Egyptian Rat Poker

Are you alone with a friend and a deck of cards? Want to learn a few fun card games for two players? Well, you've come to the right place.

How to play Egyptian Rat Screw - Bicycle Playing Cards - Card Game Tutorial & Rules - Duration: 2:12. Bicycle Cards 1,366 views. RatScrew is an intriguing card game that matches your pattern recognition skills with your reaction time as well as your wits. Explanation of symbols Configuration. Individual.With only two players, there is no possibility of forming teams. The players must play against each other - one against one - and there are no 'partnership' or 'alliance' games.

You can basically play any card game with only two players. So in case you want to play one of the more classic card games, check out these:

But if you came here to learn some games that ware created especially for two, keep reading…

Schnapsen rules

Style: Trick-Taking / Poker. How To Play Chicken Foot. How to Play Egyptian Ratscrew: Egyptian Ratscrew is a card game that uses all cards in one or multiple decks. There really is no limit to the number of players.Things you need:One or more decks of cardsSome friends to play with.

Schnapsen is a fun game for 2 players played with a 20 card deck(some variations have 24 card decks). The cards used are A, K, Q, J, T, (9).
It's not a particularly social game, since it involves quite a lot of thinking and a solid memory, but for all of you out there that are looking for something challenging, or just looking for something to outplay your friends in, it's perfect.

So learn the rules to Schnapsen!

The Bidding War

The Bidding War is a simple card game for two players. It's similar to the children's card game War, but it involves a little more skill. That means that, if you play better than your opponent, you can gain an edge on him and beat him more often than not.

Learn the rules of the Bidding War!

Tarok for two

Tarok is a fun card game played with a deck of tarot playing cards. These are the rules to the two player version…

…two player Tarock rules!

Spit

spit card game

Spit is a classic shedding game; that is, the ultimate goal for the players is to be the first to get rid of all their cards. This is a fast-paced, simple and highly entertaining card game for two people. It's an ideal game for when you and a friend just want to have a relaxing, good time without too many headscratchers or boring steps getting in the way of it.

Materials

All you need to play Spit are two decks of standard playing cards and your preferred method of keeping score. No additional resources or expensive decks or boards are at all required to get going and have some fun. Just a small part of what makes this game such a simple and comfortable time!

Dealing

In Spit, each player gets one of the playing decks. Each player then takes the four top cards from their deck and places it in front of them in a row, face up. The deck ranking is straight-forward and logically descending in numerical order from the face cards down: A (high or low), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

Gameplay

The rules and mechanics are simple. When both people are ready to play, one of them says 'spit' (after all, that charmingly strange name needed to come in to play somehow!) and each player removes the top card from their deck and places it in the center of the table; the two cards will form rows and will be the focus of the action for the rest of the game.

There are no turns in Spit and each player makes their moves simultaneously. The players take the cards from their row and place them on top of the center piles. However, a card can only be played if it is one higher or one lower than the card it is played on top of. The suit of the card does not matter.

Once a card is played, it can then be replaced in the player's row by the top card of their deck. Note: Each player can have a maximum of only four cards in their row.

Cards can only be played one at a time. If the two players both try to play a card on the same pile, whichever player reached the pile first gets to be the one to play their card. This is probably going to be important to remember; because the game is played simultaneously, the two players are probably going to try to make identical plays fairly frequently.

If both players get stuck and can't play a card, one of them says 'spit' again and they place their top deck cards on the piles and the game continues. Whoever gets rid of all their cards (in both their deck and their row) wins the game. If both players exhaust their deck and neither one can win the game, whoever has the fewest cards left in their row wins.

Have fun!

Piquet

Piquet is a two player card game that has been around for over 400 years. It is a trick-taking game and is notable for its distinct Western European flavor and terminology, as well as its unusual deck structure for the cards.

This is definitely apparent the minute you start playing: Seemingly every important term has a non-English name! The game is particularly original in that it consists of six deals, which is referred to as a partie.

Materials

Piquet is unique in that it requires a 32 card deck to play. However, this can be easily achieved with a slight modification of a standard 52 card playing deck. All you need to do is remove all of the 2-6 cards before you start and you're ready to play! Absolutely no need to go to a store or online to search for an elusive and probably expensive 32 card deck.

