Egyptian Ratscrew
Encyclopedia
Egyptian Ratscrew is a card game
of the matching family of games, reminiscent of Slapjack
and Beggar-My-Neighbour
, but more complex.
The game appears to be a combination of Beggar-My-Neighbour
, mentioned by Charles Dickens in his Great Expectations (published originally as a weekly serial from 1860 to 1861 in Britain
), and the concept of slapping for cards, possibly derived and expanded from the gameplay of Slapjack
.
Players are dealt an equal number of cards from the deck, using as many as possible. If two people are playing, each player will receive 26 cards from a 52-card deck; if there is a large number of players, multiple decks may be used. (As many players can play as can reach at arm's length into the middle of a general circle that they will all form for play.) Any excess cards are placed in a central pile.
Players are not to look at their cards at any time, including while placing them face-up on the pile (players should flip cards outwards from the top of their pack very quickly, so other players can not see a card before it is set down).
The player to the left of the dealer begins by placing a card face-up, always from the top of his or her pack, to start a central pile. Play then proceeds in a preset order, clockwise or counterclockwise around a circle, and each player takes turns laying down one card on the pile at a time until a face card or Ace is played (making him or her the challenger for that moment in play). The next player (the challenged) then has a certain number of chances to play another face card or Ace, as follows: four chances after an Ace, three after a King, two after a Queen, and one after a Jack. The challenged player plays his or her cards, one at a time, until he or she either draws another face card onto the pile or exhausts all of his or her allowed chances. If the challenged player is able to play a face card, the next player after him or her must beat it; if the initial face card could not be beaten in its allotted chances, the challenger who placed it takes the pile.
Any player who takes a pile is always the one to start the next pile. When taken, piles are always added to a player's deck underneath, face-down.
A wide range of different slappable combinations are in use, basically varying in popularity, or easiness as depending on the age of the participants.
In a legitimate slap, the first person to react the fastest and slap the pile claims the pile. If multiple players slap simultaneously, the person whose hand has contact with the most cards in comparison to the other hands takes the pile. If it cannot be determined whose hand has the greatest dominance on the pile, the pile is sometimes shuffled on its own and distributed equally to the tied slappers. In order to prevent conflict, it is imperative to decide before play starts if slapping and taking the pile away in one motion counts as a slap.
Naturally, most rule sets require that any jewelry (such as rings, bracelets, watches, and even earrings) be removed from hands and wrists, as a hard slap with metallic or sharp-edged objects in place can cause injuries.
All hands must be entirely withdrawn before the deck may be slapped. It is widely considered unfair to hover one's hand close to the deck and slap too frequently.
Some players may also intentionally fake a slap, since in so doing a player can possibly convince another to slap incorrectly as well, or obtain an advantageous position in the deck that the player remembered from previous pile collections in the game.
Also, when someone plays a facecard, that person may want to slap on the last card dropped thereafter, (1st for Jack, 2nd for Queen, 3rd for King and 4th for Ace), regardless of knowing what that card might be. This strategy is profitable because the reward of the pile outweighs the risk of "burning" a card. This strategy is also known as a "risk slap". The "risk slap" may be used by players who have a noticeable lead in cards, and are comfortable with sacrificing one card on the chance they might gain the pile which they slapped.
Once players are familiar with the game the deck can be cut into roughly equal piles rather than dealing. This saves time in order to get on to the next game.
Handicap games can be played where a player starts the game with no cards. This assumes that there are at least three total players.
The card rank may be reversed so that an Ace allows only one chance for the next player to beat, and a King two, a Queen three, and a Jack four; in keeping with the traditional rank of face cards, the Ace becomes the most valuable card to possess.
A variant on illegitimate slapping-in for eliminated players calls for just one wrong slap per hand.
A sequence of three cards of the same type ends the game and calls for new shuffling and dealing; the optional winner from that round is the player who holds the most cards. Some variations say the deck must be burned before midnight, and game play can not continue until the next day after slapping triple sixes.
The Jack-Ten Variation was started by Michael Kelsey and Brendan Gorman in 2001 and since has caught on as a momentum-building variation on the game. Whenever a Ten follows a Jack, players shout out "Jack-Ten" and then can punch a person in the near vicinity.
It is rare, but possible for all cards to be in the pile without any of the players having any. If this happens, the game is simply a draw.
