President (card game)

President
	The "Scum" player passes their highest card to the "President"
Alternative names	Scum, Asshole, Butt, Arsehole
Type	Shedding-type
Players	3–8; 9+ with multiple decks
Cards	54 (2 jokers)
Deck	French
Rank (high→low)	Joker, deuce (2), ace, king, etc.
Play	Clockwise
Playing time	5–15 min.
Related games
	Daifugō (Japan) • Zheng Shangyou (China) Durak (Russia)

Last updated October 13, 2024

President (also commonly called Asshole,^[1]Scum,^[1] or Capitalism^[1]) is a shedding card game for three or more, in which the players race to get rid of all of the cards in their hands in order to become "president" in the following round.^[2]^[3]^[4] It is a Westernized version of Chinese climbing card games^[5] such as Zheng Shangyou, Tien Len in Vietnam and the Japanese Daifugō.^[1]

Special titles

There may be many titles used by players during the game.^[2]^[6] Often, players move seats to sit in the order of their place, so as not to forget the order. There is generally at least a president, vice-president and scum.^[2] However, this game is usually played with up to 6 players, and if so, more titles may be needed.

The rankings for four players are as follows:

President – the winner of the previous round, regardless of number of players.
Vice-president ("VP") – second place, regardless of the number of players.
Person (or other name, commonly "citizen" etc.) – the other players.
High-Scum (Vice-Scum) (or other names) – next-to-last place. (For example, in a seven-person game, high-scum is whoever placed sixth.)
Scum (or other names, commonly "asshole", "bum") – last place in the previous round. If the scum is last place, they get to go first to start the round.

There are other titles for games with larger numbers of player with various names.

Rules regarding card passing can be changed to accommodate these two positions if desired. A large or odd number of players generally calls for having at least one "Person" role, but there can be as many as needed.

The President (or the Scum in some versions) deals the cards, starting with themselves and proceeding in order of player hierarchy from low to high until all cards are dealt. If the Scum is the dealer, this ensures that the President begins with the fewest cards if the hands are uneven.

How to play

The rules provided are merely one of many ways known to play the game;^[1] there are many different varieties with slight twists to the rules.

Dealing

The person who is president (or the scum in some versions) shuffles and deals the cards. All the cards are dealt as evenly as possible in clockwise rotation.

After cards are dealt, the scum must hand over the best card in their hand to the president, and the president passes back any card they do not want.^[1]

Variations with multiple top and two bottom positions often require the scum to hand additional cards to the president, up to the number of top positions in the game. (For example, a game with a secretary and clerk might call for the scum to hand over three cards to the president, the high-scum to hand over two cards to the vice-president and the clerk to hand over one card to the secretary.) In any event, the players who receive cards from the bottom positions always hand back an equal number of "junk" cards that they do not want. They are not obliged to pass back their lowest cards.

Playing

Play in President is organized into tricks, much like in spades or bridge. However, unlike those games, each trick can involve more than one card played by each player, and players do not have to play a card in a trick. Suits are irrelevant in the game of president.

The player on the dealer's left begins by leading any number of cards of the same rank (1–4; 5 or more are possible with wildcards, jokers or multiple decks). The player on the left may then play an equal number of matching cards with a higher face value, or may pass. (In a few variants, it is permitted to play cards with an equal value as the last cards played. Doing so may skip the player next in order.) Note that the same number of cards as the lead must be played. If the leader starts with a pair, only pairs may be played on top of it. If three-of-a-kind is led, only three-of-a-kinds can be played on top of it. (There are notable exceptions among the many variants in this game.) The next player may do the same, and so on.

This continues until all players have had a turn (which may or may not be because the highest-value card has already been played), or opted to pass.

End of round 1

When one player runs out of cards, they are out of play for the rest of the round, but the other players can continue to play to figure out the titles. A few versions hold that once a player goes out, players count remaining card values to establish titles, or simply count the number of cards remaining in each player's hand, and other versions have one player left with cards at the end.

