A
card game, generally for two
players although i have played it with three or four at a time (although you need two
decks of cards for this). The two players sit opposite each other, and split the deck between themselves. The cards are dealt out like a
solitaire game but with five piles;
d = face-down
u = face-up
u d d d d
u d d d
u d d
u d
u
The remaining cards are placed in front of the player's left-most card, face-down. If any of the face-up cards are the same number, they can be put on top of each other. Once a card is moved from a pile, the card underneath can be turned, like solitaire. And as with solitaire, when a card is moved from an empty space, any card or piles of the same card can be moved onto the empty space. Once no more cards can be moved, both players put their left hand on the top hand of their pile and after 3, turn it and put it down to the right of their pile. Players put
ajacent cards on the top card of either pile. If either player has a card they can put down, they must put it down, even if it means the other player will win the round. When both player have exhausted all their oppurtunities, they count to 3 and turn the top card again. Players cannot hold more than one card at once, but may use both hands to put cards on the piles. Once one player puts all their cards onto the piles, they have to put either hand directly onto the smaller of the two piles, and shout "slam". The other player can also "slam" the smaller pile if they are quick enough, but it will generally be the person who got rid of all their cards as they have the advantage. Once somebody has slammed a pile, both players take their respective piles and put them together with their remaining cards and their other pile. They shuffle the cards, and then set them up like the diagram again. If a player has less than 15 cards, they put them down according to the pattern assuming the cards are laid left to right, ie.
u u u u u
as the first 5 cards, rather than
u d d
u u
The player with less than 15 cards uses one of the other player's cards as his slam pile. When either player has gotten rid of all their cards and slams the empty smal pile, they have won. Some rules allow the players to pick up their cards when they have 5 or less in front of them. Other rules allow the player who gets rid of all their cards free to choose their pile in as much time as they want, rather than competing with the other player to get the smaller pile. This might be more fair, but it's less fun ;). With three players, you sit in a triangle, and the piles go inside the vertices. It is possible to play 3 player slam with one deck, but there will only be 2 cards in each pile, so the cards will be exhausted quickly.