Gadol Haya Sham, "a great miracle happened there." Dreidels made in Israel swap Shin for Pe, for po, meaning "here." The game plays the same either way, with Pe counting as Shin.
Each letter is also a move, and the old Yiddish words make them easy to remember:
- Nun (nisht, nothing): nothing happens. Pass the dreidel.
- Gimel (gants, everything): take the whole pot.
- Hei (halb, half): take half the pot.
- Shin (shtel, put in): add one piece to the pot.
How a round works
- Ante up. Every player puts one piece in the middle.
- Spin. Take turns going around the table. Spin by the stem, and let it fall on its own.
- Follow the letter. Read the side facing up and do what it says.
- Refill the pot. Whenever the pot is empty or down to one piece, usually right after a Gimel, everyone antes one more.
A player who can't pay when they owe is out.
Settle these before the first spin
Every family plays slightly differently, and arguments start at the first odd number. Decide out loud:
- Hei on an odd pot. Round up or down? Rounding up is the common choice, and it moves the game along.
- A dreidel that falls off the table. Respin is the usual call.
- Tipping it over by hand. It has to fall on its own, or it doesn't count.
How to make it end
Played to the last coin, dreidel can run a very long time, because Shin and the antes keep feeding gelt back into the middle. For a party, set a timer for 15 to 20 minutes, and whoever holds the most gelt when it goes off wins. With a big crowd, run several tables at once and have each table's winner play a final round.
The rest of the night
Our Hanukkah Party Games kit prints the dreidel rules on a tally sheet that tracks gelt for up to eight players, and adds seven more games to run between spins: Hanukkah Bingo, a fact-checked trivia round, a Latke Cook-Off with secret ballots and a Gelt Toss. If you need help with the invitation, see Printable Invitations: What to Say and When to Send Them.