When playing by traditional rules, once titles are decided, everyone needs to get up and move. The President is the dealer (or the Scum in some versions), and the players must rearrange themselves around them so that they are seated in order of rank, clockwise. Some variants do not rearrange the seating of the players, so everyone plays in the same order each hand (though the president still leads the first trick).

After the first round has determined player rank, subsequent hands are opened by the president.

President's choice and trading

In some variations of the game, after the president (or whoever deals) has dealt and everyone has received their decks, the players are able to trade cards with one another. In a group of four, the president gives two cards of their choice to scum (who responds with the two very best cards from their hand), and the vice-president gives one card of their choosing to vice-scum, who responds with their very best card. In some variants, the president may choose to allow a black market, in which any player can trade with any other player. When this happens, the President usually has a poor hand and needs better cards. The president may also allow table talk, which is when two given players (usually of adjacent ranks) let each other see each other's hands. If there are no image cards on the hands of the (scum) there will be a new 'dealing'

Notes on game play

The ordering of the face values is a little different from most American and English card games – the 2 is the highest value (besides the joker, if that card is used) and is unbeatable, though certain variants allow a single 2 to be topped by a pair of 2s. The ace is next highest, the King the next highest, etc. with the 3 being the lowest. A few variants allow a single deuce to be played on top of any other combination, but typically games require the same number of 2s to be played as were originally led. In a few variants, the 2 (and no other card) can be placed at any time, even if it is not the player's turn. On the US West Coast and in Hawaii, Aces are high and 2 is the lowest card.
It is usually played as an aces-high game, although 2s are wild and the red 3 is highest, and 2s cannot beat red 3s. The black 3s are the lowest cards, and 2s can be played as black 3s. The player goes first if they have a 3 of spades in the first round. Double 2s are not needed to clear doubles.^{[ citation needed ]}
Players can pass at any time, even if the player has cards that could be played. Passing does not prevent a player from playing a card the next time around.
Players can never lead with a two or bomb.
The number of cards that can be led to begin any trick is only dependent on the cards in the player's hand and their strategy. In a game with two decks, it is absolutely legal to start out a trick with, say, seven 5s. (In this case, obviously, seven 5s are only possible if the owner of those seven 5s is the one who begins the trick. This adds to the necessity to "capture" tricks by being the one to play the highest card.)
Players can only play a bomb on their turn.
If a player plays a card, and no other player can play, that card is discarded and the player puts another card to begin with. This continues until it returns to the player who played the last card: if they are unable to play on their own card, they must discard the cards and start with another card of their choice.
Players can continue playing even after all other players have passed until the last player decides to stop playing.
A bomb is a card that is used to clear the trick. Frequently, these are twos.

Variations

In one variation, the trades between higher players and lower players are reversed. The president trades their two best cards to the scum, and the scum gives their two worst cards to the president, and the same goes with the vice president and scum. This variation is comedically known as "Communism" or "Socialism."

Some play that the holder of the lowest card of a particular suit (e.g. 3♣) leads the first deal.^[1] Others play that the scum always starts.

Certain variants allow for game-changing revolutions. If a player leads out with four of a kind, the hierarchy of all the cards will be reversed. For example, if 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J Q K A 2 is the typical order of power (from left to right), after four of a kind is played it would be the reverse of that: 2 A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3. If another four of a kind is played, the order would switch back. Revolutions are typically utilized in the game to create better balance and avoid having the same player remain in first position forever.

In some variants, there are certain cards that are able to be played over a 2, those being the two "One-Eyed" Jacks (The Jack of Spades and the Jack of Hearts) and the "Suicide King" (the King of Hearts), the latter of which also ranks above the former. This is often also played in conjunction with the stipulation that one fewer of a bomb card is required to be played over a trick of pairs or triples. For example, if a player plays 4 aces, it can be beaten with three 2s, both One-Eyed Jacks, or the King of Hearts. This creates a rare but interesting scenario where if all four 2s are played at once, it is unbeatable as trumping it would require 3 One-Eyed Jacks or two Suicide Kings, which is impossible if playing with only one deck.

