Speed (card game)

Speed

Type	Shedding-type
Players	just 2 people
Skills required	Speed, Memorization, Counting
Age range	6 and older+
Deck	Anglo-American
Playing time	any time
Random chance	Easy
Related games
Spit, Spoons

Speed is a game for two or more players of the shedding family of card games, in which each player tries to get rid of all of his or her cards.^[1]

Dealing

Each player is dealt five cards to form a hand, and each player is dealt 15 cards face down to form a draw pile. If playing with jokers, they are used as wild cards and give each draw pile 16 cards. Two stacks of five cards, placed face down on each side between the players, serve as replacement piles. Finally, two cards are placed face down in the center between the replacement piles.

Play

The round begins when the players each flip one of the face-down cards in the center at the same time. Using cards from their hand, the players must simultaneously place cards one above or one below (or, optionally, of the same value) on top of either of the center stacks without hesitating to shuffle cards or otherwise delay the game (however a player may only play one card at a time). For example, a pile with a six on top may have a five or a seven placed on it, but not another six (unless using the optional rule). Ace is both a high and low card, considered one value above a King as well as one below a two, so that the cards form a looping sequence. Whenever the number of cards in a player's hands drops below five, he or she has to draw back up to five cards until that player's draw pile is depleted. When both players run out of options for play they simultaneously flip a card from the side piles onto the top of the central piles. If these piles become depleted, the central stacks are shuffled individually and are placed face-down as new side piles from which cards can be flipped..

A player wins by running out of cards in his hand and draw pile before the other player. Speed is typically played in a two-wins-out-of-three set.

Variations in play

Because Speed is usually learned from friends who learned from other friends, the rules will vary from person to person. However, the following variations are much more common and widely known.

Children

An easy way to make Speed more child friendly is to allow cards of the same value to be played on top of each other, so that if a King were on top, it would now be legal to play a Queen, King or Ace. It is also an option to increase the amount of cards a player can hold in their hand to six or seven.

Jokers

Speed can be played with jokers as wild cards. For example, if there is a 2 in the center, a joker can be used as a 3, an ace, or, in Doubles rules, a 2. When a joker is played, then anything can be played on that joker. In any other case, a joker can also be whatever a player wants it to be. It is often prudent to save a joker in one's hand for when one is otherwise out of options or for when it would act as a missing link for a long string of moves. This is cheating if both players flip the outside cards onto the center. Players are only allowed to flip once they cannot play anything else, and because the joker is a wild card, it can be played. A joker cannot be the last card a player puts down, because jokers cannot "top" the deck.

Verbal Win

The player that runs out of cards hits both middle stacks and says "Speed!" to officially win. If a player fails to do whatever has been agreed on beforehand, he must take one of the central stacks as his draw pile and resume playing.

As a variation, sometimes the rules state that once either player runs out of cards, both players are eligible to hit the stack and say "Speed!" and whichever does it first is the winner. This still highly favors whoever runs out of cards first.

Three- and Four-Way Speed

Speed can be played with more than just two people. With three players, it is often unnecessary to have extra cards; cards are dealt by giving each player his or her five 'side pile' cards, placing three cards face down in the centre, and dealing the extra cards evenly as draw piles. Using both jokers with a complete deck will make the number of cards evenly divisible by three. With four players, it is often more interesting to use two decks of cards shuffled together. This is the case for quicker or more experienced players; with new, slow or young players, it is often appropriate to use only one deck, as this slows the game considerably. It is, of course, possible to have more than four players in a single game, but the playing field quickly becomes confusing and muddled simply because of the distance and amount of action.

California Spit

Also known as Super-spit in Wisconsin, Spit 2 in Texas, Rush in Missouri, and Spit 3 in Kentucky, California Spit is a fast paced shedding card game that has the added bonus of shuffling the deck.

The two players sit at opposite sides of a vertical playing surface. The dealer deals half of the cards to each player. The cards are held face down. Every round, each player plays five cards face up vertically in between both players and slightly closer to themselves. Once both players have done this, they look for two or more cards having the same number. When a player finds one, he places another card on top of the cards with that number until all of the cards with the common number are covered. In other words if there are three fours out then all three cards can get a new card on top of it. If a four is played on top of a four it is called a double, and the player may place a third card on top of it. This requires that players pay attention to the cards they are laying down on the pile. If a player runs out of cards then that player wins. When there are no more groups of cards remaining, each player scoops up the four piles directly in front of him or her and places them face down on the bottom of his or her deck. That round ends and the next begins.

