How to play Egyptian Ratscrew

One standard deck and two to six players. A sturdy table helps.

Win all the cards.

1. 1Deal out the whole deck face down so every player has a stack; do not look at your cards.

1. 1In turn, each player flips the top card of their stack face up onto a central pile, turning it away from themselves so everyone sees it at the same time.
2. 2If someone flips a court card or an ace, the next player must respond with another court card or ace within a set number of tries: four tries for an ace, three for a king, two for a queen, one for a jack. If they fail, the player who flipped the court card takes the pile.
3. 3At any moment, a player may slap the pile if a slap rule is showing. Most tables slap on a pair (two cards of the same rank in a row) and a sandwich (same rank with one card between).
4. 4The first player to slap a legal pattern takes the whole pile. Slapping by mistake costs you a card or two, added to the bottom of the pile.

• Players with no cards can still slap their way back in.
• The player who collects the entire deck wins.

• Extra slap rules: top-and-bottom, a run of three, or cards adding to ten.
• Some tables ban slapping back in once you are out.

• Agree on the slap rules before you start—most arguments come from this.
• Keep your eyes on the pile, not on your own stack.