Expose a card to assign hands. After the deal but before the players pick up their cards, the top card of each hand is turned up. The president gets the hand with the highest card facing up, vice president gets the second highest and so forth. If you play a card or combination and no one else beats it, you are allowed to beat your own cards. In this case, no one will be allowed to beat your second play, since they have all passed your first play. Example: you hold 3-3-8-8-10-10. You lead your 3-3 and the second player, holding 2-2 and no other pairs, decides not to waste these high.

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Contents

Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck.In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Universal Connectivity by Bluetooth, TF Card, and 3.5mm AUX: Connects easily, and features simple playback controls to control music and volume. The equalizer button provides either a balanced or enhanced-bass sound setting. The TF Card slot allows you to connect your micro SD card directly to the speaker and play audio.

Introduction

President has many alternative names: Scum, Asshole (in Britain: Arsehole), Rich Man Poor Man, Bum, Landlord, Emperors and Scum, Root Beer, Butthead, Capitalism. In Australia it is often called Warlords and Scumbags, perhaps because the politician Paul Keating once famously used the word 'scumbag' to describe his opponents. In France it is Trouduc or Trou du Cul; in Germany: Einer ist immer der Arsch; in Hungary it is Hűbéres (vassal); in the Netherlands it is Sluitspieren or Klootzakken.

The game has recently spread throughout the Western world, especially among young people, but is probably of Chinese origin. In games of this type (which I call climbing games), each player in turn can either pass or play a card or combination which beats the previous play, and the usual object is to get rid of all one's cards as soon as possible. Such games have been known in the West only since the 1970's, but there are many of them in China, perhaps the most famous being Zheng Shangyou. The immediate ancestor of President is perhaps the Japanese game Dai Hin Min.

As the game has spread, numerous variations have developed. I will describe a typical basic version first, and list some variations at the end. As the variations are so numerous, I have tried to group them into types for easier reference.

The Basic Game

Objective

The aim is to get rid of all your cards as soon as possible. The last player left with cards is called the scum, asshole, or whatever term of derision is locally used.

Players and Cards

About 4 to 7 people using a standard 52 card pack. The suits are irrelevant and the cards rank, from high to low, 2 A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3.

Deal

The game is played clockwise. All the cards are dealt out. Some players may have one more than others.

Play

The player to dealer's left starts by leading (face up) any single card or any set of cards of equal rank (for example three fives). Each player in turn must then either pass (i.e. not play any cards), or play face up a card or set of cards which beats the previous play.

A single card is beaten by any higher single card. A set of cards can only be beaten by a higher set containing the same number of cards. So for example if the previous player played two sixes you can beat this with two kings, or two sevens, but not with a single king, and not with three sevens (though you could play two of them and hang onto the third).

It is not necessary to beat the previous play just because you can - passing is always allowed. Also passing does not prevent you from playing the next time your turn comes round.

The play continues as many times around the table as necessary until someone makes a play which everyone else passes. All the cards played are then turned face down and put to one side, and the player who played last (and highest) to the previous 'trick' starts again by leading any card or set of equal cards.

For example the play might go:

A	B	C	D	E
44	Pass	Pass	66	99
JJ	Pass	Pass	Pass	KK
Pass	Pass	AA	Pass	Pass
Pass	Pass

C then starts again by leading any card or set.

When a player whose turn it is to play has no more cards left, the turn passes to the next player in rotation. Therefore in the example, if the two aces were C's last two cards, it would then be D's turn to play anything.

Social Status

The first player who is out of cards is awarded the highest social rank - for Americans this is President - the next is Vice-President, then Citizen and so on down. The last player to be left with any cards is known as the Beggar, Scum, Asshole or by various terms of abuse. For Europeans the ranks can be King, Minister, ... , Peasant or Boss, Foreman, Worker, Bum.

If keeping score, the players get points depending on their position - for example 2 for the President, 1 for the Vice President and nothing for the others. More importantly, the players of higher status are entitled to enjoy and generally abuse their power over the lower ranking players.

For the next hand the players move seats. The President selects the most comfortable chair, the Vice President sits to the President's left, and so on around to the Asshole who sits to the President's right, probably on a crate or packing case.

The Asshole is responsible for shuffling, dealing and clearing away the cards when necessary. As the players are now seated clockwise in order of rank, the first card is dealt to the President, the second to the Vice President, and so on down.

When the deal is complete, the Asshole must give his highest card to the President, and the President gives back in exchange any card which he does not want.

The President then leads any card or set of cards and the game continues as before.

End of Game

If scoring, set a target and the game ends when someone reaches (say) 11 points.

Variations in playing procedure

Opening Lead

On the first deal, some play that the player holding a specific card of the lowest rank leads. Generally this will be a three, for example the 3, but in variations where threes are wild it will be a four.

On subsequent deals, some play that the Scum from the previous hand leads, rather than the President.

Single-round play

Some people play that after someone leads, each player gets just one opportunity to pass or beat the previous play. Whoever played highest then leads again. So in the example given before, if the play went:

A	B	C	D	E
44	Pass	Pass	66	99

A does not get a chance to beat E's pair of 9's. It is now E's turn to lead any card or set.

