Deal all the cards.
Players play in turns with the objective of shedding all of their cards. The first hand begins with the player holding 3
♣ . This player must start the first hand with 3
♣ .
Players then continue playing cards of equal or higher rank than the previous card played. If a player cannot play a card on their turn, or does not want to, they may pass. If a player plays a card of equal rank to the previously-played card, the next player is skipped. Once all players have passed, the hand is discarded face-down. The player who last played the highest card begins the next hand.
When starting a hand, players can opt to play multiple cards of the same number. Following players must also play the same number of cards on their turn for that hand.
Players may play out of turn to complete a quartet. For instance, if 7
♣ 7
♥ 7
♦ are already played in the current hand, the player holding 7
♠ may play it out-of-turn. Doing so ends the hand immediately, and that player can begin the next hand.
2 is a special card - its rank is higher than all other cards, so it can be on a player's turn regardless of what the current high card is. Additionally, playing a 2 immediately ends the hand, and the player of the 2 can begin the next hand. In a round started with doubles or triples, the same number of 2 must be played.
The first player to shed their cards is the President, and the second is the Vice President. The last player to lose their cards is the Butt, and the second-to-last is the Vice Butt. Before the next round starts, the President may ask the Butt for 2 cards by number and suit, which the Butt must provide if they have. The President then gives the Butt a card from their hand of their choice. The Vice roles do the same, but with 1 card.
These variations serve to introduce more entropy to the game.
Instead of dealing all the cards, deal an even number of cards to each player, and discard the rest face down.
When the President and Vice President take cards, they do not give cards back. This introduces a cost to taking cards.