Gameplay

Players are dealt equal packs of cards (or as close as possible) from the deck. Players are not to look at their cards at any time, including while placing them upon the center pile (players should flip cards outwards from the top of their pack). A player begins by placing a card face-up to start a central pile. Play proceeds clockwise (or counterclockwise; really you can choose any order) and each player lays down a single card on the pile until a face card or ace is played. The next player then has a certain number of chances to play another face card or ace. If the player is able to do so, play proceeds and the next player must attempt to play another face card or ace in the newly prescribed number of chances. If the player is unable to do so, the most recent player to play a face card or ace claims the pile. This means that if a player is unable to finish playing, the next player is responsible for the difference (i.e. Player 1 plays a King, Player 2 only has 1 card left, Player 3 continues to play the final 3 cards). The number of chances granted are as follows:

• Joker five chances (optional, also may act as an immediate slap)
• Ace: four chances
• King: three chances
• Queen: two chances
• Jack: one chance

Chances can also be granted by the same pattern in reversed order, i.e. Ace 1 chance, King 2 chances etc. with the jack omitted. Which version of the game is played is a matter of common practice amongst the players. The pile may also be claimed for certain combinations (see next section) laid in succession. Any player, including those holding no cards, — and, in some games, even bystanders — may slap the pile to attempt to claim it. The first to slap the pile claims the cards. If the successful claimer had no cards previous to the slap, this is called 'slapping in'.

The game ends when a single player holds the entire deck, regardless of how many players began the game. Games can be very lengthy, in part because a player who is developing a small pile is likely to hold concentrated face cards, having lost non-face cards in failing to beat a face card. Such a player will be in a good position to grab cards back.

Variations

Slapping variations

The following are commonly seen slap criteria. Any combination of these may be used in a particular game; however, the combination of Pair and Sandwich, or Pair alone, is the most common.

• Pair: Two cards of the same rank played in succession.
• Sandwich: A card of a certain rank, followed by a single card of another rank, then another card of the first rank; e.g., 5-7-5.
• Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich: A card of a certain rank, followed by a two cards of any other rank, then another card of the first rank; e.g., 5-7-J-5. This is also called a hoagie.
• BLT Sandwich: A card of a certain rank, followed by a three cards of any other rank, then another card of the first rank; e.g., 5-7-J-8-5.
• Club Sandwich: Any card between two clubs.
• Acey Deucey: An ace and 2 played in succession, in either order. Play on the band ACDC
• Tens: Any card, followed by another card which results in a sum of ten. The ten card by itself is also slappable. The ace is considered to have the value of one.
• Fifthteens: Any consecutive combination of cards adding up to 15.
• Jack/Ten: A jack and ten are played in succession. Some variations dictate an order (e.g. jack followed by ten is slappable while ten followed by jack is not, or vice-versa).
• Successive: Four, three, or two cards, depending on house rules, in successive order played back-to-back; e.g., 5-4-3, 9-10-J-Q, or A-2.
• Sixty-Nine: A nine followed by a six or vice-versa.
• Sixty-Nine Sandwich: A nine followed by a six or vice-versa, with up to one card of any rank in the middle.
• Blackjack: An ace and jack played in succession, in either order.
• Marriage: A queen and king played in succession, in either order.
• Divorce: A king and queen separated by one card.
• A and 4 pair: An ace and a 4, or vice-versa simply because they are easy to slap on at a glance because they look alike.
• Suicidal Kings: The king of hearts, who in most decks is depicted as holding a sword horizontally behind his head. The image can be interpreted as the king stabbing himself through the head.
• One-Eyed Jacks: The jack of spades and the jack of hearts, who are in most decks depicted in profile so only one eye is visible.
• Joker - some games use a joker, which can always be slapped. Trying to remember where the joker is can thus become important.
• Five - A five of any suit is played.
• Pyromania - If anyone slaps three sixes played in succession, nobody wins, the deck must be completely burned by midnight, and none of the party are allowed to play ERS again until 12.01 am.

It may come up that someone slaps on a pile that could be slapped for two or more reasons. For example a 69 sandwich could also be a club sandwich if they are both clubs. In this case, all players give the winning player a card at random.