Dealing

Piquet has quite an original process for dealing. It begins with either player shuffling the deck, and then cutting the deck for the high card. Whoever has the high card is the winner and chooses who deals first.

From there, the cards are reshuffled and twelve are dealt to each player. Eight cards are left over as a talon and placed face-down at the center of the table.

The player who does not deal is the elder hand, while the player who deals is the younger hand. This is just a fun term and does not at all need to correspond to the player's actual ages!

If a player is dealt a hand with no face cards, they can immediately call a carte blanche and be given 10 points. The player (and their opponent) then discard their hand face-up and the game goes back to where it was before the carte blanche.

Gameplay

The scoring system for Piquet can seem quite intimidating at first, but it's actually fairly intuitive once you manage to get the hang of it. Basically, each time a player scores points, they'll announce their running total score for that hand to the other player. Once a hand is completed, the players record their totals and add it to the score for the whole party.

The winner is whoever has the highest score at the end of the party. If there is a tie, two more hands are played. If both hands were ties, then the party is called as a draw. The game will also automatically end if a player reaches 100 points; in that case, the player who scored 100 points is declared the winner. The players may want to play another party, in which case, the scores are reset back to 0.

Once the game begins, the first step is the exchange. The elder hand goes first in the exchange process. The elder hand discards 1 to 5 cards from their hand (face down) and then draws an equal number of cards from the talon. Then the younger hand exchanges.

The younger hand can only exchange between 1 and the number of cards left in the talon, however. Either player must announce if they are discarding less than the maximum. The discarded cards are kept in a pile beside the player who discarded them. If the elder hand discards less than five cards, they can look through the talon while exchanging and the younger hand can then repeat that process.

Now, there are basically three ways to score points in Piquet: Points, Sequences, and Sets. Don't fret: These are all very easy to get down! Here's a quick overview of them:

1. Points: The largest number of cards in a single suit. The player announces the number of cards in that suit and that number is added to the player's total score.

2. Sequences: When the cards come in a sequence. In order of ascending point count, the sequences are: Tierce (3 cards and 3 points), Quart (4 cards and 4 points), Quint (5 cards and 15 points), Sixième (6 cards and 16 points), Septième (7 cards and 17 points), Huitième (8 cards and 18 points).

3. Sets: Multiple cards of identical rank. There are two types of sets: Quatorze (four of a kind of Aces, any face card, or 10's; worth 14 points) and Trio (three of a kind of Aces, any face card, or 10's; worth 3 points). Sets of 7, 8, or 9 are not worth any points.

The elder hand will say their best combination in the hand for each category. After each announcement by the elder, the younger can respond either 'good' (the younger hand does not have a combination that beats the elder's), 'bad' (the younger hand does have a combination that beats the elder's), or 'equal' (the younger hand has a combination of equal value). In the latter case, neither player will score their combination.

In the case of a tie of sequences, the cards can be compared by value and then the player with the higher value will get to score those points. This applies equally well to the other two categories of combinations.

Bonus points can also be awarded in two specific scenarios: Repique and pique. The former consists of 60 bonus points awarded if a player scores 30 or more points during declarations before the other player has scored any. The latter consists of 30 bonus points awarded if a player scores 30 or more points during both declarations and play before the other player has scored any.

And that's it for the gameplay of Pique! It might sound complex at first, but after a few hands you will almost certainly get a good grasp of the mechanics and general gameplay. Remember to have fun and try to pick up some neat foreign words in the process!

Egyptian Rat Screw

Egyptian Rat Screw is a game based on matching cards and is loosely based on the older card game, Beggar-Thy-Neighbor. One unique aspect that distinguishes it from similar games is that players slap the cards when they form special combinations. It might be important to keep in mind caution while playing; try not to hurt each other (or at least too badly, anyway)!

Materials

All that is needed to play Egyptian Rat Screw is a standard 52-card playing deck. Again, another refreshing example of the simplicity that often comes with two-player card games.