I think that multi-round play, as in the basic game, must be the original method. All the Chinese climbing games use it. Probably single-round play is a Western modification, influenced by trick-taking games.

Compulsory beating

Some people play that if you can beat the previous play, you must. Passing is only allowed if you are unable to play. Again, I believe this is a recent modification, and it seems to make the game less interesting.

No playing after passing

In Australia, some people do not allow a player who has passed to play at subsequent turns during the same trick. If you pass, you must wait until someone wins the trick and leads again. So the play example given above would look like this:

A	B	C	D	E
44	Pass	Pass	66	99
JJ	Pass	KK
Pass

Now that A, B, C and D have passed, E's pair of kings cannot be beaten; the cards are set aside, E leads a new card or set, and everyone is allowed to play again.

General variations in which cards can be played when

Larger sets of cards beat smaller sets of lower rank

Some people do not require players to play an equal number of cards to the card or set they are beating. It is also possible to play more cards than the previous player, as long as they are also higher in rank than the previous play. For example, in this variation:

• a single 8 could be beaten by a single 10 or a pair of 10s, but not by a pair of 5s;
• a pair of 9s can be beaten by two or more 10s but not by a single 10.

Larger sets beat smaller sets irrespective of rank

Another variation found occasionally is that a set of more cards beats a set of fewer cards irrespective of rank, so that a single 9 can be beaten by a pair of fives, which in turn could be beaten by three fours.

Equal plays allowed

Some people allow a card or set to be beaten by another card or set of equal rank. For example a pair of sevens can be beaten by another pair of sevens, or by any higher pair.

Equal play skips next player

Some people play that if you beat a play with an equal play, the turn skips the next player who has cards, and passes to the player after that. In particular this means that if there are only two players left in and you equal the previous play, you immediately get another turn to play.

When this variation is combined with the variation that allows a larger set of cards on a smaller set, it may be that if more than one equal card is played, more than one player is skipped. For example if a six is played, and the next person plays two sixes, the following two players are skipped; if three sixes were played on a six the next three players would be skipped.

Four of a kind inverts ranks

This can be combined with the suit ranking variation described below. When a player plays four of a kind, then for the rest of that deal, the rules of play are changed. From that point on, each player must play a card (or combination) lower than the previous play (and now between two pairs of the same rank, the one containing the club is lower and therefore beats the other.) If another 4 of a kind is played, then the order is reversed back the original. This tends to produce reversals of fortune, breaking the cycle of the 1st place player after winning several hands in a row.

Four of a kind reverses ranks and direction of play

This variation was reported by Hamish Allan of Scotland. Equal plays are allowed, and if four single cards of the same rank are played in succession (with or without passes in between), or if one player plays a set of four equal cards, then the direction of play and the ranking of cards reverses. This is called a revolution. Playing a pair on an equal pair does not cause a revolution, however.

In the normal ranking, threes are transparent and the two is high and low. In reversed ranking threes are still transparent but now aces are highest and lowest - so the rank from high to low is (A)-2-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-(A); a single ace beats anything and anything beats an ace.

Other types of card combination can be played

It is possible to allow other card combinations to be played besides sets of equal rank.

1. if you add single and multiple sequences the game becomes rather like Zheng Shangyou;
2. if you add poker-like combinations such as full houses the game becomes like Big Two.

Variations in the cards used and their ranking

Double Deck

When there are a lot of players, a double deck of cards is sometimes used.

Aces high

Some people play with aces as the highest cards - the cards rank from high to low A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2.

Jokers

Some people include one or more jokers in the pack. These usually rank above the twos. If the jokers are distinguishable, it may be agreed that the coloured (or otherwise more impressive) joker beats the other one.

Some people also use jokers as wild cards, which can represent any rank. Some play that a natural combination beats an otherwise equal combination containing a wild card (e.g. 6-6-6 beats 6-joker-joker), some play that the combination with wild cards beats the natural one, and some play that they are equal - so that neither beats the other (or each beats the other if equal plays are allowed).

Another variation is to use the jokers only as wild cards, with no intrinsic rank of their own.

40 card pack (Klootzakken)

C.A. van Wijk reports that in the Netherlands, Klootzakken is played with a 40 card pack lacking 4's, 5's and 6's, the cards ranking from high to low: 3 2 A K Q J 10 9 8 7. Cards are not set aside after a trick but accumulate in a pile on the table. There is no changing of seats at the end of a hand, but the winner trades two unwanted cards for the loser's best two cards. The loser plays first in the next hand.

Variations involving particular cards

Single two wins

Some people play that a single two beats any combination (in the basic game you would need three twos to beat three aces). The person who plays the two clears away the cards (or directs the Scum to clear them away, if you play that the Scum has to do this) and leads anew.

Two is highest and lowest

In this variation a single two can be played at any time, but the play continues and the next player can play anything. This rule may have been borrowed from Shithead, another recent card game played predominantly by young people worldwide.

Jokers

As with the two, when it is highest, some people play that a single joker beats any set of lower cards.

Black threes or jack of diamonds high

Sometimes players use some other specific card(s) as high cards beating the twos - such as the jack of diamonds or the black threes.

