How To Play Dreidel: 6 Steps (with Pictures) - WikiHow

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• Categories
• Holidays and Traditions
• Jewish Holy Days

How to Play Dreidel Download Article Explore this Article Steps Steps Other Sections Questions & Answers Video Tips and Warnings Things You'll Need Related Articles References Co-authored by Avrohom Rapoport

Last Updated: October 14, 2025 Approved

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This article was co-authored by Avrohom Rapoport. Avrohom Rapoport is a Rabbi and Jewish Content Creator based in New Jersey. Known as @RabbiRaps online and dubbed "The TikTok Rabbi", Avrohom creates Jewish content designed to educate, entertain, and inspire over 400k followers across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. His upbeat, humorous, and engaging style brings meaning and inspiration to the many who follow him. Avrohom also serves as the Director of Chabad at The Shore, which provides educational and social programming to help foster a deeper Jewish identity. Avrohom studied Hasidic philosophy at the United Lubavitcher Yeshivah in Brooklyn, New York. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, several readers have written to tell us that this article was helpful to them, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 710,023 times.

Dreidel is a traditional game of chance, and one of the most well-known symbols of Hanukkah.[1] [2] The dreidel is a four-sided top with a different Hebrew letter on each side.[3] The game dates back at least to the time when the Greek King Antiochus IV (175 BCE) had outlawed Jewish worship. Jews who gathered to study the Torah would play dreidel to fool soldiers into thinking they were just gambling.[4] Now, it's usually played to see who can win the most gelt (chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil). With a dreidel and some tokens, you can take part in this holiday tradition, too. We'll show you how!

The next Hanukkah is the evening of Friday, December 04 – Saturday, December 12, 2026.

Steps

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1. 1 Get a dreidel. The dreidel you will get will depend on where you live. Outside of Israel, the four letters on the sides of the dreidel are Nun, Gimmel, Hay, and Shin, which stand for "A Great Miracle Happened There,"[5] referring to the miracle of the oil.[6] In Israel, where the miracle happened, the dreidel has the letters Nun, Gimmel, Hay, and Pey, which means "A Great Miracle Happened Here."
2. 2 Gather friends. You can play with as few as two, but the more the merrier!
   • Distribute tokens evenly among all of the players. The tokens can be any little thing: pennies, nuts, raisins, matchsticks, etc. A lot of people use gelt.
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3. 3 Ante up. Before each spin, players put one token in the middle of the circle to create "the pot."[7]
   • Every time the pot is emptied, or there's only one token left, every player should put a token in the pot.
4. 4 Take turns spinning the dreidel. When it's your turn, spin the dreidel once. The letter which comes up once it stops spinning determines whether you win, lose, or draw.[8] According to the letter appearing, the player should perform the following action:
   • Shin ("shtel" or "put in" in Yiddish) - Put one more token in the pot.[9]
   • Nun ("nisht"or "nothing" (in Yiddish) - Do nothing.[10]
   • Gimmel ("gantz"or "everything" in Yiddish) - Take all tokens from the pot.[11]
   • Hay ("halb"or "half" in Yiddish) - Take half of all tokens lying in the pot.[12] In case of an odd number of tokens, round up.
   • If you run out of tokens, you are either "out," or you may ask another player for a loan.
5. 5 Pass the dreidel on to the next player.[13]
6. 6 Keep playing until someone wins by collecting all the tokens.
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Community Q&A

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• Question If I get gimmel and take all the coins from the pot, do I have to put a token back in because the pot is empty? Lil\' Bea Community Answer No, once all of the tokens in the pot are collected, the next person to play will then put in another token. In some versions of this game, all players will put in one of their tokens. Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 31 Helpful 67
• Question Can I put in more than one token when the pot is empty? Community Answer Yes, you can. Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 27 Helpful 71
• Question How many tokens do I need to start with? Community Answer Split the amount of tokens you have evenly among the players. Deal it like you would deal out a deck of cards. Thanks! We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow Yes No Not Helpful 36 Helpful 70

