President

Players and equipment

Three to eight, each for themselves, with a standard 52-card deck; four to seven make the best game. It is a climbing game, meaning every play has to beat the one before it, and a game about status: the first player out of cards is president, the last one holding cards is scum, and those ranks are the score. Also called Scum, and ruder names at many tables. Half the fun is the seating shuffle between deals.

The deal

The whole deck, dealt round one card at a time; some players will hold one card more than others, and nobody minds. In every hand after the first, the seats are the previous hand's finishing order: the president at the head of the table, the others in the order they went out, down to scum, who shuffles, deals and clears the cards away.

Play

Twos are high — the order runs 3 up to ace, then 2. Suits do not matter. In the first hand the player to the dealer's left leads; many tables give the first lead to whoever holds the three of clubs instead. From the second hand on, scum leads.

The leader plays a set: a single card, a pair, a triple or four of a kind. Each player in turn must play the same size of set on a higher rank, or pass. A pair beats a lower pair; a single card cannot be played on a pair, however high it is. Passing does not lock you out of the round: when the turn comes back to you, you may play again if you can beat what is on the pile. When everybody else passes on a play, the pile is turned over and pushed aside, and whoever made the last play leads anew with any set they like.

The base game requires you to beat the previous play outright. If you want the skip below, agree first that an equal rank may be played as well — without that there is nothing for the skip to trigger on.

The first player out of cards is president and the next is vice-president. The last one left holding cards is scum, and the player before them is vice-scum where the table bothers to name them. Before the next hand is dealt, scum hands the president their highest card — commonly two cards in bigger games — and the president passes back any card they choose, which is usually their worst. The vice-president and vice-scum swap one card the same way.

Common extras, worth agreeing first: four of a kind clears the pile; an exact-rank match skips the next player.

Scoring

Two points to the president, one to the vice-president, nothing to anybody else:

President

2

First out of cards

Vice-president

1

Second out

Everyone else

0

Including scum

Plenty of tables do not bother with numbers at all — the title is the score, and the seating shuffle is the scoreboard. Where a table does keep count, every deal is a row on a running score table. On SquareScores that is the score table, the host enters the points at the end of each deal, and the app ends the match when somebody reaches eleven.

A worked game

Four players: Alice, Ben, Cara and Dev. Alice deals the first hand and Ben, on her left, leads.

Deal 1

Ben 2, Cara 1

Ben out first, Cara second, Alice third, Dev last

Deal 2

Ben 2, Alice 1

Dev deals and leads; Ben out first again, Alice second, Dev third, Cara last

Deal 3

Alice 2, Dev 1

Cara deals; Alice out first, Dev second, Cara third, Ben last

Deal 4

Alice 2, Ben 1

Ben deals; Alice out first, Ben second, Cara third, Dev last

Before deal 2 the seats change: Ben moves to the head of the table and Dev to the bottom. Dev, as scum, hands Ben his best card, the two of spades, and gets a four back. Before deal 3 Cara gives Ben the ace of hearts for a three. Before deal 4 Ben, last out with a hand of low singles, is scum: he gives Alice his two of clubs, takes her seven, and deals. After four deals the totals are Ben 5, Alice 5, Cara 1, Dev 1. Ben sat at the head of the table for two hands and now sits at the bottom with the worst cards, which is why a president's reign rarely lasts.

Ending

First to eleven points wins, which is a handful of deals. Play a fixed number of deals instead if you prefer, or simply stop when the jokes wear out and call it for whoever holds the presidency.

Passing on purpose

You may pass with a card that could beat the pile, and often you should. Whoever makes the play everybody else passes on leads the next round, and the lead is what wins President: it lets you choose the size of set the table has to match. So do not beat a five with a king because you can. Ask what the king is for; if it is one of the cards you plan to finish with, let the five stand and wait for a pile worth taking.

Holding the twos

A two beats anything, so a two is not for winning a pile: it is for taking the lead back at the moment you need it. Hold your twos until your hand is down to a few cards, then use one to end a round and lead what is left. The danger is a hand that ends with a two and three low singles, which needs the lead three more times when the two buys it once. Count the twos as they go, because once all four are out your aces behave like twos.

When to lead

Lead low singles early, while everybody still holds plenty and a low card is covered for nothing. When you have the lead and can afford to lose it, lead the set you find hardest to shed: three low pairs are three rounds you must lead, so start them at once. Your last play must win the round or empty your hand, so plan to go out on a two, a high pair or a set nobody can follow. As scum, leading with your best card gone, lead the lowest pair and play for vice-scum.

Breaking up a run

A pair is worth more than two singles, because fewer players can follow a pair and a high one often wins outright, so do not split one lightly. Split when a single wins you the lead now and the other card can go on a low single later. A triple led is close to unbeatable at a full table. Count the ranks as they go: once two of a rank have been played, nobody holds a triple of it.

Two cards each way

The common exchange at a full table: scum gives the president their two best cards and takes any two back, and vice-scum gives the vice-president their one best card for any one. With four or five players a single card each way keeps the gap between the ranks smaller.

Twos clear the pile

A two is played on its own and ends the round at once, whatever is on the pile: the player who laid it clears the cards and leads. A two is then a way of taking the lead more than a high card, and a player holding two of them has two free leads.

Jokers

One or two jokers as the highest cards of all, above the twos. Some tables let a joker stand in for any card in a set, so a joker and two kings are three kings, which makes triples and fours far more common.

Passing locks you out

Once you pass, you are out until the pile is cleared and a new lead begins. The rule at many tables, and it changes the game: a pass is a decision, not a delay, and a player who passes early cannot come back in when the round rises.

Revolution

The Japanese game Daifugō adds this: when four of a kind is played, the order of the cards is reversed for the rest of the hand, so threes are high and twos are low. A second four of a kind puts the order back. A hand full of threes is then not a lost cause, and a president holding twos has reason to fear a set of four.

How do you play President?

Deal the whole pack out. The leader plays a single card, a pair, a triple or four of a kind, and each player in turn must play the same number of cards of a higher rank or pass. When everyone passes, the pile is cleared and the last player to have played leads again. Twos are the highest cards. The first player to empty their hand is president and the last is scum; before the next deal the seats follow that order and scum gives the president their best card for any card the president chooses.

Is a 2 the highest card in President?

Yes, in the standard game: the order runs from three, the lowest, up to ace, and then two above the ace. At tables that add jokers they sit above the twos. Some tables play a two as a card that clears the pile instead, which is worth agreeing before the first deal.

What cards does scum give the president?

Their best: scum has no choice and must hand over the highest card they hold, or the two highest at a big table. The president returns the same number of cards but chooses which, and gives away whatever is least use. The vice-president and vice-scum make the same exchange with one card.

Can you pass in President and then play again?

In the base game yes: passing means only that you do not play this time round, and if the turn comes back to you before the pile is cleared you may play. Many tables play the stricter rule, that a pass puts you out until the next lead.

Do you have to play the same number of cards as the lead?

Yes. If a pair is led, only a higher pair may be played on it; a single card cannot beat a pair however high, and a triple cannot be played on a pair either. The one common exception is four of a kind, which at tables that play bombs may be laid on anything.

Is President the same as Scum?

Yes. President, Scum and a handful of ruder names are one game, called after its top or bottom rank depending on the company. The rules vary from table to table under every name — the cards exchanged, whether a pass locks you out, what a two or a four of a kind does — so agree those before the first deal whatever you call it.