Jokers, jacks and twos high

Sofia, from Toronto, reports a version in which the rank of the cards from the top is: joker, jack, two, ace, king, queen, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3. The jokers, jacks and twos have special powers:

• Any pair of aces or below can be beaten by a single two, jack or joker.
• Any three of a kind of aces or below can be beaten by a pair of twos, or by a single jack or joker.
• Any four of a kind of aces or below can be beaten by three twos, two jacks or a single joker.

These numbers of cards are all doubled if playing with two decks.

Jokers, Twos and Threes Wild

In Hűbéres (the Hungarian version of the game), all the jokers, twos and threes are all wild. Played along with a normal card (or cards) they take on the rank of that card; played singly or in entirely wild sets they rank highest and all equal to each other.

Twos high, threes and jokers wild

In this version all the threes and the two jokers are wild cards that can represent any other card. The twos are the highest cards but have no special property.

Transparent cards

Some people play that threes (or some other agreed rank if threes have another meaning) are transparent. This means that you can use a three to beat any single card, and a set of threes to beat an equal number of cards of any rank, and the threes you play take on the rank of the cards they have beaten. For example if A plays a pair of kings and B beats it with a pair of threes, the threes count as kings and subsequent players have to beat a pair of kings or pass. If all pass, B's threes have won, the cards are cleared away and B leads.

Threes high, below the two

Some play that a single three can beat any card or set except a two. A three can be beaten by a two (unbeatable) or a four (fours are transparent in this version).

Variations involving Suits and Colours

Following Suit

In this variation, a single card can only be beaten by a higher card of the same suit. This makes it much harder to get rid of single cards.

Reversing Colour

This is a variation on allowing equal plays. You can beat a single card with an equal ranked card, provided that it is the opposite colour - so a red five can be beaten by a black five, but not by another red five. A set of cards can be beaten by an equal ranked set provided that the colour of each card is reversed - for example two red sevens beat two black sevens, and a red and a black seven beats a black and a red seven.

Suit Ranking

Theodore Hwa reports a variation in which the suits rank spades (high), hearts, diamonds, clubs (as in Bridge). When playing single cards, a card of equal rank to the previous card can be played, provided that the suit is higher. For example if someone played the 7 you could beat this by playing the 7 or the 7 or any 8 or higher card, but you could not play the 7, because clubs are lower than diamonds.

Between equal ranked pairs, the pair containing the spade is higher, irrespective of the suit of the other card. So for example, the pair Q-Q can be beaten by the pair Q-Q.

Variations in Social Structure and Scoring

Joining and leaving a game

Cards Hands What Beats What

• Players may leave the game after any hand. The players below them then move up one place in rank.
• New players may join the game after any hand, and they start in the lowest position (asshole or scum).

Card Exchange

The President receives the Scum's two highest cards, and gives the Scum any two cards in exchange. The Vice President and the second-to-last player exchange one card similarly.

James Lundeen reports a version (called Butthead) in which the Butthead passes the President his two best cards and the President passes the Butthead three of his choice. Similarly the vice-butthead and vice-president trade one and two cards respectively. This makes it harder to get out of the butthead position as you are passed more bad cards.

Expose a card to assign hands

After the deal but before the players pick up their cards, the top card of each hand is turned up. The president gets the hand with the highest card facing up, vice president gets the second highest and so forth.

Trading Cards

In this version the players in the middle of the order are called merchants (so with six players the ranking could be Landlord, Noble, Upper merchant, Lower merchant, Peasant, Scum). While the lowest players must give their best cards in exchange for the highest players' unwanted cards, the merchants in the middle must trade. That is, they must give each other one card, but they can haggle as to which cards to trade, and in this way they may both be able to improve their hands. The haggling might begin:

UM: 'I have a seven'
LM: 'I have an eight. Want to trade?'
UM: 'I don't need an eight. How about a nine?'

and so on. If they can't agree, they must give each other a card anyway - in this case each will give an unwanted card to the other.

Anthony O'Dea suggests a more extreme version of this, called 'The Hand of Collusion'. With six players, everyonegets 9 cards (both Jokers used). Players then 'collude' in pairs, swapping as many cards as necessary. Usually the President colludes with the Arsehole, the 2nd player with the 5th and the 3rd with the 4th. After collusion, everyone must still have 9 cards. Play then proceeds as normal. The first to go out gets 6 points, and so on. Winners arethe pair with the most points.

Scoring

Another scheme, when playing with 5 or 7 players, is as follows. With 5 players the scores given to the players, from first to last, are 2, 1, 0, -1, -2. With 7 players the scores are 3, 2, 1, 0, -1, -2, -3. The scores for a hand also indicate how many cards each loser has to exchange with each winner at the start of the next hand.

Fixed seats

Some people play without switching seats after each hand. It is still the Asshole who shuffles and deals and the President who leads to the first trick (or the Scum leads if you play that version).

