
When there are no more groups of cards remaining, each player scoops up the four piles directly in front of them and places them face down on the bottom of his or her deck. If a player runs out of cards then that player wins. This requires that players pay attention to the cards they are laying down on the pile. 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. In other words, if there are three fours out then all three cards can get a new card on top of it.

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. Once both players have done this, they look for two or more cards having the same number. Every round, each player plays five cards face up vertically in between both players and slightly closer to themselves. The dealer deals half of the cards to each player. The two players sit at opposite sides of a vertical playing surface. California Spit is a fast paced shedding card game that has the added bonus of shuffling the deck. 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.Īlso known as Super-spit in Wisconsin, Spit 2 in Texas, Rush in Missouri, and Spit 3 in Kentucky, and Blackie Spit in British Columbia. 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. With four players, it is often more interesting to use two decks of cards shuffled together.

With three players, it is unnecessary to have extra cards cards are dealt by giving each player five 'side pile' cards, placing three cards face down in the centre, and dealing the extra cards evenly as draw piles. Speed can be played with more than just two people. This still highly favors whoever runs out of cards first. If a player fails to do whatever has been agreed on beforehand, that player must take one of the central stacks as a draw pile and resume playing.Īs 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. Players running out of cards says "Speed!" to officially win. Once a joker is placed, the player that is quick enough to put down the next card claims that joker. A joker cannot be the last card a player puts down, because jokers cannot "top" the deck. Players are only allowed to flip once they cannot play anything else, and because the joker is a wild card, it can be played. This is cheating if both players flip the outside cards onto the center. 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. In any other case, a joker can also be whatever a player wants it to be. For example, if a joker is played on a 2, the joker can be treated an ace or a three. When a joker is played, it must be treated as the card it was played as. 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. Speed can be played with jokers as wild cards. If a player has a card to place it must be placed.Īll cards will end up on the table and out of hands of the players if there are no mistakes. The overall winner is decided by the best of three games. The first player to run out of cards says "Speed" and is then the winner. 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. When players run out of options for play they simultaneously flip a card from the side piles onto the top of the central piles. Whenever the number of cards in a player's hand drops below five, the player has to take more cards from the draw pile to bring it back up to five cards until the draw pile is depleted.

The ace and king can be placed on top of one another, forming a looping sequence. This must be done without hesitating to shuffle cards or otherwise delay the game. Players must then discard their hand cards one by one, using only one hand, matching cards so that each card played is either one number above, one number below, or the same number as the two cards on top of the center stacks. With two players, the round begins when the players flip one of the face-down cards in the centre simultaneously. Speed is a game for two players or more of the shedding family of card games, in which players try to get rid of all of their cards first.Įach player is dealt five cards to form a hand and 15 cards face down to the side as a draw pile. For the video game, see California Speed (video game).
