Egyptian Ratscrew
Also called ERS or Slap
Take turns flipping cards onto a pile. Spot a pair and slap it first to win the whole stack.
the best bit: every hand at the table slamming down on a pair of 8s
- Players
- 2–6 (best with 3–4)
- Time
- 15–30 min
- Learn in
- A few minutes
- Mood
- Rowdy
- Format
- Everyone for themselves
The 30-second version
Everyone gets a face-down stack and takes turns flipping cards onto a pile in the middle. When certain patterns show up, like two of the same card in a row, the first person to slap the pile wins it. Face cards start little challenges too. Collect the whole deck to win.
don't explain it all up front. play one practice round.
Grab these
Set up
- Deal the whole deck face down, as evenly as you can. Nobody looks at their cards.
- Everyone keeps their cards in a neat face-down stack.
How to play
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Flip
Going clockwise, players flip their top card face up onto the middle pile. Flip it away from yourself so you don't see it first.
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Slap a double
If a card matches the rank of the card right below it, like two 8s, anyone can slap the pile. The first hand down takes the whole pile and puts it under their stack.
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Slap a sandwich
If a card matches the rank of the card two below it, with one different card in between (7, 2, 7), that's a sandwich. Slap it.
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Face card challenges
When someone plays a Jack, Queen, King or Ace, the next player gets a set number of tries to play a face card of their own: 1 for a Jack, 2 for a Queen, 3 for a King, 4 for an Ace. If they do, the challenge passes on. If they don't, whoever played the last face card wins the pile.
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Bad slaps
Slap when there's nothing to slap and you put one card face down under the pile as a penalty.
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Out, but not done
Ran out of cards? You can still slap your way back in on the next double or sandwich.
How to win
Collect every card in the deck.
Once you know it
- Extra slaps
- Add more patterns if your table agrees before you start. Top and bottom: the top card matches the bottom card of the pile. Marriage: a King and Queen next to each other. Tens: two cards in a row that add up to ten.
From experience…
- Slaps still count in the middle of a face card challenge.
- Slap with a flat hand. If it's a tie, the lowest hand on the pile wins.
- Take off your rings. Seriously.