This is a game we've been playing in our gaming circle for about 5 years now. My friend Dave and I designed it using a 52-card pack of cards. All that's needed is a deck and a pad of paper for scoring. I hope you enjoy :)
Glad to hear you liked the rules layout. I try to make them as easy to understand as possible (as well as I can w/o pics).
It's called Ladder because you feel like you're going up and down a ladder over and over. Alistair was just a random name (actually taken from Alistair Smythe from the old Spider-Man cartoon) that we assigned to the third player. He's not really the focus of the game as he's just in there for a chaotic element and giving the dealer a slight advantage.
If you get a chance to try it out, let me know what you think. Have fun!
... Alistair
