President

How to play

1. How do you start a game of President?: The setup screen shows a four-line Table rules card and three chip rows: Rules (Classic / Revolution / House rules), AI (Normal / Strong) and Length (3 / 5 / 7 hands). The rules card rewrites itself as you change the preset. Tap Start the match to deal 52 cards one by one — tap during the deal to skip it. Whoever holds the 3 of clubs leads the first hand.
2. How do you play cards — and why can't I play these?: Tap cards to select them; selected cards lift with a blue outline, and when following, cards that can't beat the table are dimmed. If the selection is illegal, Play stays grey and the status line says why: "Cards played together must share one rank", "Play 2 cards, the same number as the last play", "You need higher than 9 to beat it". Tap Pass if you can't or won't beat it — you can't pass on your own lead. Hint only selects a legal set and cycles through options; it never plays for you.
3. How do ranks and card trading work in President?: The first player out is President, then Vice President, then Citizen; the last player still holding cards is the Commoner. Places score 3 / 2 / 1 / 0. From hand 2 the Commoner gives their 2 best cards to the President and the Citizen gives their best card to the Vice President; the President gives back any 2 cards and the VP any 1, then the Commoner leads. When you're on top you pick what to give back; when you're at the bottom you'll see exactly which cards were taken.
4. How do you win a match of President?: A match is 3, 5 or 7 hands. At the end of each hand every seat shows +3 / +2 / +1 / +0 and your score rolls up on the spot. After the last hand the highest total wins; ties go to whoever placed better in the final hand. Every match has a code like P1151739204 — tap Copy match link in the menu to send someone the same deal.

Rules & variants

President card game basics: four players, one 52-card deck without jokers, 13 cards each. Play goes you → next → across → previous. The leader plays a single, pair, triple or four of a kind (all one rank); each next player must play the same number of cards of a higher rank, or pass. Passing doesn't lock you out of the trick. When the other three pass in a row, the table is cleared and the last player to play leads again.

Card ranking in President: 3 is lowest and 2 is highest — 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J Q K A 2. Suits don't matter, so a 9 can't beat another 9, and the count must match: singles beat singles, pairs beat pairs. There is no bomb that beats everything.

Ranks and titles: the first player out becomes President, the second Vice President, the third Citizen, and the hand ends at that moment — the player still holding cards is the Commoner. Many groups call the bottom seat Scum or worse; this version keeps every title neutral. Points per hand: President 3, Vice President 2, Citizen 1, Commoner 0.

Card trading (tribute): from the second hand on, after the deal the Commoner must give their two highest cards to the President, and the Citizen gives their highest card to the Vice President. The President then gives back any two cards and the Vice President any one — even the cards they just received. Once trading is done, the Commoner leads the first trick.

Revolution: in the Revolution and House-rules presets, playing four of a kind flips the card order for the rest of the hand — 3 becomes the highest card and 2 the lowest, and the next player has to beat the four under the new order. Another four of a kind flips it back (counter-revolution). The order resets at the start of every hand, and a Revolution badge stays on screen while it's active.

8-stop and falling from power (House rules): any play of 8s clears the table at once and the player who played it leads again. And if last hand's President fails to go out first this hand, they drop straight to Commoner the moment someone else goes out. These come from Daifugo, the Japanese version of President; the Classic preset uses neither, and four of a kind is just a normal set there.

President vs similar games: President (also known as Scum, Daifugo or Daihinmin) is a climbing game like Big Two, but it only uses sets of one rank — no straights or five-card hands — suits never matter, and the rank you finish in carries into the next hand through card trading. That trading is what makes a comeback from Commoner feel earned.

How many players and how long: President is best with four, and groups play it with anywhere from three to seven. Here it's just you against three computer players, so you never need a full table. A hand usually takes one to two minutes and a 5-hand match about ten; switch animation speed to Fast in the menu, or tap Skip to end of hand once you're out. Progress saves in this browser, so you can close the tab and pick up later.

Common house rules and beginner mistakes: many tables say that once you pass you're out until the table clears — this version uses the looser rule and lets you play again. Some groups add jokers as wild cards or let a matching rank skip the next player; none of the three presets use those. The classic beginner mistakes are trying to beat a card with a higher suit of the same rank (suits never count), breaking up a pair to beat a single, and forgetting the order is flipped after a revolution.

Strategy tips: hold your 2s and aces to win back the lead instead of spending them on low singles early; shed loose low cards first and keep matched sets to finish; if you hold four of a kind and mostly low cards, a revolution can turn your hand around; watch opponents who are down to one or two cards and don't feed them sets they can beat. As President, give back your two most isolated low cards rather than breaking up a pair.

FAQ