Egyptian Ratscrew

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Egyptian Ratscrew, commonly abbreviated as ERS and also known as Egyptian Rap Group, Rat Slap, Egyptian Ratfink, Egyptian Ratslap, Egyptian Rhapsody, Egyptian Rattrap, Egyptian Road Kill, Slap(s), Bloodystump, Egyptian Rat Race, Egyptian Rugrat, Egyptian War, Gypsy Wrap, Sandwich, Arabian Slap, Egyptian Monkey Slap, Screw the Egyptian Rat, Egyptian Rat Slap and Strip Jack Naked (in Australia) 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 shuffled together with large numbers of players). As a variation one or more jokers may be added.

1 Gameplay
2 Variations
3 Strategy
4 Etiquette
5 History
6 External links

[edit] 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 in a pre-defined order 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. This means that if a player is unable to finish playing, the next player is responsible for the difference (i.e. Player 1 plays a King, Player 2 only has 1 card left, Player 3 continues to play the final 2 cards). The number of chances granted are as follows:

Ace: four chances
King: three chances
Queen: two chances
Jack: one chance

Chances can also be granted by the same pattern in reversed order, i.e. Ace 1 chance, King 2 chances etc. Which version of the game is played is a matter of common practice amongst the players. For certain sequences of cards (see next section), the pile may be claimed by slapping it. In these cases, any player, including those holding no cards — and, in some games, 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. Games can be very lengthy, in part because a player who is developing a small pile is likely to hold concentrated face cards, having lost non-face cards in failing to beat a face card. Such a player will be in a good position to grab cards back.

[edit] Variations

[edit] 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, or Pair alone, is the most common.

Pair: Two cards of the same rank played in succession.
Three of a kind: If slapping Pairs, a player slapping three cards of the same rank played in succession (only possible when everyone forgets to slap a pair) wins the game outright (unless the three cards are sixes, if playing the Pyromania variant).
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.
Double Sandwich or Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich AKA double cheeseburger AKA Super Sandwich: A card of a certain rank, followed by a two cards of any other rank, then another card of the first rank; e.g., 5-7-Q-5. This is also called a hoagie.
BLT Sandwich: A card of a certain rank, followed by a three cards of any other rank, then another card of the first rank; e.g., 5-7-Q-8-5.
Club Sandwich: Any card between two clubs.
Tops and Bottoms The bottom card is the same number as the top card.
Acey Deucey: An ace and 2 played in succession, in either order.
Sevens: Any card, followed by another card which results in a sum or difference of seven (e.g. 3 and 4 or 9 and 2). The seven card by itself is also slappable. Ace has a value of one. Some players only allow numeral cards, others count face cards as 10.
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.
Fifteens: Any consecutive combination of cards adding up to 15. Ace counts as 1. Some players only allow combinations of numeral cards, others count face cards as 10.
Jack/Two: A jack and two are played in succession. Some variations dictate an order (e.g. jack followed by two is slappable while two followed by jack is not, or vice-versa).
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 played back-to-back; e.g., 5-4-3, 9-10-J-Q, or A-2. (Ace-high and Ace-low sequences are both valid, but round-the-corner sequences (K-A-2) don't count.)
Sixty-Nine: A nine followed by a six or vice-versa.
Sixty-Nine Sandwich: A nine followed by a six or vice-versa, with one card of any rank in the middle.
Blackjack: An ace and jack played in succession, in either order.
Marriage: A queen and king played in succession, in either order.
Divorce: A king and queen separated by one card.
Gay Marriage A King and Jack played in succession, in either order.
Affair A Queen and Jack played in succession, in either order.
A and 4 pair: An ace and a 4, or vice-versa simply because they are easy to slap on at a glance because they look alike.
Suicidal Kings: The king of hearts, who in most decks is depicted as holding a sword horizontally behind his head. The image can be interpreted as the king stabbing himself through the head.
One-Eyed Jacks: The jack of spades and the jack of hearts, who are in most decks depicted in profile so only one eye is visible.
Joker - The joker is always considered to be the same as the last face card played (for example, in the sequence 9-4-Jack-King-7-Joker the Joker is a King). Therefore the joker will always create a pair when played directly on top of a face card. If there are no face cards beneath the joker it considered to be a 0, or regular sloughable card. Other players use a joker, which can always be slapped. Trying to remember where the joker is can thus become important. Additionally players might have a joker acting like a court card, granting five chances.
Five - A five of any suit is played.
Luke Combo - Three cards: The first two cards can somehow be mathematically equated to reach the third; e.g., 2-5-7, because 2+5=7
Chances - When a face card or an ace is played, if, among the cards played by the next player, the card with the number of chances is played, it is possible to slap, ie. J-A, Q-6-2, K-8-4-3, A-9-7-2-4, but the number can be any of the cards played by the next player.
Reverse Chances - If the number card is played directly before the face card or the ace, it is a possible slap, ie. A-J, 2-Q, 3-K, or 4-A.
Jack-Seven - If a jack is played, followed by a seven then it may be slapped.
Round Table - If three of the four face cards (J, Q, K, and A) are played in a row then you can slap and claim the pile.
Ten-Stop - If a ten card, of any suit, is played, then you can slap and claim the pile.