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
of the matching family of games, reminiscent of Slapjack
Slapjack
Slapjack, also known as Slaps, is a simple standard-deck card game, generally played among children. It can often be a child's first introduction to playing cards.The game is related to Egyptian Ratscrew and is also sometimes known as Heart Attack...
and Beggar-My-Neighbour
Beggar-My-Neighbour
Beggar-My-Neighbour, also known as Beggar-Your-Neighbour, Beat Jack Out of Doors, Beat Your Neighbour Out of Doors, Beat your Neighbour Out of Town, Strip Jack Naked, Picture and Draw the Well Dry, is a simple card game somewhat similar in nature to War, and has spawned a more complicated variant,...
, but more complex.
The game appears to be a combination of Beggar-My-Neighbour
Beggar-My-Neighbour
Beggar-My-Neighbour, also known as Beggar-Your-Neighbour, Beat Jack Out of Doors, Beat Your Neighbour Out of Doors, Beat your Neighbour Out of Town, Strip Jack Naked, Picture and Draw the Well Dry, is a simple card game somewhat similar in nature to War, and has spawned a more complicated variant,...
, mentioned by Charles Dickens in his Great Expectations (published originally as a weekly serial from 1860 to 1861 in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
), and the concept of slapping for cards, possibly derived and expanded from the gameplay of Slapjack
Slapjack
Slapjack, also known as Slaps, is a simple standard-deck card game, generally played among children. It can often be a child's first introduction to playing cards.The game is related to Egyptian Ratscrew and is also sometimes known as Heart Attack...
.
Gameplay
The game is played with a standard 52-card deck, or with multiple standard decks shuffled together for large numbers of players. As a variation, one or more Jokers may be added.Players are dealt an equal number of cards from the deck, using as many as possible. If two people are playing, each player will receive 26 cards from a 52-card deck; if there is a large number of players, multiple decks may be used. (As many players can play as can reach at arm's length into the middle of a general circle that they will all form for play.) Any excess cards are placed in a central pile.
Players are not to look at their cards at any time, including while placing them face-up on the pile (players should flip cards outwards from the top of their pack very quickly, so other players can not see a card before it is set down).
The player to the left of the dealer begins by placing a card face-up, always from the top of his or her pack, to start a central pile. Play then proceeds in a preset order, clockwise or counterclockwise around a circle, and each player takes turns laying down one card on the pile at a time until a face card or Ace is played (making him or her the challenger for that moment in play). The next player (the challenged) then has a certain number of chances to play another face card or Ace, as follows: four chances after an Ace, three after a King, two after a Queen, and one after a Jack. The challenged player plays his or her cards, one at a time, until he or she either draws another face card onto the pile or exhausts all of his or her allowed chances. If the challenged player is able to play a face card, the next player after him or her must beat it; if the initial face card could not be beaten in its allotted chances, the challenger who placed it takes the pile.
Any player who takes a pile is always the one to start the next pile. When taken, piles are always added to a player's deck underneath, face-down.
Slapping
In addition to the basic progression of play, players agree beforehand on certain card combinations that, when played consecutively, entitle the fastest player to slap the slowest player and subsequently claim them. The simplest and most common combination is a double (any two cards of equal rank, including face cards), though other common "slappable" combinations include "sandwiches" (a double with one card of a different value between the two), "wild cards" (any one of the number cards, as selected at random before play begins), "add-ups" (a.k.a. "tens", two consecutive cards whose values sums to ten, such as an eight played on a two), "Jack 10" a Jack followed up by a 10, the marriage (a King and a Queen), the divorce (a King or Queen followed by any card followed by a Queen or King, i.e. a King-Queen sandwich), and rarer "add-up sandwiches" (an add-up combined with a sandwich, such as an eight and a two with a card between them). "Runs" or "staircases" are also common where cards occur in sequence (4,5,6 or 6,5,4).A wide range of different slappable combinations are in use, basically varying in popularity, or easiness as depending on the age of the participants.
In a legitimate slap, the first person to react the fastest and slap the pile claims the pile. If multiple players slap simultaneously, the person whose hand has contact with the most cards in comparison to the other hands takes the pile. If it cannot be determined whose hand has the greatest dominance on the pile, the pile is sometimes shuffled on its own and distributed equally to the tied slappers. In order to prevent conflict, it is imperative to decide before play starts if slapping and taking the pile away in one motion counts as a slap.
