diff --git a/bin/cards/maumau/model/CardHandler.class b/bin/cards/maumau/model/CardHandler.class
index 24778c3..e79c97e 100644
Binary files a/bin/cards/maumau/model/CardHandler.class and b/bin/cards/maumau/model/CardHandler.class differ
diff --git a/src/cards/maumau/model/CardHandler.java b/src/cards/maumau/model/CardHandler.java
index c69a174..b0cfe80 100644
--- a/src/cards/maumau/model/CardHandler.java
+++ b/src/cards/maumau/model/CardHandler.java
@@ -71,9 +71,38 @@ class CardHandler {
 
     /**
      * Deals cards to all players.
+     * @throws Exception when there are not enough cards to satisfy starting conditions
      */
-    void dealCards() {
-        //TODO implement
+    void dealCards() throws Exception {
+
+        // get List of players
+        List<Player> players = game.getPlayers();
+
+
+        //checks if there are enough cards to be dealt
+        int totalCardsNeeded = players.size() * numCardsPerPlayer + 1;
+
+        if (totalCardsNeeded > drawPile.size() ){
+            throw new Exception("Not enough cards to deal!");
+        }
+
+        
+        for (int i = 0; i < numCardsPerPlayer; i++) {
+
+            for (int j = 0; j < players.size(); j++) {
+
+                // get the current player
+                Player currPlayer = players.get(j);
+
+                //execute drawCards as currPlayer to draw 1 card
+                currPlayer.drawCards(1);
+                
+
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Put the starting card on the discard Pile
+        discard(drawCard());
     }
 
     /**