What Is President?
President — also called Scum, Asshole, or The Great Dalmuti — is a social card game where you race to empty your hand. The first player to get rid of all their cards becomes President. The last player stuck with cards becomes Scum. Each new round, the social hierarchy reshuffles: Presidents get the best seats and give away their worst cards, while Scum must give away their best cards and sit in the least comfortable spots. It’s a game about momentum — once you fall behind, catching up is hard.
What You Need
- One standard deck of 52 playing cards
- Four to eight players
- Chairs arranged in a circle if possible — the seating hierarchy is part of the fun
Card Rankings
2s are the highest cards in the game. Then going down: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 (lowest). Suit never matters — only rank.
Setting Up the Game
- For the very first round, deal all 52 cards as evenly as possible to all players. Some players may have one more card than others — that is fine.
- Players look at their cards and sort them by rank.
How to Play — Step by Step
In the first round, the player holding the 3 of Diamonds goes first and must play it. After the first round, the President leads.
- The leading player plays one card or a set of matching cards face-up to the center. For example: play a single 7, or play two 9s, or play three Kings.
- Going clockwise, each player must play the SAME NUMBER of cards as the opening play, but at a HIGHER rank. If two 9s were led, the next player must play two cards of a rank higher than 9 — two Jacks, two Aces, two 2s, etc.
- If you cannot play or choose not to, say Pass. You are out of this round of play but remain in the game.
- The round of play ends when everyone passes after someone’s play. The last player who played starts a fresh new round with any card or combination they choose.
- Keep playing until all players have emptied their hands.
Going Out
The moment you play your last card, you are done for this hand. You receive a rank based on order of finishing: first out = President, second = Vice President, and so on down to the last player still holding cards = Scum.
The Social Hierarchy — Before Each New Hand
Before dealing the next hand, the hierarchy takes effect:
- Scum deals all the cards and collects the cards after each play
- Scum must give their two best cards to the President — President chooses which two to give back in exchange (usually their two worst cards)
- Vice President and Vice Scum exchange one card each in the same way
- Everyone sits in ranked order if possible — President gets the best seat
Winning
Play as many rounds as you like. The player who finishes as President most often wins. Or set a target number of rounds and track cumulative rankings.
Tips for New Players
- Save your 2s — they beat absolutely everything and can end any round of play on your terms.
- Lead with your weakest cards early — force others to beat low plays and waste their good cards.
- If you are Scum, the cards you give to President are gone — keep at least one 2 if you have it, no matter what.