Play higher or pass. Finish first and the loser hands you their best cards.
Known under a great many names, most of them rude. Play higher than the last player or pass, and the ranking of the players carries over from hand to hand.
A 52-card deck, all of it dealt out as evenly as possible. Twos are the highest card, then aces, kings and down to threes.
The player to the dealer's left leads any single card, or any set of two, three or four cards of the same rank.
Each player in turn must play the same number of cards, of a higher rank, or pass. Passing does not put you out of the round — you simply miss that turn.
When everyone has passed in succession, the last player to have played clears the table and leads to the next round with anything they like.
The first player to run out of cards is the president. The next is vice-president, and so on down to the last player still holding cards, who is the scum.
This is what makes the game. Before the next deal:
The scum gives their two best cards to the president. The president gives back any two cards they do not want. The vice-scum and vice-president exchange one card the same way.
Seating usually follows rank, and the president leads the first hand.
A two clears the table on its own. Four of a kind reverses the order of play. An eight resets the round. Agree these before you start, because everyone learned a different set.