In some variants, a player cannot end on a 2 or a joker (or any card that instantly clears the deck), otherwise they immediately become scum/super scum, regardless of who actually got rid of their cards last. (For example, in game, Bob and Alice are the only people left. Bob has an ace and a 2 in his hand. He plays the ace, which Alice cannot play on. That card is discarded, however, Bob has ended on a 2, which means he immediately becomes scum/super scum, and Alice does not fall to the lowest rank.)

In variants that include "quick-clears", a player can complete the cards on the table by playing the remaining cards of the quadruple. This is valid even if the last card played of the quadruple before the clear was a face-down or face-up card the previous player "attempted" to play in a commonly accepted charade wherein that player shows the card before picking it up along with the pile. In this type of clear, timing is key and successfully pulling it off reveals the true skill of the clearing player.

Some other smaller variant rules include the president being obligated to give their lowest cards to the scum, and the game lasting until all players empty their hands.

Other variations include "straights" or "runs". Similar to a poker straight, but a player may play a minimum of a 3 card straight (e.g 3 4 5). The hand can only be beaten by a 3 card straight ending in higher card (e.g 4 5 6). The round is determined by the length of the straight. Longer straights/runs are achievable but may reduce a players doubles, triples or quads, in doing so.

A variation of the game, Big Two (also known as Deuces), uses the card-passing roles from the game of President.

Related Research Articles

A card game is any game that uses playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, whether the cards are of a traditional design or specifically created for the game (proprietary). Countless card games exist, including families of related games. A small number of card games played with traditional decks have formally standardized rules with international tournaments being held, but most are folk games whose rules may vary by region, culture, location or from circle to circle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinochle</span> Card game

Pinochle, also called pinocle or penuchle, is a trick-taking ace–ten card game, typically for two to four players and played with a 48-card deck. It is derived from the card game bezique; players score points by trick-taking and also by forming combinations of characters into melds. It is thus considered part of a "trick-and-meld" category which also includes the game belote. Each hand is played in three phases: bidding, melds, and tricks. The standard game today is called "partnership auction pinochle".

Sheepshead is an American trick-taking card game derived from Bavaria's national card game, Schafkopf, hence it is sometimes called American Schafkopf. Sheepshead is most commonly played by five players, but variants exist to allow for two to eight players. There are also many other variants to the game rules, and many slang terms used with the game.

500 or Five Hundred is a trick-taking game developed in the United States from Euchre. Euchre was extended to a 10 card game with bidding and a Misère contract similar to Russian Preference, producing a cutthroat three-player game like Preference and a four-player game played in partnerships like Whist which is the most popular modern form, although with special packs it can be played by up to six players.

Black lady is an American card game of the hearts group for three to six players and the most popular of the group. It emerged in the early 20th century as an elaboration of hearts and was initially also called discard hearts. It is named after its highest penalty card, the queen of spades or "black lady". It is a trick-avoidance game in which the aim is to avoid taking tricks containing hearts or the black lady. American author and leading bridge exponent, Ely Culbertson, describes it as "essentially hearts with the addition of the queen of spades as a minus card, counting thirteen" and goes on to say that "black lady and its elaborations have completely overshadowed the original hearts in popularity".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euchre</span> Card game

Euchre or eucre is a trick-taking card game commonly played in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, and the Midwestern United States. It is played with a deck of 24, 25, 28, or 32 standard playing cards. There are normally four players, two on each team, although there are variations for two to nine players.

Spades is a trick-taking card game devised in the United States in the 1930s. It can be played as either a partnership or solo/"cutthroat" game. The object is to take the number of tricks that were bid before play of the hand began. Spades is a descendant of the whist family of card games, which also includes bridge, hearts, and oh hell. Its major difference as compared to other whist variants is that, instead of trump being decided by the highest bidder or at random, the spade suit always trumps, hence the name.