Dealing

The cards are dealt face down, one at a time, to each player. Then, when the dealer is finished, each player puts their cards into a neat pile in front of them without looking at any of the cards. Either or both players can participate in the shuffling and dealing of the cards; it makes no difference at all.

Gameplay

The gameplay for Egyptian Rat Screw is very straightforward. To start, each player takes the top card of their pile and puts it face-up in the middle of the table. If the card that's played is a number card, the other player puts down a card as well. This will continue until either a face card or an ace is played.

Once the initial face card or ace is played, the other player might play a face card or ace, in which case the match will continue. However, if they play a number card, then the first player wins the match and gets all the cards that have been played so far. Then the next match is initiated by the winner of the last one and the same rules regarding the face cards, aces, number cards goes into effect.

A face card or ace can be beaten, however, by the slap rule. If a combination that the slap rule applies to is in effect, then whoever slaps the center pile of cards first gets them all.

Try it Yourself »
Here are the possible combinations for the slap rule:

• Double: When two cards of identical value are played one after the other (e.g., a 2 after a 2)
• Sandwich: When two cards of identical value are played with one card of a different value between them (e.g., a 4, then a 7, then a 4 again)
• Top Bottom: When the same card as the first card of the match is laid down (e.g., if a 7 starts the match and one of the players then plays a 7)
• Tens: When two cards player on after the other add up to ten (e.g., a 6 and a 4); in this case, an Ace is counted as one
• Jokers: Any time a Joker is laid down (the two players should decide before the game begins if they'd like to include Jokers in the deck; some choose not to and that's perfectly fine!)
• Four in a row: When four cards with values in ascending or descending order are laid down one after the other (e.g., 4, 5, 6, 7)
• Marriage: When a King or a Queen are played one after the other (this applies to a King played before a Queen or vise-versa; there is no distinction in scoring made between the two.)

Good luck and happy slapping!

So have fun with your friend, spouse, partner or kid and enjoy your card game for two!

Egyptian Rat Poker Rules

Egyptian Ratscrew,^[1] also known as Slap,^[1]Egyptian Ratkiller,^[2]Egyptian War,^[2] or ERS,^[1] is a card game of the matching family of games. The game is similar to the 19th-century British card game Beggar-My-Neighbour, with the added concept of 'slapping' cards when certain combinations are played,^[2] similar to and perhaps borrowed from Slapjack.

Gameplay[edit]

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck or with multiple standard decks shuffled together for larger numbers of players. Casino florence az hotels. The number of players is limited only by each player's ability to reach the central pile at an arm's length. Each person is dealt an equal number of cards; extras are distributed as in a normal deal. As a variation, one or more Jokers may be added to ensure an even deal or to change gameplay.

Players cannot look at their cards at any time including placing a card onto the central pile.The player to the left of the dealer begins by placing a card face-up, always from the top of their deck, to start a central pile. When playing a card a player must reveal the card to all players at the same time, drawing to reveal the card away from themselves and then flipping face up. (This action prevents a player drawing a card towards themselves revealing the card to said player first.) Alternative to this, as hands with bad technique are more directly above the cards they place, any player can snap the hands of such players down, resulting in likely punishment for the player whose hand is on the bottom as they will likely have incorrectly snapped - see versions of this later in article.Play proceeds around the circle and each player takes turns laying down one card on the central pile at a time until a face card or Ace is played (making that player the 'challenger' for that moment in play). The next player (the 'challenged') then has a 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 their cards, one at a time, until they either draw another face card onto the pile or exhausts all of their allowed chances. If the challenged player is able to play a face card or Ace, the next player after they must beat it; if the initial face card could not be beaten in its allotted number of cards, 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. Cards are not shuffled.

The player who collects every card in the deck wins the game.

Slapping[edit]

In addition to the basic progression of play, players should agree beforehand on certain card combinations that, when played, entitle the fastest player to slap the pile and subsequently claim it. The simplest and most common combination is often the Double (any two cards of equal rank). Other common slap-able combinations include Sandwiches (a double with one card of a different value between the two), Hoagies (a double with 2 cards of different value between the two) consecutive-number runs of at least three in ascending or descending order (e.g. 7, 6, 5; 10, Jack, Queen), top bottom (the first card played is played again later on), wild cards (usually Jokers, if used in play), and Marriage (King+Queen on top of each other).

