What is Daifugō?
Daifugō switches on four rules from the Japanese form of the game at once. One joker is added to the pack, runs of three or more cards in one suit can be played, any four of a kind starts a revolution that reverses the card order, and any play that contains an 8 clears the pile.
The joker is wild. With natural cards it takes their rank: a 9 and the joker are a pair of 9s, and it can fill any place in a run, so 5-6-joker may be played as either 4-5-6 or 5-6-7. A set still holds at most four cards, the joker included. Played on its own, the joker is the highest single card, above the 2, and it stays the highest during a revolution. A lone joker does not clear the pile, but no card can follow it, so it wins the trick.
A run can only be followed by a run of the same length whose top card is equal or higher. Four of a kind, three of a kind and the joker included, reverses the order at once: the 3 becomes the highest card, a set of 3s clears the pile in place of the 2s, runs must be equal or lower, and another four of a kind turns the order back. An 8 still has to follow the trick; once it is down, the pile is cleared and its player leads again.
Everything else is the standard game. The number of rounds and the card exchange between rounds are chosen separately, and each of the four rules can also be switched on alone in the table setup.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard President | Daifugō |
|---|---|---|
| Pack | Standard President52 cards, no jokers. | Daifugō53 cards: one joker added, all dealt as evenly as possible. |
| The joker | Standard PresidentThere is no joker; the 2 is the highest card. | DaifugōWild in any set or run. On its own, the highest single card, above the 2, also during a revolution. |
| Runs | Standard PresidentOnly sets of one rank can be played. | DaifugōRuns of three or more cards in one suit, followed only by a run of the same length whose top card is equal or higher. |
| Four of a kind | Standard PresidentAn ordinary play. | DaifugōReverses the card order at once until another four of a kind or the next round: the 3 is highest and a set of 3s clears the pile. |
| The 8s | Standard PresidentAn ordinary rank; only a set of 2s clears the pile. | DaifugōAny play with an 8 in it clears the pile, and its player leads again. A set of 2s still clears it too. |
| Card exchange | Standard PresidentIn games of several rounds, the Asshole gives their two best cards to the President and gets any two back; with four or more players the vice roles swap one card. | DaifugōUnchanged, and set separately. The joker counts as the best card, so an Asshole holding it must hand it over first. |
History
Dai Fugō (very rich man), formerly more often known as Dai Hinmin (very poor man), is a Japanese climbing card game. It was probably introduced from China in the 1970s and became popular throughout Japan in the 1980s and 1990s, and some early version of Dai Hinmin was likely the direct ancestor of President, which became popular in the West a few years later. Accounts of President likewise name the Japanese game as perhaps its immediate ancestor.
The usual Dai Fugō rules use a 52-card pack to which one joker is normally added. The joker can stand for any card in a pair, triplet, four of a kind or sequence and remains the highest single card; a sequence is three or more consecutive cards of one suit; and four of a kind causes a revolution. The 8 stop (hachi-giri) is a rule that some players use. Its card exchange, two cards between the top and bottom players and one between the next two, is the same as this game's. Two details differ here: the revolution takes effect at once rather than from the next time the table is cleared, and a play may equal the one before it, as in this game's standard rules.