Sixty-six or 66, sometimes known as Paderbörnern, is a fast 5- or 6-card point-trick game of the marriage type for 2–4 players, played with 24 cards. It is an ace–ten game where aces are high and tens rank second. It has been described as "one of the best two-handers ever devised".

Pedro is an American trick-taking card game of the all fours family based on auction pitch. Its most popular variant is known as cinch, double Pedro or high five which was developed in Denver, Colorado, around 1885 and soon regarded as the most important American member of the all fours family. Although it went out of fashion with the rise of auction bridge, it is still widely played on the western coast of the United States and in its southern states, being the dominant game in some locations in Louisiana. Forms of the game have been reported from Nicaragua, the Azores, Niobe NY, Italy, and Finland. The game is primarily played by four players in fixed partnerships, but can also be played by 2–6 individual players.

Briscola is one of Italy's most popular games, together with Scopa and Tressette. A little-changed descendant of Brusquembille, the ancestor of briscan and bezique, Briscola is a Mediterranean trick-taking ace–ten card game for two to six players, played with a standard Italian 40-card deck.

Truco, a variant of Truc, is a trick-taking card game originally from Valencia and the Balearic Islands, popular in South America and Italy. It is usually played using a Spanish deck. Two people may play, or two teams of two or three players each.

Pitch is an American trick-taking game equivalent to the British blind all fours which, in turn, is derived from the classic all fours. Historically, pitch started as "blind all fours", a very simple all fours variant that is still played in England as a pub game. The modern game involving a bidding phase and setting back a party's score if the bid is not reached came up in the middle of the 19th century and is more precisely known as auction pitch or setback.

Sheng ji is a family of point-based, trick-taking card games played in China and in Chinese immigrant communities. They have a dynamic trump, i.e., which cards are trump changes every round. As these games are played over a wide area with no standardization, rules vary widely from region to region.

Daifugō or Daihinmin, also known as Tycoon, is a Japanese shedding-type card game for three or more players played with a standard 52-card pack. The objective of the game is to get rid of all the cards one has as fast as possible by playing progressively stronger cards than those of the previous player. The winner is called the daifugō earning various advantages in the next round, and the last person is called the daihinmin. In that following round, winners can exchange their one or more unnecessary cards for advantageous ones that losers have.

Tressette or Tresette is a 40-card, trick-taking card game. It is one of Italy's major national card games, together with Scopa and Briscola. It is also popular in the regions that were once controlled by the Italian predecessor states, such as Albania, Montenegro, coastal Slovenia and coastal Croatia. It is also played in the Canton of Ticino with a French-suited deck. The Austrian game Trischettn as historically played in South Tyrol is also a derivative, albeit played with a 32-card German-suited deck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Switch (card game)</span> Card game

Switch is a shedding-type card game for two or more players that is popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland and as alternative incarnations in other regions. The sole aim of Switch is to discard all of the cards in one's hand; the first player to play their final card, and ergo have no cards left, wins the game. Switch is very similar to the games Crazy Eights, UNO, Flaps, Mau Mau or Whot! belonging to the Shedding family of card games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zheng Shangyou</span> Chinese card game

Zheng Shangyou is a Chinese shedding card game similar to President and Big Two. It is the game from which Tien Len and other similar games are derived. It is popular in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu.

Smear is a North-American trick-taking card game of the all fours group, and a variant of pitch (setback). Several slightly different versions are played in Michigan, Minnesota, Northern and Central Iowa, Wisconsin and also in Ontario, Canada.

Jack Change It is a simple card game of the Crazy Eights family that is popular among children. It is usually played by two to six players, although theoretically it can be played with up to ten. This game is a shedding-type card game, the purpose being for a player to be the first to discard all of their cards.