Hats

In Hamish Allan's version, the players wear hats corresponding to their social rank. When there is a revolution, everyone turns their hat inside out. Also in this version, if you are the top ranking player (in this case called the Rich Man) and you fail to win, you must immediately throw in your cards and you become the lowest ranking player (Poor Man). The player who ran out of cards first is the Rich Man and the others continue playing for the remaining positions.

Only the Scum may touch the cards

After the first card is played, no one is allowed to touch any cards on the table except the Scum. If you do, then you automatically become the Scum for the next round. Note that you only become the Scum if you deliberately reach out and touch the cards; someone throwing the cards at you doesn't count.

Procedural Faults

The winning player (in this version called the Landlord) shuffles and the Scum cuts, after which the Landlord deals. Forgetting to offer the cards to be cut, or any kind of misdeal is a fault. After two faults the Landlord becomes the Scum and everyone else moves up one place. The Landlord also becomes the Scum if there are two consecutive games in which the result does not lead to a change in the players' positions.

Hűbéres

In Hűbéres, when played by six people, the ranks are Király, Nagybirtokos, Kisbirtokos, Nagyparaszt, Kisparaszt, Mocsár (king, big landowner, small landowner, big peasant, small peasant, swamp). The king and swamp exchange three cards, the big landowner and small peasant two cards, and the small landowner and big peasant one card.

Other WWW sites

Other versions of this game can be found on

• Nicholas Cheung's President page.
• PinkyMcDrinky's Asshole page.
• Rules of President on the Card Game Heaven site.
• Jens Alfke's Tahimi page describes a straightforward version with aces high. The name Tahimi is clearly derived from the Japanese 'Dai Hin Min' (Very Poor Man), which is the name of one of the Oriental games from which President is descended.
• The Sunshine Nudist Club site (archive copy)
• Jean-François Bustarret's Trou du Cul page (French language)

Some further ideas can be found on the President variations page in the Invented Games section of this site.

President Software and Online Games

Malcolm Bain's President program for Windows is available from Card Games Galore.

A free President computer program Élysée can be downloaded from Vincent Brevart's web site.

A version of President can be played online at CardzMania.

President can be played online at TrapApps.

Commercial Versions

There are several commercially produced versions of President / Asshole using special cards - for example The Great Dalmuti (described further on the Commercial Games page) and Karriere Poker.

This description was put together by John McLeod using information from various sources, including contributions from Kenneth Lu, Gary Chan, Tanya Shively, Patrick Corr, Wei-Hwa Huang, Anthony Kam, Sheryll May, Thais Moncrief, Todd Latta, Nicholas Cheung, Jim Harris, Kallen Group, Jonathan Dushoff, Tan Thor Jen, Jason Chan, Robert, Karl Boehnker, Harold Hutabarat, James and Erik Nelson and Ivan Ip.

• Variations
  Direction of play, Dealing and starting the play, Order of suits, Use of twos and aces in straights and straight flushes, Ranking of flushes, Order of royal flush, quads and straight flush, Playing without triples and flushes, Playing quads without an odd card, Honour hands beat all combinations, Two extra cards with a straight flush, No Play after a Pass, Last card, Playing until only one player has cards, Scoring variations, Hong Kong Big Two.

Introduction

This climbing game probably originated in coastal China around 1980; it became very popular in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taiwan and also in the Philippines and Singapore; it has also spread to some western countries. It has several alternative names:

• Big Two, Big Deuce or Deuces are the names commonly used in the English speaking world (mainly USA and Australia).
• Da Lao Er (大老二) is Mandarin Chinese and literally means 'big old two', but also has a vulgar meaning.
• Choh Dai Di or simply Dai Di - written 鋤大地 or more often as 鋤大D, surprisingly using a Western letter D for the last syllable. I am not certain from what Chinese dialect this term originates. In Cantonese, 'di2' is a slang term for the two in card games: the first way of writing it seems to have a literal meaning connected with the earth, but in fact, like 'D', it is just a phonetic approximation to the sound. There is general agreement that the whole phrase refers to the fact that in this game the two is the highest rather than the lowest card, and that 'Big Two' is an accurate translation of the sense. One correspondent told me it is Hokkien (Fujian) meaning 'play the biggest smallest'; another says it is not Hokkien, but that 'Dai D' is Hong Kong (Cantonese) slang for 'the little guy', and the whole name means 'step on the little guy'.
• Bu Bu Gao Sheng (步步高升) ('step by step rise higher') is another name used for this game in Taiwan.
• Pusoy Dos is the usual name used in the Philippines, with the stress on the second syllable of Pusoy. Ruben Canlas Jr. tells me that this translates into English as 'Poker Two' - 'Pusoy' being the Filipino name for Poker.
• Mathijs Claasen reports that in the Netherlands it is called Sjalaliën.

There are many variations of this game. First I will describe the basic game as played in China.

Players and Cards

The game is for best for four players, each playing for themselves. (It is possible to play with three or two - the necessary adaptations are given later.)

A standard 52 card pack is used, the cards ranking from high to low: 2-A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3. There is also an ordering of suits - from high to low: spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds (but see variations).

Object of the Game

The object of the game is to be the first to get rid of all of your cards, by playing them to the table. Cards can be played singly or in certain combinations. If you cannot be first to play all your cards, then your aim is to have as few cards as possible when another player finishes.

