Egyptian ratscrew, or ERS, is a fast-paced card-slapping game reminiscent of Slapjack, but with more complex rules.

In Egyptian ratscrew, the entire deck is dealt out to the players. The players then take turns placing a card in a pile in the center of the table. Players may slap when the topmost cards in the pile meet a number of conditions. Rules can vary, but the most common ones are:

  • Pair: The top two cards have an identical value. If someone neglects to slap a pair, triples and quadruples may be slapped. this is often the only rule used
  • Sandwich: Two cards of the same value separated by a card of a different value.
  • Consecutive: Two or three cards in order of value, such as 2-3-4, or Q-J-10.
  • Marriage: The top two cards are a king and a queen.
  • Divorce: The top three cards are a king and a queen separated by a third card.

When a player slaps one of these combinations, they add the pile to the bottom of their own stockpile. If a player slaps incorrectly, they generally ante the top card of their stockpile to the bottom of the running pile. Due to the frequent slapping, players may be forbidden from wearing ringss.

The other feature common to all games of Egyptian ratscrew are rules concerning face cards. Whenever a player puts down a face card, the subsequent player has a certain number of chances to play another face card. They get up to four chances for an ace, three for a king, two for a queen, and one for a jack. If they fail to play a face card in the allotted number of chances, the player who played the original face card picks up the pile. If they should play a face card, they immediately stop playing cards and the cycle continues to the next player, until someone fails to play a face card.

The object of the game is to collect all the cards in the deck. A player is out when they lose all their cards, but they are usually allowed to "slap in" and rejoin the game, as are all bystanders.