Keep all cards face-down for the time being. Use a hard, sturdy surface like a table or wood floor for ideal game play.
Deal 5 cards to the far left pile. This is one of the reserve piles for game play. Deal 1 card to the middle-left pile. This is one of the active piles during game play. Deal 1 card to the middle-right pile. This is one of the active piles during game play. Deal 5 cards to the far right pile. This is one of the reserve piles for game play. [1] X Research source
Keep the 5 cards of your playing hand face-down until game play begins. For the rest of the game, you should always have 5 cards—and only 5 cards—in your playing hand by drawing from your draw pile. [2] X Research source
Count down from 3 at the same time as your opponent so that you flip over the cards at the same time.
For example, if one of the middle cards is a 5, you can play a 4 or a 6 from your hand on top of it. The order of cards is 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J Q K A. The order continues in a circuit, so if there is an Ace on a middle pile, you can play a King or a 2 from your hand on top of the pile. Don’t let your opponent see the cards in your hand.
There are no turns, so both players continue to lay down cards as fast as they can. You can play as many cards in a row as you want without waiting for the other player to lay down anything. Draw a card from your draw pile of 15 cards every time you lay down a card from your hand, so that you have 5 cards in your playing hand at all times. After you run out of cards in your draw pile, continue to play out all 5 cards in your playing hand to win.
Repeat this process any time game play halts due to neither player being able to lay down a card. If you run out of your left and right reserve piles, turn over the middle piles, shuffle them, and flip over the top card from each of them to resume play.
Typically, Speed is played as a best-out-of-three game. The first player to win two games wins the set. But you can play for as many games as you like!
For example, you could play a 5 on another 5 card, or a 4 or 6 as in normal game play. Play this variation if you want to make the game easier or go by faster.
For example, if you have a 3, 4, and 5 in your hand, you can wait until you see a 2 or a 6 on a middle pile and then lay down all three cards at once onto the pile. Play with this variation if you want to make the game go by faster or just want an extra way to “attack” or best your opponent by getting rid of cards more quickly.
Try to hold onto a Joker in your hand as long as possible, only using it when you can’t play any of the other cards in your hand. A Joker must be played, however, when you can’t play any other cards and before you and your opponent can flip over reserve cards onto the middle piles. When you use Jokers in the deck, player draw piles should have 16 instead of 15 cards each. The Joker cannot be the last card you play to win the game.
For three players, have three active middle piles for the players to lay cards on. For four players, have four active piles. Try using two decks instead of one when you’re playing with more than two players for a longer game with more possibilities for game play.