Playable Combinations

There are four types of legal play: single cards, pairs, triples and five card groups.

Single cards

These rank from two (high) down to three (low), and between cards of the same rank a higher suit beats a lower suit.

Pairs

A pair of equal ranked cards - twos are highest and threes are lowest. Any higher ranked pair beats one with lower ranks. Between equal ranked pairs, the one containing the highest suit is better - for example 9-9 beats 9-9 because the spade is higher than the heart, but Q-Q beats J-J because queens beat jacks.

Triples

Three equal ranked cards - three twos are highest, then aces, kings, etc. down to three threes, which is the lowest triple.

Five card groups

There five types of playable five-card combination. In ascending order they are: straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush.

1. A Straight consists of five cards of consecutive rank with mixed suits. A straight with higher ranks beats a lower one, irrespective of the suits of the cards. When the ranks are the same, the suit of the top card determines which is higher. So for example K-Q-J-10-9 beats Q-J-10-9-8, which beats Q-J-10-9-8. Twos do not rank high in straights, but below the 3, so the highest straight is A-K-Q-J-10 including the ace of spades. Aces can be counted as low to make the lowest type of straight 5-4-3-2-A, which is beaten by 6-5-4-3-2 and 7-6-5-4-3. An ace can be used at either end of a straight, but not in the middle, so collections like 3-2-A-K-Q or 2-A-K-Q-J are not valid straights (but there are variations on this rule).
2. A Flush consists of any five cards of the same suit. A flush in a higher suit beats a flush in a lower suit, irrespective of the ranks of the cards. Between two flushes in the same suit, the one with the higher top card is better. So for example 9-7-6-5-3 beats 2-J-9-6-4, which beats A-K-Q-10-7.
3. A Full House consists of three cards of one rank and two of another rank; between two full houses, the one whose triple is of higher rank is better - so for example 9-9-9-4-4 beats 8-8-8-K-K.
4. Four of a kind (or quads) are made up of all four cards of one rank, plus any fifth card. The fifth card must be included - four equal cards by themselves are not a playable combination. Between two fours of a kind, the rank of the four cards determines which is higher.
5. A Straight Flush consists of five consecutive cards of the same suit, twos ranking below threes and aces ranking high or low, as in straights. The rank of the highest card determines which of two straight flushes is higher; between two equal ranked straight flushes, the one in the higher suit is better, so the Royal Flush in spades A-K-Q-J-10 is the highest straight flush and the best five-card combination, but there are variations on this rule.

A combination can only be beaten by a better combination with the same number of cards: so a single card can only be beaten by a single card, a pair by a better pair and a triple by a better triple. You cannot for example use a triple to beat a pair or a straight to beat a triple. However, a five card group can be beaten by a five card group of a stronger type - any flush beats any straight, any full house beats any straight or flush, any four of a kind plus an odd card beats any straight, flush or full house and any straight flush beats all of the other type of five card group.

Note that although the playable combinations are similar to poker hands, there are important differences. For example, there is no 'two pair' combination, and although a four of a kind requires a fifth card to complete the combination, a triple cannot be accompanied by extra cards (unless of course these make it into quads or a full house).

The Deal

Deal and play are normally anticlockwise. Any player may deal first; thereafter the winner of each hand deals the next. The dealer shuffles and the player to dealer's right cuts.

Having completed the cut, the dealer exposes a card to determine who will be dealt the first card. This is done by lifting the top part of the pack, showing the bottom card of the lifted part, and replacing the lifted section on top of the pack, so that this second 'cut' does not disturb the order of the cards in the pack and the exposed card remains in the middle. To determine who gets the first card, count the players starting with the dealer and continuing in the direction of play until the rank of the exposed card is reached. So if it was an ace, 5, 9 or king the dealer will get the first card, if it was a 2, 6 or 10 the player to dealer's right, if it was a 3, 7 or jack the player opposite the dealer and is it was a 4, 8 or queen, the player to dealer's left.

Texas Holdem Hands What Beats What

The dealer deals out the cards, one at a time, starting with the player designated by the above process and continuing anticlockwise until all the cards are dealt. So everyone will have a hand of 13 cards, which they can look at and sort.

The Play

The player who holds the three of diamonds begins and must play this card, either by itself or as part of a legal combination. The person to this player's right plays next, and so on round the table. At your turn you must either pass (play no cards) or beat the previous play by playing a higher combination of the same number of cards. All plays are made by placing the cards face up in the centre of the table, so that a heap is formed. This continues for several circuits if necessary, until all but one of the players pass in succession, no one being able or willing to beat the last play. When this happens, the heap of played cards is set aside face down (or in many places, the players just leave all the played cards in a face-up heap on the table). The person who played highest (all the others having passed) begins again by playing any card or legal combination of cards.

You are never under any obligation to beat a card or set of cards just because you are able to - you may always choose to pass and keep your high cards for a better opportunity. Passing does not prevent you from playing when your turn comes round again.
Example: At a late stage in a game, South starts with a 4, East beats it with a jack, you (North) pass, West plays an ace, South and East pass. You suspect that West will be able to win by playing all her remaining cards as a group if you pass, so you now play your 2, which you held back before.

