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SLAPJACK CARD GAME

SLAPJACK

Slapjack is one of the best fun games that can be played with a deck of cards. It is one of the very first games that my grandfather taught me, and he didn't complain when I won from him regularly.

Number of Players: 2 to 8. The game is best for 3 or 4 players. Each player is a lone wolf, since there are no partnerships.

The Deal: One at a time to each player until all the cards have been dealt out. It doesn't matter if they don't come out even. Each player straightens out his cards into a neat pile face down in front of him without looking at any cards.

Object: To win all of the cards.

The Play: The player at the dealer's left begins the play by lifting the top card of his pile and dropping it face up in the middle of the table. The next player (at the left of the first player) does likewise—that is, he lifts the top card of his pile and drops it face up in the middle of the table, on top of the card that is already there. The play continues in this way, each player in turn lifting the top card of his pile and dropping it face up in the middle of the table.

As soon as any player turns up a Jack, the fun begins. The first player to slap that Jack wins the entire pile of cards in the middle of the table! If more than one player slaps at the Jack, the one whose hand is at the bottom wins the pile.

This means that the winning player has to keep his eyes open and has to be pretty quick to get his hand down on a Jack. Sometimes your hand is pretty red when you are so quick that another player slaps your hand instead of the Jack, but it's all in fun, and grownups are always careful not to play too rough.

I used to beat my grandfather all the time because he would lift his hand high in the air before bringing it down on a Jack, while I would swoop in sideways and could generally snatch the Jack away before his hand even hit the table. That poor table used to suffer, but grandpa never seemed to learn!

Whenever you win any cards, you must put them face down underneath the cards you already have.

The play goes on until one player has won all of the cards. As soon as a player has lost his last card, he may watch for the next Jack and try to slap it in order to get a new pile for himself. If he fails to get that next pile, he is out of the game. Sooner or later, all of the players except one are "knocked out" in this way, and the cards all come to one player. He is the winner.

False Slaps: A player who slaps at a card that is not a Jack must give the top card of his pile to the owner of the card that he slapped. If the false slapper has no cards to pay the penalty, he is out.

How to Turn Cards: At your turn to play you must lift the top card of your pile and turn it away from you as you drop it face up in the middle of the table. This is to make sure that you don't see the card before the other players do.

Also, you must make sure that you let the card go as you drop it on the table.

Naturally, you don't want the other players to have a big advantage, so you must turn the card over very quickly. Then you will see it just about as soon as they do.

Most players use the same hand for turning the cards and for slapping at Jacks. It's a more exciting game, however, if you follow the rule that the hand used for slapping must not be the same as the hand used for turning the cards.

Some players use the right hand to turn over the card with a quick motion, and they swoop down on the Jack with the left hand. Other experts, since they are much swifter at swooping with the right hand, turn the card over with the left hand. You may have to try it both ways to see which is better for you.

The important thing to remember is that it's better to be a swift swooper than a slow slapper.

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