Additionally, slaps can be added for other types of conditions, such as suit/colour (the same three/four times in a row, respectively), or for being the same as the initial card (e.g. a 3 at any time when if first card played was a three, (to make this less common, a suit/colour can also be specified e.g. a red three if the first three played was red). Another condition that can be added is when meeting a challenge if the number of the card played (e.g. the second card played) matches the card's value (in this case, a two), then this is slap-able. For even more confusion jokers can be differentiated e.g. the red joker is an instant snap but the black joker challenges with 13 chances.

For a legitimate slap, the person to react the fastest and slap the pile first claims the pile. If multiple players slap simultaneously with no discernible victor, then the person whose hand is under all of the others or has the most contact with the cards by comparison takes the pile.

Hands must be entirely withdrawn before the pile may be slapped. It is considered unfair to hover one's hand too close to the pile and slap frequently.

Optional rules which negate this include slapping with the hand not delivering the card to the pile, Redneck Rules (wherein players, or convicted players, must bring their hand to their foreheads before being able to slap with that hand), or sleuthing or burning cards (putting the top card of the offending player's own deck on the bottom of the pile) as punishment for illegitimate slaps.

Player elimination[edit]

Players who have no cards left to play are eliminated. If a player has fewer cards than chances left while trying to counter a face card and runs out of their deck without countering, either the next player continues attempting to counter 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.

Even without cards, eliminated players can 'slap in' on any appropriate card combination and re-enter the game as long as there are at least two people still containing cards. If the last remaining active person runs out of cards while trying to counter a face card and is unsuccessful, the pile goes to the player who played the face card and the player who has all the cards plays 3 more cards for one last chance for the opponent to slap back in.

Penalties[edit]

If players slap the pile when the card combination does not merit a slap, the slapper must discard one or more penalty cards and place them face-up at the bottom of the pile. Play then resumes according to the card last played. Alternatively, if players believe another has taken cards or slapped incorrectly, the play can be contested: if the player was correct, any who contested the play must give the top card of their deck to the player, while if the player was incorrect, the player must give a card from the top of their deck to each player that contested the play, and the round continues. Cards gained in this way are, as usual, placed at the bottom of the player's deck. This, as well as adding a small element of bluffing into the game, helps to keep the play fast by both discouraging people from slapping incorrectly and discouraging people from always claiming another has done so and asking to check.

Players with no cards get a strike for each illegitimate slap and after the third strike, become unable to slap in until the next game, or, in another variation, 'burn their hand,' (placing their hand on the bottom of the pile and waiting to be slapped.) In this variation, once the pile is awarded or someone slaps, the offender's hand must no longer stay under the pile, and they can resume trying to slap/snap back in.

If cards are played out of turn, these cards become dead cards. They can be either placed at the bottom of the pile or left alone wherever they land. Either way, dead cards do not make for legitimate slaps. Any slap over a dead card, even if a player intentionally places it out of turn, results in a penalty. Penalty cards may be placed at the top of the deck as dead cards to create more confusion and potential illegitimate slaps.

Egyptian Rat Poker Games

In some cases, this same penalty is applied to putting down a card when it is not one's turn and accidentally drawing multiple cards from one's deck and putting them on the pile.

Strategies[edit]

Memorization may help players recognize slapping possibilities before cards are set onto 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 doing so a player can possibly convince another player to slap incorrectly as well, or obtain an advantageous position in the deck that the player remembered from previous pile collections in the game.

While gaining the entire deck is the object, it is virtually always advantageous to have a deck as rich in face cards as possible with as few non-face cards as possible; the chances are then higher that the player will play a face card (whether to become the first challenger, or to counter a face card as the challenged player). Non-face cards (often referred to as 'filler') are disadvantageous as they dilute the face cards in the player's deck, possibly causing them to lose a desirable pile by not being able to counter a face card. This may lead players to refrain from slapping on card combinations if there are no face cards in the pile. They may find it more beneficial to take the slaps available, but it is player preference.

