Daifugo (President)

Rules and how to play

Daifugo is a card game where players take turns playing cards stronger than the one before, and the order in which you empty your hand decides your rank — “Grand Millionaire”, “Millionaire”, and so on. It is also called Daihinmin, and it is similar to the Western game President. This page is for 3 or 4 players and uses 54 cards: a standard deck plus 2 jokers.^[1]

Cards are dealt out one at a time to every player until none are left (13–14 cards each with 4 players, 18 each with 3 players). In strength, 3 is weakest, then 4, 5, and so on up through K, A, and 2, with the joker stronger than any of them. Suit does not affect strength.^[1][2]

There are 3 ways to play: a single card, 2 or more cards of the same number together, or 3 or more cards of the same suit in consecutive rank order together (a run). You can only play the same type and number of cards as the previous player, and only if yours are stronger. For a run, you can only play it if the weakest card in your run is stronger than the strongest card in the run on the pile.^[1][2]

A joker can stand in for any card in a set or a run, and playing it alone makes it stronger than any other card. A single joker on the pile cannot be beaten by the other joker, since they are equally strong.^[1][2]

If you have no card you can play, or simply do not want to play one, you pass. Once you pass, you cannot play again until the pile clears. When everyone except the last player to play has passed, the pile clears and the cards on it are discarded. The last player to play becomes the next leader and can play anything they like. The leader cannot pass.^[1][2]

A player whose hand is empty has finished. In the order players finish, with 4 players they become Grand Millionaire, Millionaire, Poor, and Very Poor; with 3 players, Millionaire, Commoner, and Poor. If the pile clears on the card a player used to finish, the player after them becomes the leader. The round ends once only 1 player is still playing.^[1]

From the second round on, cards are exchanged right after dealing. With 4 players, the Very Poor gives their 2 strongest cards to the Grand Millionaire, and the Poor gives their strongest card to the Millionaire; the Grand Millionaire and Millionaire each choose the same number of cards they do not need and give them back. With 3 players, the Poor gives their strongest card to the Millionaire, and the Millionaire gives 1 card back. This page automatically picks the cards for whichever side has to give up their strongest cards (ties are broken in the order spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs).^[1][2]

In the first round, whoever holds the 3 of diamonds plays first. From the second round on, whoever finished last in the previous round plays first.^[1][2]

On this page, you choose 3, 5, or 7 rounds, and the overall winner is decided by the total of the points earned for each round’s rank (with 4 players, 3, 2, 1, and 0 points from 1st place down; with 3 players, 2, 1, and 0 points). If players are tied, whoever placed higher in the final round wins.

House rules

Daifugo has many “house rules” that vary by region and group. This page lets you turn 7 well-known ones on or off individually in the house rules section of the menu. All 6 except the illegal finish rule are on by default.^[1]

• Revolution (kakumei): Playing 4 or more cards of the same number together (jokers may be included) reverses the number order — 3 becomes strongest and 2 becomes weakest. A second revolution reverses it back (a counter-revolution). The joker stays strongest even during a revolution. Playing a run does not trigger it.
• Eight cut (hachigiri): Playing a card that includes an 8 clears the pile immediately, and the player who played it stays on as the leader. This also clears the pile when an 8 is part of a run. It does not clear the pile when a joker stands in for an 8.
• Spade three return (supe-san-gaeshi): When a single joker is on the pile, playing the 3 of spades beats it and clears the pile. You can play it even during a lock.
• Lock (shibari): If the same suit is played twice in a row, only that suit can be played until the pile clears. For a set of 2 or more cards, a lock starts when the combination of suits matches the previous play. A joker can stand in for the locked suit, but playing a joker does not start a lock.
• Fall of the capital (miyako-ochi): If anyone else finishes before the previous round’s Grand Millionaire (or Millionaire with 3 players), that player immediately turns their hand face down, drops out, and finishes last for the round.
• Jack back (11-back): Playing a card that includes a jack reverses the number order until the pile clears. Playing one during a revolution restores the normal order until the pile clears.
• Illegal finish (off by default): Finishing with a card that includes a 2 (3 during a revolution), a joker, or an 8 (when the eight cut rule is on), or by playing a hand that triggers a revolution, is an illegal finish. Illegal finishers are ranked from the bottom up.

In a survey asking how many people knew various house rules, about 90% had used or knew the eight cut, and about 80% knew the fall of the capital, the spade three return, and the lock, while the Jack back rule was “surprisingly low” (2017, based on just over 200 responses collected on social media).^[6]

The Japan Daifugo Federation (a registered nonprofit association) calls revolution, the eight cut, the fall of the capital, the lock, and the spade three return its “5 official rules”. The choices on this page follow the forms that are most commonly used, as far as can be confirmed from sources.^[5]

Controls on this page

First, in the panel to the right of the 3D board (below it on narrow screens), choose the number of players (3 or 4), the number of rounds (3, 5, or 7), and the house rules, then choose how to play. With “Easy”, “Medium”, or “Hard” under “Play vs computer”, you are in the red seat and the computer plays the other seats. With “4 players on this device” (the number is the one you chose), players take turns on one device. A curtain appears every time the turn changes, and when the next player presses the curtain button, only that player’s hand becomes visible.

With “Play a friend (send a link)”, you send the room’s link to play together. If you do not have enough players, “Fill empty seats with the computer” lets the computer take the open seats. The computer also plays for a player who leaves during the game, or whose connection stays disconnected.

Your hand is lined up at the near edge of the table. Press a card you want to play to lift it, and press it again to put it back. When the cards you have chosen can be played, “Play” at the bottom of the 3D view becomes pressable. When there are cards on the pile, you can also press “Pass”. On your turn, cards you cannot currently play are shown dimmed. From the second round on, during the exchange, the Grand Millionaire and Millionaire choose which cards to give back and press “Give”.

