President

Objective

Be the first to empty your hand. Finishing order sets everyone’s rank for the next hand — and the winner gets a tax on the loser’s best cards.

The deal

Deal the entire deck out clockwise, one card at a time. With 4–7 players it will not divide evenly and some players will have one extra card. That is normal and nobody adjusts for it.

Card ranking, high to low: 2, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3. Suits are irrelevant.

On the very first hand of a session nobody has a rank yet, so the player holding the 3♣ leads. After that, the President always leads.

Playing a round

The leader plays any single card, or any set of equal-rank cards — a pair, a triple, or four of a kind. That sets the shape of the round.

1. Going clockwise, each player must either beat the previous play or pass.
2. To beat it you must play the same number of cards at a higher rank. Two 6s can only be beaten by two 7s or higher — never by a single King.
3. Passing does not remove you from the round; you may play again if it comes back around, unless you are playing the single-round variant.
4. When everyone has passed on the last play, the round ends. Those cards are set aside, and the player who made that last play leads the next round with anything they like.

When you play your last card you are out, and your finishing position is locked in. Everyone else keeps playing to settle the remaining places.

The social ranks

Finishing order becomes your job title for the next hand.

With four players there is no Citizen — you get President, VP, Vice Scum and Scum. With five or more, the middle fills up with Citizens.

The card exchange

After every hand except the first, cards are traded before play begins:

• The Scum hands their two best cards to the President. The President hands back any two cards of their choice — usually their two worst.
• The Vice Scum hands their single best card to the Vice President, who hands back any one card.
• Citizens exchange nothing.

How many cards get traded varies a lot between groups: two-and-one is the most common, but one-and-one is gentler and two-and-two is brutal. Decide before the first exchange, not during it.

Winning

President has no natural end point — it is played as a series of hands, and the winner is whoever is President when you stop. Two common ways to make that concrete:

• Fixed hands — play a set number (seven or nine is typical), and whoever is President at the end wins.
• Points — award 2 points for President, 1 for Vice President, 0 for Citizens, −1 for Vice Scum and −2 for Scum. First to 10 points wins.

The points method is the fairer of the two, since being President once at the end of a session says less than being President repeatedly.

Card library

Ranking runs 2 at the top down to 3 at the bottom. Suits are irrelevant — only rank and how many cards you play.

Short drills on the rules people get wrong. Nothing is saved anywhere but this browser.

House rules & variations

Every table plays a little differently. These are the common variants — agree on them before you deal.

Strategy hints

1. Pairs and triples are worth more than their face value. Two 5s beat two 4s but are untouchable by any single card — breaking up a pair to win a small round is usually a mistake.

2. As Scum, do not try to win. You gave away your two best cards; aim for the middle and get out of the exchange entirely.

3. As President, hand back cards that are useless as sets, not just low cards. Two 3s are worse for you than a 3 and a 4, because the pair is playable.

4. Save one high card for the endgame. Being the last to hold a 2 means you win a round and get a free lead when it matters most.

5. Count who is out. Once the strong players have finished, your low cards get much stronger — a lead of 5s can win outright against two remaining players.

6. Lead your longest suit of matched ranks early while everyone still has cards to burn. Sets get harder to play as hands shrink.

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