Naturally, most rule sets require that any jewelry (such as rings, bracelets, watches, and even earrings) be removed from hands and wrists, as a hard slap with metallic or sharp-edged objects in place can cause injuries.
All hands must be entirely withdrawn before the deck may be slapped. It is widely considered unfair to hover one's hand close to the deck and slap too frequently.
Player elimination
Players who have no cards left to play are eliminated. If a player has fewer cards than chances left while trying to beat a face card and runs out of his or her deck while being unable to beat it with a face card of his or her own, either the next player continues attempting to beat the face card with the current chances left, or that particular play ends and the pile goes to the player who laid down the face card."Slapping in"
Even without cards, eliminated players can "slap in" on any appropriate card combination and reenter the game.Penalties
If players slap the pile when the card combination does not merit a slap, the slapper must "burn" one (or more, depending on the likelihood that the slap was "legitimate" by pure chance) penalty card(s) face-up at the bottom of the pile. Play then resumes according to the last-placed card; if it was then the turn of the player who incorrectly slapped, he or she would then proceed to set another card on top of the pile, continuing on. An alternate penalty has the pile go to whichever player laid the most recent card. Players with no cards have three strikes for each illegitimate slap, and after the third strike become unable to slap in until the next game. An alternative to this is to count the number of times the player lacking cards slaps without merit, and when he slaps back in, evenly distribute the debt to the other players, starting clockwise until the debt runs out. Alternately someone who slaps in in error but without cards gets punched as a penalty.Jokers
When Jokers are used, house rules generally define their role; they can be wild, unable to be slapped or always able to be slapped, or more rules can be invented. In some cases, players might want to make the Joker a royal card worth five chances.Strategies
Memorization may help players recognize slapping possibilities before cards are set into the pile. For example, if a game has only two players and one player legitimately slaps a double, the other player may recognize that, later on in the game, the double will arise later on as a sandwich that can then be slapped.Some players may also intentionally fake a slap, since in so doing a player can possibly convince another to slap incorrectly as well, or obtain an advantageous position in the deck that the player remembered from previous pile collections in the game.
Also, when someone plays a facecard, that person may want to slap on the last card dropped thereafter, (1st for Jack, 2nd for Queen, 3rd for King and 4th for Ace), regardless of knowing what that card might be. This strategy is profitable because the reward of the pile outweighs the risk of "burning" a card. This strategy is also known as a "risk slap". The "risk slap" may be used by players who have a noticeable lead in cards, and are comfortable with sacrificing one card on the chance they might gain the pile which they slapped.
Rule variations
For settling "It's my pile" disputes: Whoever is disputing may use the rules from the card game War to dispute the tie. The players would do this by each laying three cards in front of themselves and then a fourth face up. Whoever has the highest wins. If another tie occurs then repeat. If a player does not have enough cards to do this then they flip the last card they have. If that is a match and the other player still has cards left then the player out of cards cannot participate in the dispute.Once players are familiar with the game the deck can be cut into roughly equal piles rather than dealing. This saves time in order to get on to the next game.
Handicap games can be played where a player starts the game with no cards. This assumes that there are at least three total players.
The card rank may be reversed so that an Ace allows only one chance for the next player to beat, and a King two, a Queen three, and a Jack four; in keeping with the traditional rank of face cards, the Ace becomes the most valuable card to possess.
A variant on illegitimate slapping-in for eliminated players calls for just one wrong slap per hand.
A sequence of three cards of the same type ends the game and calls for new shuffling and dealing; the optional winner from that round is the player who holds the most cards. Some variations say the deck must be burned before midnight, and game play can not continue until the next day after slapping triple sixes.
The Jack-Ten Variation was started by Michael Kelsey and Brendan Gorman in 2001 and since has caught on as a momentum-building variation on the game. Whenever a Ten follows a Jack, players shout out "Jack-Ten" and then can punch a person in the near vicinity.
Winning
A player only wins when he or she owns every last card in the game. If all but one player is eliminated and cards remain in the pile, the lone player must continue playing cards until he or she wins the final pile by a slap, or by a challenge. This gives the rest of the players one final chance to slap back in.It is rare, but possible for all cards to be in the pile without any of the players having any. If this happens, the game is simply a draw.
External links
- Oxymoron's Egyptian Ratscrew Page
- Egyptian Ratscrew on ModernSoapbox.com