Other players’ hands stay face down around the table, and each name tag shows the seat’s color, number of cards, rank from the previous round, and whether they have passed or the place they finished. The name tag of the player whose turn it is glows at the edge. During a revolution, a Jack back, or a lock, this is shown at the top right of the 3D view. Dragging the table rotates the view slightly, and you can switch views with “Angled” and “Top-down” at the top right.

The “Button controls” panel to the right of the 3D view (below it on narrow screens) also lets you choose cards by pressing hand buttons, then press “Play”, “Pass”, or “Give”. With a keyboard, move between buttons with the Tab key and press with Enter or the spacebar. The panel also shows the cards on the pile, the last move, each seat’s card count and score, and the ranking for each round. Even on devices where the 3D view is not available, you can play with these buttons alone.

“Undo move” is not available, so you cannot see the computer’s play and then take back your own.

Strategy tips

• Play weak cards while you are the leader. Weak cards such as 3 through 6 are hard to play except when the pile clears and you become the leader. Once you are the leader, play your weak cards together as a set or a run.
• Save 2s, jokers, and 8s for taking back the pile. Hold on to your strong cards to stop an opponent’s strong play and become the leader, and use them once you have few cards left to make it easier to finish.
• Do not break up a set. Playing 2 or 3 cards of the same number, or a run, takes fewer turns than playing them one at a time. If you break up a set to play on a single-card pile, you are left with cards that are harder to play later.
• Decide on a revolution based on your hand’s overall strength. Playing a set of 4 when you have few strong cards and many weak ones turns your weak cards strong. On the other hand, if you hold many 2s or aces, you are better off not starting a revolution.
• Watch how many cards are left. Once someone is down to 1 or 2 cards, play a strong card to take the pile so you do not hand them the lead.

The name and history of Daifugo

Daifugo is a card game widely played in Japan. One account says that it tends to be called Daihinmin in the Kanto region, and Daifugo or Do-hinmin in the Kansai region.^[1]

According to the novelist Masahiro Mita, as the student movement was winding down, students who had left the movement knew the game affectionately as “class struggle”.^[1]

Games of being the first to empty your hand exist in many places, and close relatives include Big Two (鋤大D) in Hong Kong, Zheng Shangyou in China, Tiến lên in Vietnam, and President in Europe and the United States.^[4]

Daifugo is also known for its many house rules. The Japan Daifugo Federation, founded in 2011 and registered as a nonprofit association in 2020, has defined 5 rules as its “5 official rules”.^[5]

Daifugo has also been a subject of computer research. Since 2006, the University of Electro-Communications has held the “UEC Computer Daihinmin Championship” (UECda), in which Daihinmin-playing programs are pitted against each other thousands of times to compare their strength. The computer on Hard on this page also uses an approach that spread through the championship: filling in hidden hands with random cards, playing out full games, and choosing a move based on the results.^[3]

Sources

1. Wikipedia (Japanese), “大富豪” [Daifugo] (opens in a new tab)
2. UECda Executive Committee, “UEC 標準ルール” [UEC standard rules] (UECda-2023; in Japanese) (opens in a new tab)
3. Tetsuro Nishino and Seiya Okubo, “コンピュータ大貧民” [Computer Daihinmin] (Journal of the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence, vol. 24, no. 3, 2009; in Japanese) (opens in a new tab)
4. Wikipedia (English), “Daifugō” (opens in a new tab)
5. Bengo4.com News, “トランプ『大富豪』の No.1 決めたい！ 多すぎるローカルルール、選ばれた 5 つは？” [We want to decide the No. 1 way to play the card game ‘Daifugo’! There are too many house rules — which 5 were chosen?] (in Japanese) (opens in a new tab)
6. Daily Portal Z, “大富豪のルールが多すぎるからアンケートをとったら余計に混乱した” [There are too many Daifugo rules, so I ran a survey, and it only got more confusing] (2017; in Japanese) (opens in a new tab)

Frequently asked questions

How many players can play?

You can play with 3 or 4 players. You choose the number in the menu. When you play the computer, you’re in the red seat and the computer plays the rest. In a game with friends, you can start by letting the computer take any seats you don’t have enough players for.

How many jokers are used?

2 (54 cards in total: a 52-card deck plus 2 jokers). A joker can stand in for another card in a set or a run, and playing it alone makes it the strongest card. A single joker can’t be beaten by the other joker, but if the spade three return rule is on, you can beat it with the 3 of spades.

What is a revolution?

It’s a rule where playing 4 or more cards of the same number together reverses the number order. During a revolution, 3 becomes the strongest and 2 becomes the weakest, but the joker stays strongest. A second revolution reverses it back.

Can I play without the eight cut or the lock?

Yes. In the house rules section of the menu, you can turn revolution, the eight cut, the spade three return, the lock, the fall of the capital, the Jack back, and the illegal finish rule on or off individually. In a game with friends, you play with the settings chosen by the person who created the room.

Are Daifugo and Daihinmin different games?

They’re different names for the same game. One account says it tends to be called Daihinmin in the Kanto region and Daifugo in the Kansai region. The detailed rules depend less on the name than on the house rules used by the group playing.

How is the overall winner decided?

You play the number of rounds you chose (3, 5, or 7), and whoever has the most points in total wins. With 4 players, places are worth 3, 2, 1, and 0 points from 1st place down; with 3 players, 2, 1, and 0 points. If players are tied, whoever placed higher in the final round wins.

Similar games

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• Ludo

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