It may come up that someone slaps on a pile that could be slapped for two or more reasons. For example a 69 sandwich could also be a club sandwich if they are both clubs. In these cases (in some games), all players give the winning player a card at random.

Cantonese War: An example of a "combined" variation, Cantonese War employs four slap criteria: Blackjack: any three cards that add to 21, or A + (10 or facecard); Triple Sequence: any three cards next to each other in value (eg: 3-4-5, 5-3-4, etc.); Triple Flush: three cards of the same suit; and Three of a Kind. Slapping on pairs is given a greater penalty, since most players are hardwired to do so from ERS.
The Pull Away Rule: In the case that two or more players successfully slap the pile for even stakes, a neutral player can declare "Pull Away Rule", wherein the slappers frantically scrap as many cards away as possible.

420 It is when a 4 is followed by a 2 or vice-versa

[edit] 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. This penalty is called "burning a card", or simply "burning". In one variant, if the person that is slapping doesn't have any cards, they put their hand under the pile until the next time someone slaps. A more severe punishment dictates that the player must give a card to every player in the game, sometimes including those who do not have any cards.

In one variant, a person who slaps falsely is punched in the shoulder by the next player who would lay a card. In another, a person who slaps falsely may be slapped by any number of players. In a stricter version, a person is only allowed three false slaps, and then they must put all their cards in the center pile. They are not allowed to "slap in" or receive cards by any method until a clear winner of the current game is found and the cards are redealt. One certain variant ignores penalties altogether; it is considered enough to be made fun of for the mistake. On the other side of the spectrum is the variant that gives all cards in the pile to the person who last played a card (unless it is the slapper, in which case the pile goes to the previous person). In variations of games where "slapping in" is permitted, physical punishments and slap restrictions are almost always extended to "players" without cards to prevent wanton slapping by those without cards to re-enter the game simply because they do not have cards to lose.

In another variant, the first player/bystander to call out "rookie move" and slap the pile (should one exist) gets to take ownership of the entire pile when a false slap occurs (as well as other offenses such as playing too many or not enough cards based on the preceding face/ace, or playing out of turn). It is also possible to call "rookie move" on someone else's call of "rookie move" when the original call was incorrect. In the drinking version of this variant, the object of the "rookie move" must drink a shot.

In addition, the problem may arise where a player is used to a certain rule that is not in use in a particular game, the result being that they falsely slap on an otherwise legitimate pile. In this case, players may grant clemency.

[edit] Egyptian Ratscrew Uno Version

This variation of Egyptian Rat Screw uses UNO cards in addition to a regular card deck. As with a multiple deck game, the UNO cards are mixed with the other cards before being dealt.

The special UNO cards have the following results:

Card	Rules of Play
Skip	Skip the next player.
Reverse	Reverse the direction of play.
Draw 2	This acts like a Queen; you get two chances.
Draw 4	This acts like an Ace; you get four chances.
The number "0"	First person to slap this card gets the pile (rules apply with Jokers).
Evil Card	Every player gives one card to the player who dealt the Evil Card.

N.B. The number "0" and the Evil Card may not be in all UNO packages.

[edit] 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. A ring will create a pressure point when slapping on top of a prior slapper's hand, and some players may deliberately use this for psychological warfare to make people hesitate before out-slapping the ring-wearing player.

Other forms of psychological warfare include deliberately slapping hard well after ownership of the deck has been established for the sole purpose of injuring the hands of the players who made the slap on-time (therefore, the players with the best reflexes who should be theoretically doing best). Extreme players make their hands into fists for the purpose of causing maximum damage.

Another variation allows other players to force their opponents to discard (or "sluff"/"slough") cards if the player correctly calls the rank and suit of the next card to be played. For example, a player says "sluff Jack of Clubs" when it's another players turn, before the card is flipped over. If the card is correctly named, that card doesn't count and it is placed under the pile. If it was incorrectly named, the card counts as played and the player who made the incorrect call must discard the top card of his/her deck face up under the pile. When this rule is used, play sometimes becomes more frantic as players try to play faster to avoid having their good cards sloughed away.

