How to play Speed (the card game)

The deal

Shuffle one standard deck and deal it out like this:

1. Hands: 5 cards to each player. Pick them up.
2. Draw piles: 15 cards to each player, face down beside them. This is your private supply.
3. Side piles: the last 12 cards make two face-down piles of 6, one on each side of the middle.

That accounts for all 52 cards. When you are both ready, each player turns over the top card of one side pile and puts it face up in the middle, so there are two center piles and each side pile now holds 5. Some guides deal the two side piles as 5 cards each plus 2 separate starting cards; it comes to the same thing.

Playing a round

The moment the two starting cards are turned over, the race is on. Look for any card in your hand that is one rank above or below either center card, and put it on that pile. The new top card changes what can be played next, for both of you. A 7 in the middle takes a 6 or an 8; if you put an 8 on it, the pile now takes a 7 or a 9.

Whenever you have fewer than 5 cards in your hand, you may top it back up from your draw pile. You can never hold more than 5. Once your draw pile is empty, you play out the cards in your hand.

Two rules keep it fair. Use one hand only, and play one card at a time. If you both go for the same pile, most tables let the card that landed first stay and send the other back to its owner's hand.

When you are both stuck

Sooner or later neither of you has a legal play. Say so, count "one, two, three", and each turn over the top card of the side pile nearest you onto the center pile on that side. If the side piles are empty and you are still stuck, shuffle each center pile and turn it face down as a new side pile, as the Wikipedia article describes, then flip again. The "count us in" button on the keeper does the counting for you.

Winning

The first player to get rid of every card, hand and draw pile, slaps the table and calls "Speed!". That player wins the round. The published rules stop there; there is no official scoring, so most people play a match: best of three, best of five, or first to a set number of rounds.

House rules worth agreeing first

• Same number allowed. Wikipedia's version lets you play a card of the same rank as the top card. Most guides do not. It makes the game faster and slightly more luck-driven.
• No wrapping. A few tables treat the Ace as low only, so nothing goes between Ace and King. This causes more stuck moments.
• Jokers wild. Wikipedia mentions playing with the two jokers as wild cards, with the extra rule that a joker can't be your last card.
• Counting cards left (our house rule). If a best-of-three feels too short, score each round by the cards the loser still held. The keeper has this as its points mode.

How to get faster at Speed

1. Watch the middle, not your hand. Spread your five cards so you can read every corner at once, then keep your eyes on the two center cards. The player who notices a play first wins it, and you only have to glance down to find it.
2. Play runs, not single cards. If you hold 8 and 9 and a 7 shows, play the 8 then the 9 straight away. A run of three or four in a row is how rounds are won, so notice them while you refill.
3. Refill in the same motion. Every card you play should be followed by a draw. A hand of four is one fewer chance to match the next center card.
4. Use the loop. Players forget that Ace sits between King and 2. When a King or a 2 is showing, an Ace is a play your opponent may miss.
5. Hold a pair back near the end. When your draw pile is empty and you have two cards of the same rank, play other cards first if you can. Two cards that fit the same spot can strand you when the center moves away from them.

Speed rewards practice more than cleverness. After a few rounds, most people stop thinking "is this one higher" and just see it.

Speed questions

Can you play the same number in Speed?

Not in the usual rules: a card must be one higher or one lower than a center card. The Wikipedia article on Speed also allows a card of the same number, so some families play that way. Decide before the first flip.

Is the Ace high or low in Speed?

Both. An Ace goes on a 2 or a King, and a 2 or a King goes on an Ace, so the ranks run in a loop.

What happens when the side piles run out?

If both players are stuck and there is nothing left to flip, each center pile is shuffled and turned face down as a new side pile. Then flip together and carry on.

Can you use both hands?

No. Play with one hand and one card at a time. If two cards land on a pile together, the one that hit first counts and the other goes back.

Can three people play Speed?

Speed is built for two. Wikipedia gives a layout for three players and suggests two decks shuffled together for four. It gets crowded, so for a bigger group try Nertz instead.

Is Speed the same game as Spit?

They are close cousins. Both are no-turns races onto two center piles, one up or one down. In Spit, as Bicycle describes it, each player plays from a row of face-up cards in front of them, refilled from their own deck, instead of holding a hand of five with a hidden draw pile.