The many variations of local rules for Bartok make it difficult to give a general account of the rules. They tend to become very complex. The basic idea, as in Crazy Eights, is that players attempt to get rid of their hands by matching either suits or numbers of the previous hands played. Like combination shedding and guessing games such as Mao, the rules can become quite complex. The similarity between Mao and Bartok is such that Mao is called Bartok, or Bartok is called Mao, in many places.

To the extent that there is in fact a difference between the two games, it is this: unlike Mao, where the rules must be guessed by the players who join the game, the rules of Bartok are an open secret. They are typically introduced, often in a rhyme or in a very fast patter, by one player whenever another player joins the game. Typically, a game of Bartok is played with a standard deck of 52 playing cards and two jokers. Players are dealt five or seven cards at the outset; a single card is then dealt of the top face up, and players must match that card in either suit or number. Players who cannot match suit or number must draw a card; if that card is not playable it is retained in their hands.

There are many special local rules; their complexity is what makes the game unique. One such variation, not necessarily typical, provides that:

• When a two is played, the next player skips a turn
• When a three is played, the player who plays it gets another card.
• When a four is played, "war" is declared. Anyone who has the five of the suit must play it; then the players get the opportunity to play the six, and so forth through the numbers. When no one else is able to play, the next to last person to play a card in the sequence must draw extra cards up to the last number played, up to ten. Play then resumes as before.
• Eights are wild cards, as in Crazy Eights; they can be played at any time, and the player declares a suit or a number.
• Jacks are another lose a turn card for the next player.
• Aces reverse the direction of play, from counter-clockwise to clockwise or vice versa.
• Jokers can be played at any time, and the next player draws four cards and loses a turn.

These rules would then be summarized in a brief synopsis to new players:

Twos, you lose;

Threes go free;

Four means war;

Eights are crazy;

Jacks you skip;

Aces go back;

Jokers lose big.

The idea is to make the rules complex and easily overlooked in the heat of play, and to play rapidly, so that one of the special rules is easily overlooked. Whenever a rule violation is caught, the violator must draw two cards. More importantly, in the environment in which the game is typically played, the violator must drink a shot of an alcoholic beverage or smoke a small "hit" bowl of marijuana. The idea is to cause the players to become more and more befuddled, so that they forget the rules of the game more and more frequently.

In "Bong 98," the players must also keep a running total of the point value of the cards played in the hand, and declare the new total as they play. If a player forgets the total or fumbles the addition, that player is deemed a rule violator and incurs the penalties. Players are not allowed to exceed 98; if 98 is reached, the player who brings the count to exactly 98 wins.