What is Runs?
In the standard game every play is a set of cards of one rank: a single card, a pair, three or four of a kind. With Runs switched on you may also play a run: three or more cards of the same suit in consecutive ranks, such as the 5, 6 and 7 of hearts. Runs follow the usual card order, 3 up to Ace and then 2, and do not wrap around, so K-A-2 is the highest run of three and A-2-3 is not a run.
A trick led with a run is a trick of runs. Each player must follow with a run of the same length, in any suit, whose top card is equal to or higher than the top card of the run on the pile. Sets cannot be played on a run, and runs cannot be played on a set. A run can be as long as your hand allows, and the longer it is, the harder it is to follow.
Runs never clear the pile on their own: only a set of 2s does, even when a run ends on the 2. Passing, winning a trick and going out work as in the standard game.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard President | Runs |
|---|---|---|
| What you can play | Standard PresidentSets only: one, two, three or four cards of one rank. | RunsSets, or runs of three or more consecutive cards in one suit. |
| Run length | Standard PresidentNo runs; a play has at most four cards. | RunsThree cards or more, with no upper limit. Ranks go from 3 up to 2 without wrapping, so K-A-2 is the highest run of three. |
| Beating a run | Standard PresidentThere are no runs to beat. | RunsOnly with a run of the same length, in any suit, whose top card is equal or higher. |
| Sets and runs | Standard PresidentEvery trick is a trick of sets of one size. | RunsA trick led with a run takes only runs of that length; a trick led with a set takes only sets of that size. |
| Clearing the pile | Standard PresidentA set of 2s clears the pile. | RunsUnchanged: a run that ends on the 2 does not clear the pile. |
| Other options | Standard PresidentJokers, revolution, 8 clears the pile, the card exchange and the number of rounds can be chosen. | RunsRuns work with all of them. A joker can fill any place in a run. During a revolution a run must be equal or lower, measured by its bottom card, and a run of four starts no revolution. With 8 clears the pile, a run through the 8 clears it. |
History
Runs in one suit belong to Dai Fugō, the Japanese climbing game generally described as the likely direct ancestor of President. In Dai Fugō, a sequence is three or more consecutive cards of the same suit, it can only be beaten by a higher sequence with the same number of cards, and the highest three-card sequence is K-A-2 while the lowest is 3-4-5. An early form of the game, recorded in 1979, had two jokers but no sequences.
Adding single and multiple sequences makes the game rather like Zheng Shangyou, a Chinese climbing game. Rule sets differ: some let runs mix suits or limit their length. Here a run must be in one suit and has no maximum length, and it may also be followed by a run that only equals it, as this game lets every play equal the one before.