How to Play Slapjack: Rules and Tips

Learning how to play slapjack takes about two minutes, and the giggles start straight away. Slapjack is a fast reaction card game: players take turns flipping cards onto a pile in the middle, and whenever a jack appears, everyone races to slap it. The first hand on the jack wins the whole pile. It suits kids from about five years old and is just as much fun for grown ups who like a bit of noise at the table.

Quick rules

• Deal the whole deck face down, as evenly as possible.
• Players never look at their own cards.
• In turn, each player flips their top card face up onto a central pile.
• When a jack is turned up, the first player to slap it wins the pile.
• Slap a card that is not a jack and you give one card to the player who turned up that card.
• A player with no cards gets one last chance to slap their way back in.
• The player who wins all the cards wins the game.

What you need

• One standard 52-card deck, jokers removed.
• A table everyone can reach easily. Sit close enough that every player can slap the center pile.

Setup

1. Choose a dealer and shuffle well.
2. Deal all the cards face down, one at a time. It does not matter if some players get one extra card.
3. Each player squares their cards into a face down stack in front of them, without looking.

How to play

1. Turning cards

1. The player to the dealer's left starts. Play goes clockwise.
2. On your turn, take the top card of your stack and turn it face up onto the center pile.
3. Turn the card away from you, flipping the far edge first, so you do not see it before anyone else does. This keeps the game fair.
4. Use the same hand to turn your cards each time, and be quick about it.

2. Slapping a jack

1. As soon as a jack lands on the pile, any player may slap it with the hand they turn cards with.
2. The first hand to touch the jack wins the entire pile. If hands pile up, the hand at the bottom, touching the card, wins.
3. The winner shuffles the pile into their own stack, placing the cards face down underneath.
4. The player to the left of the person who turned up the jack starts the new pile.

3. Wrong slaps

If you slap a card that is not a jack, you must give the top card of your stack, face down, to the player who turned up the card you slapped. That card goes to the bottom of their stack.

4. Running out of cards

When your stack is empty, you stop turning cards, but you stay in for one more chance. If you slap the next jack first, you win that pile and are back in the game. If someone else slaps the next jack, you are out.

Slapjack for 2 players

With just two players the rules stay the same, but the game becomes a pure reaction duel. Sit facing each other with the center pile exactly halfway between you so neither player has a reach advantage. Games are quicker and more even, which makes two player slapjack a great choice for a parent and child.

Scoring

Slapjack has no points. Progress is measured by how many cards you hold. For a points version, see the timed variation below and use the scorekeeper to track several rounds.

How to win

Keep playing until one player has collected all 52 cards. That player wins. With a big group, you can stop when two players are left and call it a shared win, or set a timer and award the game to whoever holds the most cards.

Variations

• Extra slap cards: also slap on doubles (two cards of the same rank in a row), sandwiches (same rank with one card between) or any queen. This is close to the bigger game often called egyptian war or slap.
• Timed rounds: play for five minutes, count cards, and record each player's total as their score. Play three rounds and add them up.
• Penalty to the pile: some families place the wrong slap penalty card face down at the bottom of the center pile instead of giving it to a player, so it goes to whoever wins the next jack.
• Little hands rule: with very young children, allow a slap with any hand, and let adults play with their non dominant hand.

Tips and strategy

• Keep your slapping hand relaxed and close to the pile, but not hovering over it.
• Watch the card as it turns, not the player's face.
• Do not panic slap on face cards. Kings and queens look a lot like jacks at speed, and a wrong slap costs a card.
• Turn your own cards quickly and away from you so you get no unfair glimpse, and others get none either.

House rules to agree first

• Slap gently. Agree on an open palm only, no fists or nails, and remove rings if the game gets lively.
• Decide whether hovering a hand over the pile is allowed.
• Agree on what counts as a slap: palm touching the card, or any part of the hand.

If your group loves slapjack, try war for the youngest players, the grab and go game Spoons, or the race game Speed. Find more in our card games for kids guide and our party games for kids.