Spit

Spit is a similar game in which two players simultaneously put down cards in ascending or descending order, until all of one player's cards are gone. In Speed each player holds up to five cards in his hand, and has one stock pile, face down. In Spit each player has a row of stock piles, usually five, with the top card face up, so all cards in play are visible to both players.^[1]

Speed:

		A: Hand (5)		A: Stock Pile (10)
B: Spit Cards (10)	B: Spit Pile (1)		A: Spit Pile (1)	A: Spit Cards (10)
B: Stock Pile (10)		B: Hand (5)

Spit:

A: Stock Cards (1 Up, 4 Down)	(1 Up, 3 Down)	(1 Up, 2 Down)	(1 Up, 1 Down)	(1 Up)
B: Spit Cards (10)	B: Spit Pile (1)		A: Spit Pile (1)	A: Spit Cards (10)
B: Stock Cards (1 Up )	(1 Up, 1 Down)	(1 Up, 2 Down)	(1 Up, 3 Down)	(1 Up, 4 Down)

In both games each player is dealt a set of 10 "Spit Cards", face down, and one card, face down, in their "Spit Pile". (See middle row of the diagrams).

In Speed each player is also dealt 10 cards in a "Stock Pile", and a Hand of 5 cards.

In Split each player lays out 15 cards in a "tableau" of 5 Stock Piles, with the topmost card of each pile turned up.

The game starts with each player simultaneously turning over the card in their Spit Pile.

Subsequent played cards are placed face up on either of these Spit Piles, in ascending or descending order (with aces fitting next to both kings and twos).

In Speed cards are played from from the hand, which is replenished from the player's stock pile.

In Spit the visible cards are played, and the card under it is then turned up. If a stock pile position is empty then a card can be moved from any other stock pile, whose next card is turned face up.

(In both games the replenishment of the hand or stock piles is not necessarily done immediately.)

If neither player can move, then each turns over a Split Card onto their Spit Pile and the game re-starts. If a player runs out of Spit Cards then the top card in their Spit Pile is left on the table, and the rest are shuffled and used as Spit Cards.

The game is won by the first player to get rid of their stock cards (and, in Speed, their hand).

(In Speed the actual number of Stock Cards and Split Cards can vary. The names and positions of the various piles of cards also vary. The terminology in this section follows McLeod.)

Strategy

Strategy in Speed is limited by the fact that players must attempt to play everything they have in their hands, but there are many tricks that can help slow an opponent or speed the process of getting rid of cards. For example, it is usually prudent to arrange cards of adjacent rank together, but it is better to have cards in the order in which they can be played. This is often a consideration to be taken at the beginning of the game, since it is often too time-consuming during play. For example, if dealt cards of ranks 4, 5, 5, 6 and 6, it is best to order them 4, 5, 6, 5, 6 rather than in standard ascending numerical order. This way, when a 3 or 5 is played, the entire set can be laid down in rapid succession; a 5 or 7 would allow for the set to be laid down backwards.

A player can only place 1 card down using one hand. A player cannot use two hands to rapidly put the cards on the stacks. If by any means it is revealed which cards are in an opponent's hand, it is often possible to 'block' the opponent from playing by not leading up to a point at which his card could be played. Each card in the game must be played individually, this may be a disadvantage to some, however can prove to be advantageous. For example, if a player knows that their opponent has a King, and the card showing is a Jack, it is better for them to play a ten than a Queen, since the Queen would allow the opponent to play. If both options are available, it is best to "explore" the former, by playing a card, then drawing back up to five to see if more moves can be made. On the other hand, it is sometimes advisable for a player to feed an opponent opportunities, if they will result in the value on the deck moving towards a large run in the player's own hand. This is often the case when a hand contains multiple cards of the same number. A player cannot play a ten if there is a king on a deck.

It is common to attempt to distract an opponent by making conversation or announcing one's moves aloud as they are made.

See also

• Nertz
• Spank Pankis
• Stress (card game)

References

1. Mcleod, John. "Spit/Speed". Pagat.com. Retrieved April 24, 2016.