Penalties

A penalty may be exacted for false slapping. A false slap occurs when a player slaps the center pile when a slap criterion is not met. A typical penalty is either a one-under or two-under: the player at fault must place the next one or two cards of his pack face-up underneath the center pile. This penalty is called "burning a card", or simply "burning". A more severe punishment dictates that the player must give a card to every player in the game, sometimes including those who do not have any cards.

In one variant, a person who slaps falsely is punched in the shoulder by the next player who would lay a card. In another, a person who slaps falsely may be slapped by any number of players. In a stricter version, a person is only allowed three false slaps, and then they must put all their cards in the center pile. They are not allowed to "slap in" or receive cards by any method until a clear winner of the current game is found and the cards are redealt. One certain variant ignores penalties altogether; it is considered enough to be made fun of for the mistake.

In addition, the problem may arise that a player is used to a certain rule that is not in use in a particular game. The result being that they falsely slap on an otherwise legitimate pile. In this case, players may grant clemency.

Other variations

For the adventurous, Egyptian Ratscrew can be played as a full-contact game: when a slap criterion is met, the pile is open to any competition: whatever cards are physically claimed by a player go into his stack. Restrictive variations also exist, mostly to curb the more violent or injurious aspects of slapping. The most popular is 'no rings', which requires players to remove rings and other jewelry from their hands while playing. A ring will create a pressure point when slapping on top of a prior slapper's hand, and some players may deliberately use this for psychological warfare to make people hesitate before out-slapping the ring-wearing player.

Another variation allows other players to force their opponents to discard (or "sluff"/"slough") cards if the player correctly calls the rank and suit of the next card to be played. For example, a player says "sluff Jack of Clubs" when it's another players turn, before the card is flipped over. If the card is correctly named, that card doesn't count and it is placed under the pile. If it was incorrectly named, the card counts as played and the player who made the incorrect call must discard the top card of his/her deck face up under the pile. When this rule is used, play sometimes becomes more frantic as players try to play faster to avoid having their good cards sloughed away.

A third, rather uncommonly used variant includes the use of a "cancel" card. The card (typically the 10 card, but always a non-face/ace card), when played will cancel any face/ace-card action at the moment. So, if someone played a King on the stack, and the next person's 2nd card put on the stack was the cancel card, the King is then negated and play would continue as if the King had not been played.

A variant in Paris, Texas called Last Chance involves multiple packs of cards. Usually no more than two are used, but many more have been in play. Any slap criterion may be used. The difference between this game and "standard" Egyptian Ratscrew is that the first person to go out picks up the spare deck and continues play, after which both decks must be acquired to win. It is helpful to play with cards of different brands or colors, in order to identify the ownership of each deck.

Strategy

Although the game primarily rests upon the luck of the draw from each player's stack of cards, the slapping aspect introduces skill, and this aspect can be played strategically. The most common strategy is memorizing doubles. If a player slaps the pile when doubles occur and claims the cards, he knows that the doubles will occur in that order once they reach the top of his pack. If he is laying down consecutive cards at that point, he has an advantage against other players because he does not have to visually recognize the set of doubles before slapping. Experienced players can take this strategy further by memorizing which cards precede jacks or other face cards in their pack.

Further strategy can be introduced by intentional false-slapping. If a player is attempting to play a face card and suspects that no such cards are near the top of their deck they may intentionally false-slap the pile. They are then required to put a card under the pile, which reduces the number of cards before a face card could potentially be found. This is a risky tactic, however, because it is very hard to judge where a face card might be, which can result in their loss unless you can win or slap the pile.

Another very common way to play is by using only the most common types of hands -- sandwiches, three in a row, and acey duecey.

The Jack allows for a significant claim of cards, if it is laid down at a moment when several cards are already on the table. Many players for this reason are eager to claim all of the jacks in the deck. For many players, aces are considered just as significant as the jack. Although the ace allows more chances than the jack does, it allows a player to accumulate a large amount of cards with one single card (assuming the player is lucky enough to win the hand).

History

The gameplay of Egyptian Ratscrew appears to be a combination between that of Beggar-My-Neighbour, a game known in Britain as early as the 1910s, and the concept of slapping for cards on certain combinations, possibly derived and expanded from the gameplay of Slapjack. The origins of the name are unknown. The game gained popularity in the mid-to-late 1990s and is now widely known throughout the United States, especially among schoolchildren. It is known to have existed at least back to the mid 1970s.