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. One counterstrategy is moving a card toward the pile quickly without putting it down on the last card dropped on a face card in order to provoke a risk slap. In case the next card is a face card, the player who has 'burned' a card likely will not get it back unless they slap the pile or the challenges come back around the table to them. In some games, it may even be permissible to slap the final card, with no penalty.

Additionally, a player can intentionally slap incorrectly to 'burn' a card or two leading up to a face card remembered from earlier in the game. This is especially useful if the preceding player has played a high value face card such as a jack, where there is only one chance to play a face card.

Strategy also exists in the delivery of the slap, from the deliberately cruel wearing of sharp rings (pointing downwards being the worst, as it penalizes the person who wins the pile from under you), to sliding one's hand onto the pile straight ahead rather than slapping downwards. House rules can limit the slap methods allowed.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Egyptian Rat Poker Play

Materials

All you need to play Spit are two decks of standard playing cards and your preferred method of keeping score. No additional resources or expensive decks or boards are at all required to get going and have some fun. Just a small part of what makes this game such a simple and comfortable time!

Dealing

In Spit, each player gets one of the playing decks. Each player then takes the four top cards from their deck and places it in front of them in a row, face up. The deck ranking is straight-forward and logically descending in numerical order from the face cards down: A (high or low), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

Gameplay

The rules and mechanics are simple. When both people are ready to play, one of them says 'spit' (after all, that charmingly strange name needed to come in to play somehow!) and each player removes the top card from their deck and places it in the center of the table; the two cards will form rows and will be the focus of the action for the rest of the game.

There are no turns in Spit and each player makes their moves simultaneously. The players take the cards from their row and place them on top of the center piles. However, a card can only be played if it is one higher or one lower than the card it is played on top of. The suit of the card does not matter.

Once a card is played, it can then be replaced in the player's row by the top card of their deck. Note: Each player can have a maximum of only four cards in their row.

Cards can only be played one at a time. If the two players both try to play a card on the same pile, whichever player reached the pile first gets to be the one to play their card. This is probably going to be important to remember; because the game is played simultaneously, the two players are probably going to try to make identical plays fairly frequently.

If both players get stuck and can't play a card, one of them says 'spit' again and they place their top deck cards on the piles and the game continues. Whoever gets rid of all their cards (in both their deck and their row) wins the game. If both players exhaust their deck and neither one can win the game, whoever has the fewest cards left in their row wins.

Have fun!

Piquet

Piquet is a two player card game that has been around for over 400 years. It is a trick-taking game and is notable for its distinct Western European flavor and terminology, as well as its unusual deck structure for the cards.

This is definitely apparent the minute you start playing: Seemingly every important term has a non-English name! The game is particularly original in that it consists of six deals, which is referred to as a partie.

Materials

Piquet is unique in that it requires a 32 card deck to play. However, this can be easily achieved with a slight modification of a standard 52 card playing deck. All you need to do is remove all of the 2-6 cards before you start and you're ready to play! Absolutely no need to go to a store or online to search for an elusive and probably expensive 32 card deck.

Dealing

Piquet has quite an original process for dealing. It begins with either player shuffling the deck, and then cutting the deck for the high card. Whoever has the high card is the winner and chooses who deals first.

From there, the cards are reshuffled and twelve are dealt to each player. Eight cards are left over as a talon and placed face-down at the center of the table.

The player who does not deal is the elder hand, while the player who deals is the younger hand. This is just a fun term and does not at all need to correspond to the player's actual ages!

If a player is dealt a hand with no face cards, they can immediately call a carte blanche and be given 10 points. The player (and their opponent) then discard their hand face-up and the game goes back to where it was before the carte blanche.

Gameplay

The scoring system for Piquet can seem quite intimidating at first, but it's actually fairly intuitive once you manage to get the hang of it. Basically, each time a player scores points, they'll announce their running total score for that hand to the other player. Once a hand is completed, the players record their totals and add it to the score for the whole party.

The winner is whoever has the highest score at the end of the party. If there is a tie, two more hands are played. If both hands were ties, then the party is called as a draw. The game will also automatically end if a player reaches 100 points; in that case, the player who scored 100 points is declared the winner. The players may want to play another party, in which case, the scores are reset back to 0.

