Irish Snap Rules

Irish Snap is the fast, noisy version of Snap. Everyone plays onto one pile in the middle while counting out loud from Ace to King, and the moment a card matches the number called – or the card underneath it – every player slaps the pile. The last hand to land picks up the lot. The aim is to get rid of all your cards. It needs only a standard pack and a table everyone can reach, and it is a favourite at parties, in student card clubs and with youth groups. This guide covers the Irish Snap rules step by step, the different ways to win, the special-card rules many groups add, and how often a snap comes up.

Irish Snap Rules at a Glance

How to Play Irish Snap

1. Deal the whole pack. Deal all the cards face down, one at a time, clockwise. Each player keeps a face-down stack in front of them without looking at it.
2. Start the count. The player on the dealer’s left turns their top card face up onto the middle of the table and says “Ace” (some groups say “One”), whatever the card is.
3. Keep counting. The next player to the left turns a card onto the pile and says “Two”, the next “Three”, and so on through Ten, Jack, Queen and King. After King the count goes back to Ace.
4. Spot the snap. It is a snap when the card just played matches the number called – an 8 on “Eight” – or when it matches the card underneath, such as a 3 on a 3, whatever was said.
5. Slap! On a snap, everyone slaps a hand down on top of the pile. The player whose hand lands last, on top of the others, picks up the whole pile and puts it under their own stack.
6. Start again at Ace. The count starts again from “Ace”. Usually the player who picked up starts the new round; some groups let the next player start.
7. No false slaps. Anyone who slaps when there is no snap – or flinches, starting to slap and pulling back – picks up the pile.
8. Finish the game. Play on until someone wins under the rule your group uses (see below).

How to Win Irish Snap

Groups finish the game in one of three ways, so agree before you start:

• First out wins. The first player to get rid of all their cards is the winner. A popular twist: a player who runs out must get through one more snap without picking up before they are declared the winner.
• Play to the end. A player with no cards stays in the game. They still say their number when their turn comes, and still have to slap. If the number they call matches the card on top, that is a snap too. The game ends only when one player holds the whole pack – and that player is the loser. Players can run out and pick up again several times in one game.
• Against the clock. Set a timer – five minutes works well. When it goes off, everyone with no cards wins; if nobody has run out, the player with the fewest cards wins.

Irish Snap Special Cards and Variations

Irish Snap has no official rulebook, so house rules are part of the game. These are the most common extras:

Irish Snap vs Snap

The two games share a name and the idea of matching cards, but they play quite differently:

For the classic game, see the full Snap card game rules.

Irish Snap Odds: How Often Does a Snap Come Up?

With two ways to make a snap, Irish Snap moves fast. With a well-shuffled pack:

• The first card of a round snaps 1 time in 13 (7.7%): it only has the call to match.
• Every card after that makes a snap 13.1% of the time, about 1 in 8 – 4 cards in 52 match the call and 3 of the other 51 match the card underneath.
• A round lasts about 8 cards on average, and half of all rounds have snapped by the 6th card. A full count from Ace to King with no snap happens 17% of the time.
• Special cards speed it up. With every Queen (or every Jack) a snap, 20% of cards snap and a round lasts about 5 cards; with two Jokers that always snap, 16% and about 6 cards.
• Count-only games are slower. Some groups snap only when the card matches the call. Then just 8% of cards snap and a round lasts about 13 cards.

Tips for Irish Snap

• Watch two things at once. Know the next number before the card lands, and keep the card underneath in mind. While you listen for the number, a card matching the one below is easy to miss.
• Keep your hand still. A flinch counts as a false slap, so rest your hand near the pile rather than hovering over it.
• Stay alert with no cards. In the play-to-the-end version your call still counts and you still have to slap. Switch off after running out and you can end up picking up a big pile late in the game.
• Take rings off. Slaps land hard, and hands can bruise. Rings get damaged and can hurt other players.
• Keep a pack for it. Irish Snap is rough on cards, so use an old pack rather than your best one.

Why Is It Called Irish Snap?

Nobody has written down where the name comes from. Irish Snap is passed on by word of mouth at parties, in schools and student societies and at youth groups rather than from a published rulebook – which is also why the rules vary so much from one table to the next.

More Card Games

For more fast, noisy games, try Snap, Spit, Spoons, Cheat or Old Maid.

Another party favourite: Shithead, the travellers’ card game where nobody wants to be left holding cards.

Another slapping game: Egyptian Rat Screw, the American favourite with more ways to slap.

The American cousin: Slapjack, where only Jacks are slapped and the fastest hand takes the pile.

Irish Snap: frequently asked questions