Slapjack in one page
2 or more players · 1 standard deck
Deal out the whole deck face down so everyone has a pile. Players take turns flipping their top card face up onto a center pile, and whenever a jack appears, everyone races to slap it. The first hand on the jack wins every card in the pile, and the player who ends up with all 52 cards wins.
In brief
- Deal the whole deck face down; piles can be uneven
- Don't look at your cards
- In turn, flip your top card onto the center pile
- Flip it away from you so others see it first
- Jack? Everyone slaps. First hand on it wins the pile
- Hand touching the jack wins, not the one on top
- Won pile goes face down under yours; shuffle
- Slap a non-jack: give 1 card to whoever turned it
- Out of cards: one last chance at the next jack
- Whoever collects all 52 cards wins
Setup
- Shuffle a standard 52-card deck. Jokers aren't used.
- Deal the cards one at a time, face down, until the whole deck is dealt. Some players will get one more card than others, and that's fine.
- Each player squares up their cards into a face-down pile in front of them without looking at them.
- Leave a clear space in the middle of the table for the center pile, within easy reach of everyone.
On your turn
- Starting with the player to the dealer's left and moving clockwise, each player takes the top card of their pile and turns it face up onto the center pile.
- Turn the card away from you as you flip it, so the other players see it at the same moment you do, or a split second before.
- If the card isn't a jack, the next player turns their top card onto the pile.
- If the card is a jack, anyone may slap it by bringing a hand down flat on the center pile. The first player whose hand touches the jack takes the whole center pile.
- The winner turns the pile face down, puts it under their own pile, and shuffles the two together. Then play continues with the next player in turn.
Scoring
| First hand on a jack | Wins the jack and every card under it |
| Several players slap the same jack | The hand touching the jack wins; hands on top don't count |
| Slapping a card that isn't a jack | Give 1 card face down to the player who turned it |
| Out of cards | Stay in until the next jack; win it or you're out |
| Holding all 52 cards | Wins the game |
Winning
The player who wins all 52 cards wins the game. Players drop out when they've run out of cards and then fail to slap the next jack. With a big group, you can also stop at an agreed time and declare the player with the most cards the winner.
gamesrulesexplained.com/slapjack/ · rules checked September 2026