How to play Slapjack

One standard 52-card deck and two or more players; it is liveliest with about four to eight.

Win all the cards by being the first to slap each jack.

1. 1Deal out the whole deck face down, one card at a time, as evenly as possible.
2. 2Each player squares their cards into a face-down pile without looking at them.

1. 1Going clockwise, each player turns the top card of their pile face up onto a single center pile. Flip it away from yourself so you see it at the same moment as everyone else.
2. 2When a jack is turned up, the first player to slap a hand flat on the center pile takes the whole pile and adds it face down to the bottom of their own pile.
3. 3If several hands land at once, the hand at the bottom—touching the pile—wins it.
4. 4Slapping a card that is not a jack costs you: give the top card of your pile, face down, to the player who turned up the wrongly slapped card.

• If you run out of cards, you are not out yet: you may slap the next jack to get back into the game. If you miss it, you are out.
• The game ends when one player has all the cards.

• Also slap doubles (two cards of the same rank in a row) or sandwiches (same rank with one card between)—this turns Slapjack into something close to Egyptian Ratscrew.
• Irish Snap: players call out ranks in order as they play, and anyone slaps when the card matches the rank called.
• For very young players, slap any face card instead of only jacks.

• Keep your slapping hand near the center but not over it, so you are fast without blocking others.
• Do not anticipate. A false slap costs a card, and in a close game that can decide the winner.