Speed is traditionally played between two opponents. Three- and four-way speed are popular, but require additional decks of cards.
The piles on the outer edges are the side piles, and will be the reserve piles that each player will use to replace the two inside piles if both players run out of moves. The inside two piles are the active piles will be flipped over when the game begins. The players will then try to place appropriate cards from their hand of five cards onto this pile.
The ace can be played as a high or a low card. It can be placed above the king or below the two. This makes it so that the game can be played in a loop.
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!
Because this version makes the game slightly easier, it is also known as the “children’s version. "
Typically, when you use jokers as wild cards, you make the draw piles have 16 instead of 15 cards each. The joker has to be used when you have run out of moves with your other cards. You cannot draw from the draw pile if you still have a joker in your hand. The joker cannot be the last card you play. It cannot “top” a deck.
If you want to make things extra fun and exciting, then you can even use two decks instead of one when you’re playing with four players. The extra cards will become part of the draw pile, allowing for even more combinations of play.
The same rules – placing cards over the cards in the center pile in ascending or descending order – still apply, but the game is more complicated because each player can play the cards from the 5 stacks of cards instead of just playing the cards in his hand. If you really want to know how to play spit, see the instructions below for further clarification.
The stock piles: Stack 1 has 0 cards face down and 1 card face up Stack 2 has 1 card face down and 1 card face up Stack 3 has 2 cards face down and 1 card face up Stack 4 has 3 cards face down and 1 card face up Stack 5 has 4 cards face down and 1 card face up The spit pile: Stack 6 is each player’s spit pile and can be placed out on the side. These are known as the player’s spit cards.
If neither player can play and one of the players has no spit cards left, then the other player has to spit alone into only one spit pile. This player can choose either of the piles, but then he has to keep spitting into only that pile for the remainder of the round.