Everyone is allowed to know how many cards the other players have in their hands at any time - if asked you must answer truthfully.

The first player who succeeds in playing all the cards in their hand wins. As soon as this happens, the play ends and the hand is scored. (The other players do not get a chance to get rid of cards by beating the final card(s) played by the winner.)

Scoring

The players other than the winner score penalty points for the cards remaining in their hands. The penalty is one point per card in your hand if you have 9 cards or fewer, two points per card if you have 10, 11 or 12 cards, and three points per card (i.e. 39 points) if you have all 13 of your cards left at the end, because you never played any cards at all. The winner, having no cards, gets no penalty points for the hand.

This game is often played for money. In this case, before starting to play the players agree a stake - for example $1 per point - and at the end of the session each pair of players settles up according to the difference between their scores. When playing for money, if the person playing after you has only one card left, you should take precautions as follows to hinder them from winning:

• If single cards are being played, you should play your highest card.
• If it is your turn to lead, you should lead a combination more than one card if possible; otherwise you should lead your highest card.

If you ignore these precautions, and as a result the person after you wins by playing their single card, you have to pay the losses of all three players.

Variations

There are many, many variations of Big Two - in fact I have not seen any two independent descriptions of the rules that agree completely.

One Chinese web site (GameSky - unfortunately no longer in existence), used the names Da Lao Er and Bu Bu Gao Sheng for a slightly different game from the one described here, which they called Choi Dai Dee. According to this site, in Dao Lao Er or Bu Bu Gao Sheng there are no flushes, and a full house cannot be used to beat a straight. Four of a kind or a straight flush can be played out of turn to beat any combination. When someone wins the others score 1 per card if they have 10 or fewer cards, or 2 per card if they have 11 or more.

Direction of play

Some people play clockwise - I believe this is especially common in America, where virtually all card games are played in that direction. Harold Hutabarat tells me that clockwise play is usual in Indonesia. Some people play alternate hands anticlockwise and clockwise, which neutralises the advantage or disadvantage of playing next after a certain opponent. (The person playing immediately after a weak player is at an advantage).

Dealing and starting the play

Many groups omit the procedure for deciding who receives the first card of the deal - the deal simply begins with the player to dealer's right (if playing anticlockwise) and therefore ends with the dealer.

In many groups, instead of the holder of the lowest card (normally the 3) playing the first card after each new deal, this only applies in the very first deal of a session. Thereafter the winner of each hand plays first in the next.

Some play that when the holder of the lowest card starts, this lowest card does not have to be included in the first play.

Others play that the 'loser' of each hand plays first in the next - the loser being the player who had most cards at the end of the play. If there is a tie for most cards, then those involved in the tie must expose their cards and each form the largest playable combination that they can from their cards. The next dealer and starter will be the player whose combination has the smallest number of cards, or in case of equality the weakest of these combinations.

In Indonesia, the game is played in 'rounds' of ten deals. Only the first deal of the round is begun by the 3. The next nine deals are started by whoever won the previous deal, and this player can begin with any legal card or combination. After each round (10 deals) is completed, all the cards are placed face down and each player draws one card. The highest will shuffle the cards and deal the player with 3 will start the play of this first deal of the new round.

Order of suits

In the game Pusoy Dos, played in the Philippines, the order of suits from high to low is diamonds, hearts, spades, clubs. In this case it is the player who holds the 3 rather than the 3 who starts.

Some players in Taiwan and a few in Hong Kong interchange clubs and diamonds, so that the order is spades (high), hearts, diamonds, clubs (low) - as in Bridge. In this case the 3 starts.

Use of twos and aces in straights and straight flushes

Some play that A-2-3-4-5 is the highest, rather than the lowest type of straight or straight flush. Some play that 2-3-4-5-6 is highest, beating A-2-3-4-5, which in turn beats A-K-Q-J-10. Some play that 2-3-4-5-6 is highest, but A-2-3-4-5 is lowest.

Some do not allow A-2-3-4-5 as a valid straight or straight flush at all. Some allow twos to rank high in these combinations, so that 2-A-K-Q-J is valid and is the highest type of straight or straight flush and 6-5-4-3-2 is lowest.

Yet others count 6-5-4-3-2 as second highest, between 2-A-K-Q-J and A-K-Q-J-10. The logic behind this ranking is that you compare the cards in descending order of their normal rank, so 2AKQJ beats 26543 because ace beats 6, and 26543 beats AKQJT because 2 beats ace.

Some simply play that for straights and straight flushes, the cards rank from 2 (high) to 3 (low) and twos and threes are never consecutive, so that the highest type of straight is 2-A-K-Q-J and the lowest is 7-6-5-4-3. Karl Boehnker tells me that this version is the most common one in Hong Kong.

In Indonesia, straights containing a two (A-2-3-4-5 and 2-3-4-5-6) beat all other straights, and between each other they are ranked according to the suit of the two (A-2-3-4-5 beats 2-3-4-5-6, which beats A-2-3-4-5).

