Egyptian Ratscrew
Egyptian Ratscrew, commonly abbreviated as ERS and also known as Slap, Bloodystump, and Egyptian War, is a card game of the accumulation family, reminiscent of Slapjack and Beggar-My-Neighbour, but more complex. The game is played with a standard 52-card deck (or with multiple standard decks with large numbers of players).
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 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. The number of chances granted are as follows:
- Ace: four chances
- King: three chances
- Queen: two chances
- Jack: one chance (this makes the jack the most powerful accumulator)
The pile may also be claimed for certain combinations (see next section) laid in succession. Any player, including those holding no cards, — and, occasionally, 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.
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 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.
- 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.
- 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 layed 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.
- Marriage: A queen and king played in succession, in either order.
- Divorce: A king and queen separated by one card.
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.
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.
Strategy
Although the game primarily rests upon the luck of the draw from each player's pack 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.
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.