Once the game begins, the first step is the exchange. The elder hand goes first in the exchange process. The elder hand discards 1 to 5 cards from their hand (face down) and then draws an equal number of cards from the talon. Then the younger hand exchanges.

The younger hand can only exchange between 1 and the number of cards left in the talon, however. Either player must announce if they are discarding less than the maximum. The discarded cards are kept in a pile beside the player who discarded them. If the elder hand discards less than five cards, they can look through the talon while exchanging and the younger hand can then repeat that process.

Now, there are basically three ways to score points in Piquet: Points, Sequences, and Sets. Don't fret: These are all very easy to get down! Here's a quick overview of them:

1. Points: The largest number of cards in a single suit. The player announces the number of cards in that suit and that number is added to the player's total score.

2. Sequences: When the cards come in a sequence. In order of ascending point count, the sequences are: Tierce (3 cards and 3 points), Quart (4 cards and 4 points), Quint (5 cards and 15 points), Sixième (6 cards and 16 points), Septième (7 cards and 17 points), Huitième (8 cards and 18 points).

3. Sets: Multiple cards of identical rank. There are two types of sets: Quatorze (four of a kind of Aces, any face card, or 10's; worth 14 points) and Trio (three of a kind of Aces, any face card, or 10's; worth 3 points). Sets of 7, 8, or 9 are not worth any points.

The elder hand will say their best combination in the hand for each category. After each announcement by the elder, the younger can respond either 'good' (the younger hand does not have a combination that beats the elder's), 'bad' (the younger hand does have a combination that beats the elder's), or 'equal' (the younger hand has a combination of equal value). In the latter case, neither player will score their combination.

In the case of a tie of sequences, the cards can be compared by value and then the player with the higher value will get to score those points. This applies equally well to the other two categories of combinations.

Bonus points can also be awarded in two specific scenarios: Repique and pique. The former consists of 60 bonus points awarded if a player scores 30 or more points during declarations before the other player has scored any. The latter consists of 30 bonus points awarded if a player scores 30 or more points during both declarations and play before the other player has scored any.

And that's it for the gameplay of Pique! It might sound complex at first, but after a few hands you will almost certainly get a good grasp of the mechanics and general gameplay. Remember to have fun and try to pick up some neat foreign words in the process!

Egyptian Rat Screw

Egyptian Rat Screw is a game based on matching cards and is loosely based on the older card game, Beggar-Thy-Neighbor. One unique aspect that distinguishes it from similar games is that players slap the cards when they form special combinations. It might be important to keep in mind caution while playing; try not to hurt each other (or at least too badly, anyway)!

Materials

All that is needed to play Egyptian Rat Screw is a standard 52-card playing deck. Again, another refreshing example of the simplicity that often comes with two-player card games.

Dealing

The cards are dealt face down, one at a time, to each player. Then, when the dealer is finished, each player puts their cards into a neat pile in front of them without looking at any of the cards. Either or both players can participate in the shuffling and dealing of the cards; it makes no difference at all.

Gameplay

The gameplay for Egyptian Rat Screw is very straightforward. To start, each player takes the top card of their pile and puts it face-up in the middle of the table. If the card that's played is a number card, the other player puts down a card as well. This will continue until either a face card or an ace is played.

Once the initial face card or ace is played, the other player might play a face card or ace, in which case the match will continue. However, if they play a number card, then the first player wins the match and gets all the cards that have been played so far. Then the next match is initiated by the winner of the last one and the same rules regarding the face cards, aces, number cards goes into effect.

A face card or ace can be beaten, however, by the slap rule. If a combination that the slap rule applies to is in effect, then whoever slaps the center pile of cards first gets them all.