Ranking of flushes

Some play that the rank of a flush is determined by the rank of its highest card; the suit only becomes relevant if the highest cards are equal. So for example 2-J-7-5-3 beats A-J-10-7-6, which beats A-K-J-9-8. This is the usual version played in Hong Kong.

Some compare all the ranks first, from the top card downward, as in Poker. Only if all five ranks are equal does the suit of the highest card determine which flush is higher. Using this method, A-K-J-9-8 beats A-J-10-7-6 because the king is higher than the jack.

Order of royal flush, quads and straight flush

Some play that only a Royal Flush (A-K-Q-J-10) can beat a four of a kind. Any four of a kind beats any other straight flush. So A-K-Q-J-10 beats 2-2-2-2-6, which beats 3-3-3-3-8, which beats K-Q-J-10-9.

Playing without triples and flushes

Some play without triples and flushes - I have one report of this from Singapore (Gary Chan) and one from Taiwan (Todd Latta). So only single cards, pairs and 5-card combinations can be played and the only 5-card combinations are straight, full house, four of a kind, and straight flush.

Playing quads without an odd card

Some allow four of a kind can be played by itself, without a fifth card. In this case fours form a separate type of combination, which can only beat lower fours and be beaten by higher fours.

Honour hands beat all combinations

An honour hand is a four of a kind plus a card or a straight flush. Some allow an honour hand to be played not only to beat a lower 5-card hand, but also to beat singles pairs or triples.played it. Jonathan Dushoff reports that this variation is common in Lukang (central Taiwan).

Two extra cards with a straight flush

In Todd Latta's version, a straight flush is played with any two extra cards, making a seven card combination. A four of a kind plus a card or a straight flush plus two cards can be played to beat any single card or other combination. A four of a kind plus a card can only be beaten by a higher four plus a card or a straight flush plus two, and a straight flush plus two is only beaten by a higher straight flush plus two.

Dragon wins

Card Hands What Beats What

In Hong Kong, some play that a player who is dealt a dragon, which is one card of each rank: A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K, immediately wins the game. Each of the other players scores as though they lost without playing any cards (39 penalty points).

No Play after a Pass

In Indonesia, a player who has passed is not allowed to play cards in subsequent turns of the same trick. Having passed, you cannot play again until a card or combination is passed by all players and the play is restarted. If you play a card or combination and no one else beats it, you are allowed to beat your own cards. In this case, no one will be allowed to beat your second play, since they have all passed your first play. Example: you hold 3-3-8-8-10-10. You lead your 3-3 and the second player, holding 2-2 and no other pairs, decides not to waste these high cards. The other two players also pass. Now you can play your 8-8, the player with 2-2 is not allowed to play, having passed, and so you win with your 10-10.

Last Card

Some require that a player who has only one card left must announce this.

Some require that if you are playing immediately before a player who has only one card you must play your highest single card or a combination of more than one card. (This could be against your interests - you might otherwise wish to help the player after you to win, so as to catch another player with a large number of cards.)

In Indonesia, a player with only two cards or only one card is obliged to announce this, but the next player is not placed under any constraints as a result.

Some play that you cannot win by keeping the two of spades as your last card.

Playing until only one player has cards

Some do not end the play when one player runs out of cards. Instead the others continue to play, dropping out as they run out of cards, until only one player remains. If a player's last card (or combination) is not beaten by any other player, the turn to start again with any legal play passes to the next player in turn after the one who has just finished.

Scoring variations

5 Card Poker Hands What Beats What

Some play that only the winner collects money from each of the other three players, according to the number of cards each has left. there are no payments between the losers.

Some play that the double score for having 10 or more cards at the end applies only to the starter - the person who played the first card of the deal.

Some play with greater penalties - double score if you are left with 8 or 9 cards, triple with 10-12 and quadruple with 13 cards.

Some reckon double penalty points for any hand with 8 or more cards when someone finishes. Some apply a further double for 10 or more cards (i.e. 40 points for 10 cards, 44 for 11 and so on). Some double the penalty yet again for each two remaining in a player's cards at the end. So if you had nine cards at the end including two twos you would lose 9 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 72 points.

Anthony Kam reports a variant, which may be rare, in which it is the difference between the number of cards held by each pair of players that determines whether the payment between that pair of players is doubled. For example, playing with double payments for 9-11 cards, a player with 10 cards would pay 20 stakes to the winner, but only 8 stakes to a player with two cards (because 10-2 is less than 9).

Some simplify the scoring by simply paying one point per card, without doubling. Unfortunately this reduces the incentive for a player to take a risk in order to catch someone with a large number of cards.

Some play that if the winner's last play consists entirely of twos (a single two, a pair of twos or even three twos), the penalties for the other players are doubled.

Some count penalty points by adding up the values of cards left in the players' hands. There are various scales of values, for example in some groups numeral cards 2-10 score 1 point each; jacks, queens and kings 2 points; aces 3 points; and twos 4 points each. Some count 1 point for a three, 2 for a four, 3 for a five, and so on up to 11 points for a king, 12 for an ace and 13 for a two. These penalty points are doubled for a player who has 10 or more cards.

