President Glossary: The Words Players Use

The words you will see at the table and on this site, in alphabetical order. For the full rules, see how to play.

Terms

• Burn. Clearing the pile by playing the same rank and number of cards as the top play, with the Match to burn house rule. The player who burned leads again.
• Card exchange. The swap before every hand except the first: the Peasant gives the President their 2 best cards and gets any 2 back, and the Vice Peasant and Vice President swap 1.
• Citizen. Any player who finished in the middle. Citizens don't exchange cards and score 1 point.
• Clear. The end of a trick. The pile is set aside and someone leads a fresh trick.
• Control card. A card high enough to win a trick on its own, usually a 2, an Ace or a King.
• Daily reward. Coins a signed-in player can claim once a day. The amount grows over a 7-day streak.
• Exchange timer. The time the President and Vice President have to choose what to give back. When it runs out, their lowest cards are given.
• Finishing place. The order in which players run out of cards. It decides the roles and the points.
• House rule. An optional rule the host can turn on for their table, such as Revolution or Straights.
• Lead. The first play of a trick. The leader can play any set.
• Match. A series of hands, 5 by default. The player with the most points at the end wins.
• Pass. Choosing not to play on your turn. With the default rules you can still play later in the same trick.
• Peasant. The player who finished last. They lead the next hand and give the President their 2 best cards. Some groups call this role Scum.
• Pile. The cards played so far in the current trick. The top play is the one to beat.
• President. The player who finished first. They score the most points and receive the Peasant's 2 best cards.
• Provably fair shuffle. The way every deal is fixed before anyone sees a card and can be checked afterwards. See the fair shuffle.
• Rank. The value of a card, from 3 (lowest) to 2 (highest). Suits don't matter in President.
• Revolution. A house rule: playing four of a kind flips the rank order for the rest of the hand.
• Set. One or more cards of the same rank played together: a single, a pair, a triple, four of a kind.
• Skip. With Match to skip, playing the same rank as the pile makes the next player miss their turn.
• Straight. A house rule play of 3 or more ranks in a row, such as 9-10-J.
• Streak. The number of days in a row a signed-in player has played.
• Trick. One round of plays on the same pile, from the lead until everyone else passes.
• Vice President. Second place. Receives the Vice Peasant's best card and gives one back.
• Vice Peasant. Second to last. Gives the Vice President their best card.