Court piece is a trick-taking card game similar to the card game whist in which eldest hand makes trumps after the first five cards have been dealt, and trick-play is typically stopped after one party has won seven tricks. A bonus is awarded if one party wins the first seven tricks, or even all tricks. The game is played by four players in two teams, but there are also adaptations for two or three players.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Rules of Card Games: President". pagat.com. Archived from the original on 12 January 2024. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
1 2 3 4 "Drinking games - Asshole". Webtender.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2024.
1 2 "Asshole Drinking Game". Partizzle.com. Archived from the original on 21 June 2010.
1 2 "Drinking Games -- Asshole". Angelfire.com. Archived from the original on 5 December 2023.
↑ Parlett, David (2000). The Penguin encyclopedia of card games (New ed.). London: Penguin. ISBN 0140280324.
1 2 "Asshole rules". DrinksMixer.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023.
↑ "The Official Presidents Card Game". Play Presidents. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2022.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[pagat-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Rules of Card Games: President". pagat.com. Archived from the original on 12 January 2024. Retrieved 6 December 2019.

[webtender-2] 1 2 3 4 "Drinking games - Asshole". Webtender.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2024.

[partizzle-3] 1 2 "Asshole Drinking Game". Partizzle.com. Archived from the original on 21 June 2010.

[fire-4] 1 2 "Drinking Games -- Asshole". Angelfire.com. Archived from the original on 5 December 2023.

[parlett-5] Parlett, David (2000). The Penguin encyclopedia of card games (New ed.). London: Penguin. ISBN 0140280324.

[mixer-6] 1 2 "Asshole rules". DrinksMixer.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023.

[7] "The Official Presidents Card Game". Play Presidents. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2022.

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v t e Non trick-taking card games
Shuffling Cutting Glossary of card game terms
Adding	Cribbage Costly colours Ninety-nine Noddy
Collecting	Beggar-my-neighbour Egyptian Ratscrew My ship sails Ninety-nine Pig Quartets Schlafmütze War
Commerce	Brag Commerce James Bond Kemps Mus Schwimmen Stop the Bus
Comparing	Chase the Ace Coucou Cuccù Gnav Höllfahren Hypp Kille Ranter-Go-Round Vogelspiel
Compendium	Barbu Bauernfangen Bonken Davoserjazz Dreeg Herzeln Kein Stich King Lorum Poch Quodlibet Rosbiratschka Trex
Draw and discard	Bing rummy Buraco Canasta Carioca Chinchón Colonel Conquian Continental Rummy Contract rummy Dummy rummy German Rummy Golf Indian rummy Kalooki Liverpool rummy Militaire Penang rummy Robbers' rummy Rummy Gin rummy Rumino Thirty-one Three thirteen Tonk Treppenrommé Viennese Rummy Yaniv 500 rum
Fishing	Bastra Byggkasino Cassino Cicera Cuarenta Escoba Escopa Pasur Go-Stop Mulle Scopa Skwitz Tablanette Zwicker
Matching	Go Fish Lusti-Kartl'n Nain Jaune Newmarket Poch Sedma Sedmice Slapjack Snip-Snap-Snorum
Shedding	Bartok Big two Black Peter Brede Mette Burro Comet Craits Crazy Eights Cheat Daifugō Dou dizhu Dupa biskupa Durak Hahndreier Hund Jack Change It Kings in the Corner Last Card Mao Mau-Mau Old maid One-card Paskahousu President Pusoy dos Quatorze Rabouge Red nines Ristiseiska Shithead Speed Spit Switch Tiến lên Vändtia
{{ Historical card games }}{{ Patience }}{{ Trick-taking card games }}{{ Tarot and Tarock card games }}

v t e Drinking games
List of drinking games
Word games	21 Fuzzy duck La vache qui tache Never have I ever Zoom Schwartz Profigliano
Pong games	Baseball Beer pong/Beirut Beer pong with paddles Slam
Table games	Beer die/Snappa Boat race Flip cup Quarters
Card games	Around the world Horserace Kings Pyramid Scum / Asshole Quodlibet
Dice games	Biscuit Liar's dice Three man 7/11/2x
Binge drinking games	Beer mile Boot of beer Funneling Goon of Fortune Kastenlauf Keg stand Neknominate Power hour Shotgunning Wizard staff Yard of ale
Miscellaneous	Buffalo Detonator Fingers Ice luge Icing
Category