Jonathan Dushoff reports a version played in Taiwan in which the winner is paid a fixed amount by the loser only. Which player is the loser is determined by looking at the remaining cards of the players other than the winner:

• If anyone has a honour combination (straight plus or quads plus a card) the holder of the highest such combination loses.
• If no one has an honour combination, the holder of the highest two or ace loses;
• If there are no honour combinations, twos or aces, the holder of the largest number of cards loses;
• If there are no honour combinations and there is a tie for most cards, the holder of the highest card loses even if it is lower than an ace.

The Philippine game Pusoy Dos is normally played with positive points rather than penalty points. The winner (the first player to run out of cards) normally scores 1 point and the others score nothing. However, if you win and your last play includes a deuce (two) you score 2 points; if it contains two deuces you score 4 points, if it includes three deuces you score 8 points, and if you were to win by playing all four deuces you would score 16 points.

When playing the version that goes on until only one player has cards left, the person who runs out of cards first wins five points, the second player wins 3 points, the third wins 1 points and the last one gets no points.

Harold Hutabarat reports that in Indonesia the following scoring is used:

Card Hands What Beats Whatsapp

1. Special cards: The following combinations are rewarded with negative points if played during the hand and not beaten. They are worth nothing if the holder does not play them before the play finishes, or if they are played and beaten.

   Four of a kind (any but four twos):	-20 points.
   Straight flush:	-40 points
   Four twos:	-80 points

   If you play one of these combinations as the final cards in your hand, so ending the play, the score for it is doubled.
2. The player who finishes the game with a normal card (from 3 to Ace) or a combination of normal cards scores -5 points. Each two used in the combination that ends the game is valued as -10; for example if you end the game with a pair of twos, then you get -20.
3. The scores of the players other than the winner are calculated as follows:
   • Each card from 3 to Ace remaining in hand scores 1 point
   • Each two remaining in hand scores 5 points.
   • A player left with 11 or 12 cards when the play ends scores double points. If you still have all 13 cards then your score for that hand will be multiplied by three.

Hong Kong Big Two

Ivan Ip describes a version of Big Two that he says is standard in Hong Kong (though other variants certainly exist there). Flushes are compared according to the rank of the highest card. JQKA2 is not a valid straight or straight flush. The highest straight or straight flush is A2345, then 23456, TJQKA, 9TJQK, and so on down to 34567 (lowest). A dragon wins the hand outright. The deal cannot be won by playing a single 2 as your last card. The second and subsequent deals are begun by the winner of the previous deal.

Three Player Game

Seventeen cards are dealt to each player, and the last card is placed face up in the centre of the table (one report says that this last card is dealt face down). The holder of the three of diamonds adds this extra card to their hand. If it turns out that the last face down card is the 3 then the holder of the 3 must take it. The rest of the play is as in the four-player version.

Some play that from the second deal onwards, immediately after the deal, the loser of the previous deal must give their highest card to the winner in exchange for an unwanted card from that player. This rule applies only to the three-player game.

Some play with only 13 cards dealt to each player. In this case the holder of the lowest dealt card starts. Anyone who passes must draw a card from the undealt stock and add it to their hand. When the stock is used up, play can continue without drawing, or in some groups the played cards that have been set aside are shuffled and used as a new stock for drawing. Some play that if you pass when a combination of cards was needed, you draw not one card but the number of cards you would have had to play.

Normally the payment per card at the end from a player holding more than 13 cards is the same as from a player with 13 cards, usually 3 points per card.

Two Player Game

Practice varies on the number of cards dealt. Some play that 17 cards are dealt to each player and the remaining 18 cards are set aside unused. Others play with 21 cards each and 10 cards unused, yet others with 13 cards each and 26 unused. The play is as in the four-player game; the holder of the lowest dealt card starts.

Some play that a player who passes must draw a card or cards, as in the equivalent variation of the three-player game.

Other Big Two WWW sites and software

Descriptions of the game and variations.

• A paper Dai Di Analysis giving rules of Singapore Chor Dai Di and an analysis of its strategy and probabilities was produced by Teo Kai Meng, Roddy Kok Yik Siong, Jeremy Ang Kay Yong and Ivan Lim Wen Chiang in June 2000.
• Nicholas Cheung's page with rules of Choi Dai Di
• Archive copy of a page on Sikitcha - a variation of Pusoy Dos
• Here is a set of Big Two rules from mainland China.
• A tile version of Big Two is published by the Korean firm Dagoy under the name Lectio. It is played with plastic tiles numbered from 1 to 15 in each of the four suits, making a 5-player game possible in which each player is dealt 12 tiles. Chips are supplied for keeping score: each player is supplied 149 points' worth of chips at the start and a game ends after 5 deals or when a player runs out of chips if that happens sooner. The BoardGameGeek page on Lectio includes links to English translations of the rules.

Software and online games

Hands In Poker What Beats What

• Soh Guan Hoe's Java Chuadaidi program.
• Netbig2 is a program with which you can play the Hong Kong version of Big Two online against live opponents.
• Vinagames offers a Java on line Big Two game.
• Gameslush.com offers an online Big Two game against live opponents or computer players.