President

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Card order
3. Roles
4. Setup
5. Playing a trick
6. Running out of cards
7. The next round: card exchange
8. Scoring
9. Winning the game
10. Tips for beginners
11. Variants

Overview

President is a lively climbing game: each player in turn must play higher cards than the player before – or pass. Whoever gets rid of all their cards first becomes President, the last one left holding cards becomes the Beggar. Your finishing position matters in the next round: the Beggar has to hand their best cards to the President.

• Players: 4–7 (it also works with 3 or 8).
• You need: one standard 52-card deck, no jokers. From 7 players on, you can shuffle two decks together.

Card order

Suits don't matter in President – only the rank (the value) of a card counts. The 2 is the highest card, the 3 the lowest:

2 (highest) – A – K – Q – J – 10 – 9 – 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 (lowest)

Roles

After each round, the players get a title according to the order in which they ran out of cards:

With 4 players there are no Citizens; with 3 players there is only a President, a Citizen and a Beggar. It is fun (but optional) for the President to sit in the most comfortable chair and the Beggar on a stool.

Setup

1. Deal: for the first round, pick a dealer at random. The dealer shuffles and deals all the cards one at a time, face down, clockwise. It doesn't matter if some players get one card more than others.
2. Hand: everyone picks up their cards (their hand) and sorts them by rank. Keep your hand hidden.
3. First lead: in the first round, the player to the dealer's left starts.

Playing a trick

The game is played in tricks. A trick is a series of plays onto a pile in the middle of the table, going clockwise, until nobody can or wants to beat the last play.

1. Lead: the first player of a trick puts down any single card, or a set of cards of the same rank: a pair (two 7s), a triple (three 7s) or four of a kind (four 7s).
2. Beat or pass: on your turn, you either beat the last play or pass (say "pass" or knock on the table). - To beat it, play the same number of cards, all of one rank that is higher than the last play. A single card is beaten by a higher single card, a pair by a higher pair, a triple by a higher triple. - You may always pass, even if you could beat the play. Passing does not stop you from playing again when your turn comes round in the same trick.
3. End of the trick: the trick ends when everyone else has passed in a row after someone's play. The cards in the middle are put aside face down; they are out of the game for this round. The player who made the last play leads the next trick with any card or set.

Example (a trick with pairs): Anna leads 5♣ 5♥. Ben plays 9♠ 9♦. Carla has a pair of Jacks but saves them and passes. Dan plays K♣ K♥. Anna passes, Ben passes, and now Carla plays A♠ A♦ after all. Dan, Anna and Ben pass. The trick is over; Carla puts the cards aside and leads the next trick – she may now play a single card, a pair or anything else.

Example: Ben leads a single J♥. Carla may not play a pair of Queens on it – only a single card higher than a Jack (Q, K, A or 2).

Running out of cards

When you play your last card, you are out of this round – and the earlier you get there, the higher your title. The others keep playing without you. If your last play wins the trick (everyone passes), the next player still holding cards leads the next trick.

The round ends when only one player has cards left. That player is the Beggar.

The next round: card exchange

From the second round on, the titles have an effect:

1. Deal: the Beggar collects and shuffles all the cards and deals them as before.
2. Card exchange: before anyone plays, cards change hands: - The Beggar gives the President their two highest cards. The President gives back any two cards they don't want. - The Vice-Beggar gives the Vice-President their highest card. The Vice-President gives back any one card. - Citizens don't exchange. With 3 players, only the President and Beggar exchange two cards.
3. Lead: the Beggar leads the first trick. After that, play continues as usual.

"Highest" means highest in the card order – a 2 is the best card you can give away. If you have two cards of the same rank, you may choose which one to hand over.

Example (card exchange): Emil was the Beggar and holds, among others, 2♦, A♣, A♥ and K♠. He must give the President his two highest cards: the 2♦ and one of the Aces (A♣). Anna, the President, gives him her two worst cards in return, 3♠ and 4♥. Dan, the Vice-Beggar, gives Ben (Vice-President) his only 2♣, and Ben gives him a 5♦.

The President is not forced to give back low cards – but of course it is smartest.

Scoring

You can simply play for your title: whoever is President at the end of the evening wins. If you'd rather keep score, write down points after each round:

Whoever first reaches an agreed total, for example 10 points, wins the game.

Example: After three rounds Anna has been President twice and Vice-President once: 2 + 2 + 1 = 5 points.

Winning the game

The game has no natural end – you play round after round. Agree in advance on a points target, a number of rounds or a time limit. Whoever has the most points (or is President in the last round) wins.

Tips for beginners

• Get rid of low cards early; lead your 3s, 4s and 5s while you have the lead.
• Keep a 2 or an Ace to win a trick when you need the lead back.
• Don't break up pairs and triples lightly – a pair of 6s is harder to beat than a single 6.
• Passing is often wise: let the others use up their high cards first.
• Before your last few cards, think ahead: finish with a card or set you are sure can win the lead.

Variants

All of these are optional – agree on them before the game.

• 3♣ starts: in the first round, whoever holds the 3♣ leads, and may play it alone or with other 3s.
• President leads: in later rounds, the President (not the Beggar) leads the first trick – this is how pagat.com describes the standard game.
• Passed is out: once you have passed, you may not play again until the trick is over. This makes the game faster.
• Jokers: add one or two jokers. They rank above the 2s – or play them as wild cards that can stand in for any rank in a set.
• 2s clear the pile: a single 2 beats any play, even a pair or triple, and ends the trick at once. The player who played it leads again.
• Skip: you may also play the same rank as the last play (a 9 on a 9). Then the next player is skipped.
• Revolution: whoever plays four of a kind reverses the card order – now 3 is highest and 2 lowest – until the next revolution or the end of the round.
• 8s or 10s clear the pile: an 8 (or 10) can be played on anything and ends the trick immediately; the player who played it leads.