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Video

Tips

• Don't have a dreidel? Download the pattern and make one for yourself![14] Many websites offer free patterns you can print out and use to make your own dreidel. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• In Israel, the letter shin is usually replaced with the letter peh for the word "poh" to create the phrase "a great miracle happened here."[15] Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• In Yiddish, the dreidel is also called "fargle" and "varfl." In Israel, the Hebrew term "sevivon" (from the root meaning "turn around or spin") is used. Thanks Helpful 6 Not Helpful 3

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Things You'll Need

• Dreidel
• A few dozen tokens: buttons, coins, or small candies
• You can also use a bunch of gelt (chocolate coins)

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References

1. ↑ https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/dreidel/
2. ↑ Avrohom Rapoport. Rabbi and Judaism Expert. Expert Interview
3. ↑ Avrohom Rapoport. Rabbi and Judaism Expert. Expert Interview
4. ↑ https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium-gyration-nation-the-weird-ancient-history-of-the-dreidel-1.5344849
5. ↑ https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-origin-of-the-dreidel/
6. ↑ Avrohom Rapoport. Rabbi and Judaism Expert. Expert Interview
7. ↑ Avrohom Rapoport. Rabbi and Judaism Expert. Expert Interview
8. ↑ Avrohom Rapoport. Rabbi and Judaism Expert. Expert Interview
9. ↑ Avrohom Rapoport. Rabbi and Judaism Expert. Expert Interview

More References (6)

10. ↑ Avrohom Rapoport. Rabbi and Judaism Expert. Expert Interview
11. ↑ Avrohom Rapoport. Rabbi and Judaism Expert. Expert Interview
12. ↑ Avrohom Rapoport. Rabbi and Judaism Expert. Expert Interview
13. ↑ Avrohom Rapoport. Rabbi and Judaism Expert. Expert Interview
14. ↑ https://www.dltk-kids.com/world/jewish/mdriedel.html
15. ↑ https://www.thejc.com/judaism/jewish-words/dreidl-se68rg4g

About This Article

Co-authored by: Avrohom Rapoport Rabbi and Judaism Expert This article was co-authored by Avrohom Rapoport. Avrohom Rapoport is a Rabbi and Jewish Content Creator based in New Jersey. Known as @RabbiRaps online and dubbed "The TikTok Rabbi", Avrohom creates Jewish content designed to educate, entertain, and inspire over 400k followers across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. His upbeat, humorous, and engaging style brings meaning and inspiration to the many who follow him. Avrohom also serves as the Director of Chabad at The Shore, which provides educational and social programming to help foster a deeper Jewish identity. Avrohom studied Hasidic philosophy at the United Lubavitcher Yeshivah in Brooklyn, New York. This article has been viewed 710,023 times. 73 votes - 76% Co-authors: 55 Updated: October 14, 2025 Views: 710,023 Categories: Featured Articles | Jewish Holy Days In other languages Spanish Italian Russian German Dutch Japanese

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Reader Success Stories

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  Tory Jordena

  Dec 21, 2016

  "This article helped me because I didn't know what to do when you land on shin. This website showed that you..." more

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Yes No Advertisement Cookies make wikiHow better. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Co-authored by: Avrohom Rapoport Rabbi and Judaism Expert 73 votes - 76% Click a star to vote Co-authors: 55 Updated: October 14, 2025 Views: 710,023

Tory Jordena

Dec 21, 2016

"This article helped me because I didn't know what to do when you land on shin. This website showed that you..." more

Anita Ciarico

Dec 11, 2019

"I didn't know anything about dreidel except that it was a Jewish game. I learned a great deal and appreciate..." more

Angela Perdue

Nov 18, 2017

"My godson found my dreidel and wanted to play. This was a great way to show him how it was done."

Charlene Pray

Aug 13, 2016

"the images and description were very helpful in explaining how the game is played."

Hannah Hazelberg

Nov 17, 2016

"Very useful, and I feel confident I can teach the game from these instructions. " Share yours! More success stories Hide success stories

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