Try it Yourself »
Here are the possible combinations for the slap rule:

• Double: When two cards of identical value are played one after the other (e.g., a 2 after a 2)
• Sandwich: When two cards of identical value are played with one card of a different value between them (e.g., a 4, then a 7, then a 4 again)
• Top Bottom: When the same card as the first card of the match is laid down (e.g., if a 7 starts the match and one of the players then plays a 7)
• Tens: When two cards player on after the other add up to ten (e.g., a 6 and a 4); in this case, an Ace is counted as one
• Jokers: Any time a Joker is laid down (the two players should decide before the game begins if they'd like to include Jokers in the deck; some choose not to and that's perfectly fine!)
• Four in a row: When four cards with values in ascending or descending order are laid down one after the other (e.g., 4, 5, 6, 7)
• Marriage: When a King or a Queen are played one after the other (this applies to a King played before a Queen or vise-versa; there is no distinction in scoring made between the two.)

Good luck and happy slapping!

So have fun with your friend, spouse, partner or kid and enjoy your card game for two!

Egyptian Rat Poker Rules

Egyptian Ratscrew,^[1] also known as Slap,^[1]Egyptian Ratkiller,^[2]Egyptian War,^[2] or ERS,^[1] is a card game of the matching family of games. The game is similar to the 19th-century British card game Beggar-My-Neighbour, with the added concept of 'slapping' cards when certain combinations are played,^[2] similar to and perhaps borrowed from Slapjack.

Gameplay[edit]

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck or with multiple standard decks shuffled together for larger numbers of players. Casino florence az hotels. The number of players is limited only by each player's ability to reach the central pile at an arm's length. Each person is dealt an equal number of cards; extras are distributed as in a normal deal. As a variation, one or more Jokers may be added to ensure an even deal or to change gameplay.

Players cannot look at their cards at any time including placing a card onto the central pile.The player to the left of the dealer begins by placing a card face-up, always from the top of their deck, to start a central pile. When playing a card a player must reveal the card to all players at the same time, drawing to reveal the card away from themselves and then flipping face up. (This action prevents a player drawing a card towards themselves revealing the card to said player first.) Alternative to this, as hands with bad technique are more directly above the cards they place, any player can snap the hands of such players down, resulting in likely punishment for the player whose hand is on the bottom as they will likely have incorrectly snapped - see versions of this later in article.Play proceeds around the circle and each player takes turns laying down one card on the central pile at a time until a face card or Ace is played (making that player the 'challenger' for that moment in play). The next player (the 'challenged') then has a 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 their cards, one at a time, until they either draw another face card onto the pile or exhausts all of their allowed chances. If the challenged player is able to play a face card or Ace, the next player after they must beat it; if the initial face card could not be beaten in its allotted number of cards, 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. Cards are not shuffled.

The player who collects every card in the deck wins the game.

Slapping[edit]

In addition to the basic progression of play, players should agree beforehand on certain card combinations that, when played, entitle the fastest player to slap the pile and subsequently claim it. The simplest and most common combination is often the Double (any two cards of equal rank). Other common slap-able combinations include Sandwiches (a double with one card of a different value between the two), Hoagies (a double with 2 cards of different value between the two) consecutive-number runs of at least three in ascending or descending order (e.g. 7, 6, 5; 10, Jack, Queen), top bottom (the first card played is played again later on), wild cards (usually Jokers, if used in play), and Marriage (King+Queen on top of each other).

Additionally, slaps can be added for other types of conditions, such as suit/colour (the same three/four times in a row, respectively), or for being the same as the initial card (e.g. a 3 at any time when if first card played was a three, (to make this less common, a suit/colour can also be specified e.g. a red three if the first three played was red). Another condition that can be added is when meeting a challenge if the number of the card played (e.g. the second card played) matches the card's value (in this case, a two), then this is slap-able. For even more confusion jokers can be differentiated e.g. the red joker is an instant snap but the black joker challenges with 13 chances.

For a legitimate slap, the person to react the fastest and slap the pile first claims the pile. If multiple players slap simultaneously with no discernible victor, then the person whose hand is under all of the others or has the most contact with the cards by comparison takes the pile.

Hands must be entirely withdrawn before the pile may be slapped. It is considered unfair to hover one's hand too close to the pile and slap frequently.

Optional rules which negate this include slapping with the hand not delivering the card to the pile, Redneck Rules (wherein players, or convicted players, must bring their hand to their foreheads before being able to slap with that hand), or sleuthing or burning cards (putting the top card of the offending player's own deck on the bottom of the pile) as punishment for illegitimate slaps.

