Presidents & Assholes
A drinking card game for 4 or more players
Required Equipment: One
standard deck of cards for every four players or so,
alcoholic beverages
Objects of the Game:
Presidents & Assholes is best played with a large group of people.
Aces are high;
Deuces are special "clear" cards.
Game Play (Initial Round): All cards from the deck(s) are dealt out as evenly as possible to each player. An extra card for some players is
no big deal. Someone should be designated to clear the board when necessary. Whoever is dealt the
Three of Clubs plays it first, and play continues from his or her left. (In the case of more than one deck, whoever throws it out first goes first.) The next player must match or beat the card played by the previous player, either by outranking it or playing multiple cards. For example, if a
King is played, the next player might play an
Ace, or a pair of
Threes, etc. If a player cannot match or beat what's currently on the table, he or she must pass and
take a drink. If a card on the table is matched, the next player is
skipped (loses his or her turn) and must
take a drink. If four or more cards of the same rank appear on the table in a row, then it is a "
Social" (everyone raises their glasses and drinks) the board is cleared, the player who completed the
Social gets to play again. A player may play a
Deuce (or any number of Deuces) to clear the board and play again. The board is also cleared when a player manages to play all of his or her cards. Play continues in this manner until everyone but the last player has "
gone out." The first player to go out is the next round's
President; the second player, the
Vice President. The last player to go out is the next round's
Vice Asshole; the one left with cards in hand is the
Asshole. All other players are
Neutral.
Game Play (Subsequent Rounds): The
Asshole deals the cards. Anyone who touches their cards before the
Asshole picks his or her cards up has to
take a drink. During this period, the
Asshole has power over everyone; he or she may
command others to
drink. After dealing the cards, this power shifts to the
President. After everyone has gathered their cards (
this may take a while in later rounds) the
President trades his or her
worst two cards for the
Asshole's
best two cards; the
Vice President and
Vice Asshole trade one card in the same manner. "Best Card" is defined as the highest single card, and
Deuces are better than
Aces. After the trade, the
Asshole is designated as the table clearer, and play continues as described above.
Special Rules: In some variations, if a player retains the rank of
President for three
consecutive rounds, he or she gets to make up a
rule that is in effect for the rest of the game.
Be creative. Also, if a player is
Asshole for three
consecutive rounds, he or she has to
immediately finish all of his or her
drink. Use
discretion with this rule.
Winning the Game: There is no real overall game
winner; as long as everyone has a good time and your place doesn't get
trashed,
everyone wins!