A third, rather uncommonly used variant includes the use of a "cancel" card. The card (typically the 10 card, but always a non-face/ace card), when played will cancel any face/ace-card action at the moment. So, if someone played a King on the stack, and the next person's 2nd card put on the stack was the cancel card, the King is then negated and play would continue as if the King had not been played.

A variant in Paris, Texas called Last Chance involves multiple packs of cards. Usually no more than two are used, but many more have been in play. Any slap criterion may be used. The difference between this game and "standard" Egyptian Ratscrew is that the first person to go out picks up the spare deck and continues play, after which both decks must be acquired to win. It is helpful to play with cards of different brands or colors, in order to identify the ownership of each deck.

As a method to prevent players hovering their hand over the pile, a rule can be placed where a player must first slap their forehead before they may slap the pile. A penalty may also be added for slapping the pile without first slapping your forehead, regardless if the pile is slappable or not.

Another variant known as "Pyromania" is typically only played by devoted players. It has only one difference: if anyone slaps three sixes played in a row, gameplay stops, the entire deck is collected and burnt before midnight, nobody wins and none of the party may play ERS again until next day. [1]

Another variant, created during a need for a good drinking game while camping, is called "ERShot" or "Egyptian Rat Shot." Usually, false slapping is punished by forcing the offender to take a shot (or double shot, depending on previously agreed upon rules) of liquor. Also, the winner must take a shot (or double shot) so that, in theory, his reflexes will be lowered for the next round. Punishment shots are also given for not trying to slap back into the game once kicked out, or for not being able to slap back in at all or often.

[edit] Strategy

Although the game primarily rests upon the luck of the draw from each player's stack 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, as well as sandwiches. By memorizing sandwiches a player may intentionally slap the pile with no combination, so as to put the separated, common cards together (i.e. upcoming cards- 646, slap after first six is placed, putting the four under the pile and moving the other six to the top of the hand.

Another strategy relative to the one above is to remember the placement of the joker in your's or another's deck of cards. The way that you can do this is whenever you pick up the cards after a win pause and look at the card below the joker (unsuspectingly and brief of course). If you weren't the one who won the hand then try to sneak a peek at the card below the joker before the other player places their cards at the bottom of their deck. Now whenever that card that you are keeping in your mind by repeating it over and over again comes up then you can get ready (without alerting the other players) to slap the joker. I would advice that you show your competitors that there was indeed a joker there because you will have slapped it to fast for them to have known what just happened. If this is executed well enough and fast enough your friends will accuse you of have phsycic powers, or cheating by looking at their cards (sorry i can't help you there).

Further strategy can be induced by this sort of 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.

Fake-slapping is another case of psychological tricks in the game. When cards that could be easily confused to qualify for doubles or other combinations (a 6 and then a 9, or face cards placed on each other, or having too many cards between two similar ones), skilled players will begin to slap but will stop short of touching the deck. So long as no contact is made, there is no penalty. The goal is to cause trigger-happy players (especially those who "hover" or keep their hands directly on top of the deck) to falsy slap the deck and take their respective penalties.

"Daisy-cutting", also known as "shlinking", is also another popular strategy, where the player keeps their slapping hand at a low angle relative to the deck so that when anther player begins to slap, they can sneak their hand under the hand of the other player's, thereby claiming the cards due to sheer speed rather than to reflexes.

Among speed players, the strategy known as the "Travisian Drop" has become popular. This strategy comes into play when a player notices a slappable pile after he (or she) has already begun the action of playing their next card. Rather than interrupt this action, the player will drop the card face down next to the central pile and slap the pile in a single motion. Since the card is dropped face down, it is not considered to have been played. It is customary for the "dropped" card to become the beginning of a new central pile.

Another very common way to play is by using only the most common types of hands -- sandwiches, three in a row, and acey duecey.

The Jack allows for a significant claim of cards, if it is laid down at a moment when several cards are already on the table. Many players for this reason are eager to claim all of the jacks in the deck. For many players, aces are considered just as significant as the jack. Although the ace allows more chances than the jack does, it allows a player to accumulate a large amount of cards with one single card (assuming the player is lucky enough to win the hand).

[edit] Etiquette

It is considered impolite to play the cards in a way that advantages any particular player, especially oneself. Most importantly, cards should be flipped outward, presenting the face to the opponent, rather than inward, allowing the player to see his own card. Cards should also not be played too slowly, as in games with many players this advantages those sitting directly across from oneself. Ideally, no one should see the card until it has been placed on the pile. When you slap the pile, try not to hurt anyone. Get rid of any jewelry or anything you wear on your hand or wrist that may interefere with game play.

[edit] History

The gameplay appears to be a combination between that of Beggar-My-Neighbour, a game known in Britain as early as the 1860s, 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. It is known to have existed at least back to the mid 1970s.