Player elimination[edit]

Players who have no cards left to play are eliminated. If a player has fewer cards than chances left while trying to counter a face card and runs out of their deck without countering, either the next player continues attempting to counter 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.

Even without cards, eliminated players can 'slap in' on any appropriate card combination and re-enter the game as long as there are at least two people still containing cards. If the last remaining active person runs out of cards while trying to counter a face card and is unsuccessful, the pile goes to the player who played the face card and the player who has all the cards plays 3 more cards for one last chance for the opponent to slap back in.

Penalties[edit]

If players slap the pile when the card combination does not merit a slap, the slapper must discard one or more penalty cards and place them face-up at the bottom of the pile. Play then resumes according to the card last played. Alternatively, if players believe another has taken cards or slapped incorrectly, the play can be contested: if the player was correct, any who contested the play must give the top card of their deck to the player, while if the player was incorrect, the player must give a card from the top of their deck to each player that contested the play, and the round continues. Cards gained in this way are, as usual, placed at the bottom of the player's deck. This, as well as adding a small element of bluffing into the game, helps to keep the play fast by both discouraging people from slapping incorrectly and discouraging people from always claiming another has done so and asking to check.

Players with no cards get a strike for each illegitimate slap and after the third strike, become unable to slap in until the next game, or, in another variation, 'burn their hand,' (placing their hand on the bottom of the pile and waiting to be slapped.) In this variation, once the pile is awarded or someone slaps, the offender's hand must no longer stay under the pile, and they can resume trying to slap/snap back in.

If cards are played out of turn, these cards become dead cards. They can be either placed at the bottom of the pile or left alone wherever they land. Either way, dead cards do not make for legitimate slaps. Any slap over a dead card, even if a player intentionally places it out of turn, results in a penalty. Penalty cards may be placed at the top of the deck as dead cards to create more confusion and potential illegitimate slaps.

Egyptian Rat Poker Games

In some cases, this same penalty is applied to putting down a card when it is not one's turn and accidentally drawing multiple cards from one's deck and putting them on the pile.

Strategies[edit]

Memorization may help players recognize slapping possibilities before cards are set onto 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 doing so a player can possibly convince another player to slap incorrectly as well, or obtain an advantageous position in the deck that the player remembered from previous pile collections in the game.

While gaining the entire deck is the object, it is virtually always advantageous to have a deck as rich in face cards as possible with as few non-face cards as possible; the chances are then higher that the player will play a face card (whether to become the first challenger, or to counter a face card as the challenged player). Non-face cards (often referred to as 'filler') are disadvantageous as they dilute the face cards in the player's deck, possibly causing them to lose a desirable pile by not being able to counter a face card. This may lead players to refrain from slapping on card combinations if there are no face cards in the pile. They may find it more beneficial to take the slaps available, but it is player preference.

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. One counterstrategy is moving a card toward the pile quickly without putting it down on the last card dropped on a face card in order to provoke a risk slap. In case the next card is a face card, the player who has 'burned' a card likely will not get it back unless they slap the pile or the challenges come back around the table to them. In some games, it may even be permissible to slap the final card, with no penalty.

Additionally, a player can intentionally slap incorrectly to 'burn' a card or two leading up to a face card remembered from earlier in the game. This is especially useful if the preceding player has played a high value face card such as a jack, where there is only one chance to play a face card.

Strategy also exists in the delivery of the slap, from the deliberately cruel wearing of sharp rings (pointing downwards being the worst, as it penalizes the person who wins the pile from under you), to sliding one's hand onto the pile straight ahead rather than slapping downwards. House rules can limit the slap methods allowed.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Egyptian Rat Poker Play

1. ^ ^abcEgyptian Ratscrew at pagat.com. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
2. ^ ^abcCarlisle, Rodney P. (2009). Encyclopedia of Play in Today's Society, Volume 1. SAGE. p. 71. ISBN9781412966702.

Further reading[edit]

• Morehead, Albert H.; Mott-Smith, Geoffrey, eds. (2001). 'Egyptian Ratscrew'. Hoyle's rules of games. New York: Signet. pp. 202–3. ISBN978-0-451-20484-4.

External links[edit]