American Deuce

To Begin

The game is ideal for 4 players, although there are alternate rules for games of 5-8 (below).  Begin by removing the two jokers and two artist cards from the deck, shuffle and deal these cards face down.  Whoever draws the red joker becomes the “President-Elect.”  The President-Elect deals the remaining 52 cards clockwise. After looking at her cards, the President-Elect decides what suit will trump that round.  The player seated to the left of the President-Elect becomes the Vice, and the Vice chooses the next highest suit.  The player to the left of the Vice becomes the Secretary, who will tally the points at the end of the round, and who picks the third highest suit.  Before play starts, the President-Elect has the option to ask her cabinet (the other players) to “Drop a Deuce,” and whoever is holding the K♦ has to give the President-Elect a 2 if they have one.  In return, the President-Elect must give the lowest card from her own hand to this player.  If the President-Elect asks the cabinet to Drop a Deuce and the player with the K♦ doesn’t have a 2 (also referred to as a “Constipated King”), that player gets to choose any card from his own hand to give the President-Elect, and then selects a random card from the President-Elect’s hand.  

Play

The rule of play is similar to “Big Two” and “President.” To begin a round, the President-Elect initiates the first trick (below). Play proceeds clockwise, with normal climbing-game rules applying: each player must play a similar trick, with a higher rank, or same rank but higher suit, than the one before, with the same number of cards (unless starting a riot, see below). Players may also pass, thus declaring that they do not want to play, or do not hold the necessary cards to make a play possible. Once a player has passed, he cannot jump back in, even to start a riot. When all but one of the players has passed, the trick is won, and the cards are gathered.  A new trick is started with all players again, initiated by whoever won the previous trick. The round ends when one player runs out of cards, making her the new President-Elect. The Vice, Secretary, and Deplorable shift clockwise accordingly, and after the President-Elect deals, she chooses a trump suit for the next round (followed by the Vice and Secretary) and decides whether to ask the cabinet to Drop a Deuce before initiating the first trick for the next round.  The rounds proceed this way until one player reaches 270 points (see “Scoring” below).

Valid Tricks

Cards may be played as tricks of singles or in groups of two, three or five, in combinations that resemble pokerhands. The first trick laid down each round sets the number of cards to be played; all subsequent tricks played that round must contain the same number of cards unless dropping a four-of-a-kind (“Starting a Riot” below). The highest ranking card is 2 or the “deuce” instead of A. The combinations and their rankings are as follows, mostly based on poker hands:

•Single cards: Any card from the deck, ordered by rank, with suit (set by the cabinet, see above) being the tie-breaker.  For instance, if ♠ is set as the trump suit, 2♠ beats 2♦, which beats A♠.

•Pairs: Any two cards of matching rank, ordered as with singular cards by the card of the higher suit. For instance, if ♠ is set as the trump suit, a pair consisting of the K♠ and K♦ beats a pair consisting of K♣ and K♥.

•Triples: Three equal ranked cards, three deuces are highest, then aces, kings, etc. down to three threes, which is the lowest triple.

•Five-card hands: There are four different valid five-card hands, ranking from low to high as follows (the same ranking as in poker, where applicable; alterations for 5-8 players, see below):

•Straight: Any 5 cards in a sequence (but not all of the same suit). Rank is determined by the value of the biggest card, with the suit used only as a tie-breaker. Therefore 3-4-5-6-7 < 2-3-4-5-6, since 2 is considered the largest card in the 2-3-4-5-6 straight. The largest straight is J-Q-K-A-2, second A-2-3-4-5, third 2-3-4-5-6, fourth 10-J-Q-K-A, while the smallest straight is 3-4-5-6-7.

•Flush: Any 5 cards of the same suit (but not in a sequence). Rank is determined by face-value of the cards (highest first, then each lower card in order). Suit is only used to break ties.  For instance, even if ♠ is the trump suit, K♠-10♠-8♠-7♠-3♠ < K♦-10♦-8♦-7♦-4♦

•Full house: a composite of a three-of-a-kind combination and a pair. Rank is determined by the value of the triple, regardless of the value of the pair. 

•Straight flush: A composite of the straight and the flush: five cards in sequence in the same suit. Ranked the same as straights, suit being a tie-breaker. Straight flushes including the K♦ are always played with the flourish “Prepare Ye for the Royal Flush,” to which the rest of the cabinet replies “Shwishhhhhh.”

•Four-of-a-kind (“Starting a Riot”): This can never be the initiated trick, unless the player initiating has no other tricks.  Instead, it can be played on all other tricks and trumps the highest of all one, two, three or five-card ticks.  Only a riot of a higher rank can be played atop another riot, and 2♠2♦2♥2♣ is the highest playable hand.

Scoring

When the round ends, each player with cards remaining gives themselves one point for each card if holding less than 10 cards, two points per card if they have 10 or more cards, and three points per card if holding all 13 cards (meaning none were played). The points are then paid to the winner, who becomes the new President. (Example: President-Elect wins, and Vice, Secretary, and Deplorable respectively still had 3, 11, and 8 cards left, then Vice would score -3, Secretary would score -22, Deplorable would score -8, and President-Elect would score +33.)

Alterations

•For quicker game, points are only added to new President-Elect’s score, not subtracted from losing players.

•Some versions have losing players change seats each round, according to score, in relation to new President-Elect, with lowest scoring player becoming Deplorable to President-Elect’s right, and highest scoring loser becoming Vice to President-Elect’s left.

•For 5-8 Players: The rules are the same, but the game requires two decks, distinguishable by different backs.  One deck is chosen to be the trump deck before cutting the deck to select the first President-Elect.  The two players to the President-Elect’s immediate left become Vice and Secretary respectively, and the player to the President-Elect’s right remains the Deplorable.  Higher tricks are still determined by rank first, then suit for ties, and then deck for ties of ties. In five-card tricks, a five-of-a-kind hand becomes possible, which ranks highest, above a straight-flush.  Additionally, a four-of-a-kind cannot trump a five-of-a-kind-hand, unless it is an all-black riot (“BLM”), or an all-red riot (“MAGA rally”).  With two-decks, the highest hand becomes 2♠2♣2♠2♣ or 2♦2♥2♦2♥, depending on the trump suit chosen by the President-Elect.