Spit (card game)

Spit, also known as Speed or (in the UK) Slam, is a card game for two players in which the aim is to get rid of your cards as fast as possible. The players do not take turns - physical speed and alertness are required to play faster than your opponent. On each deal, by being first to play all your stock pile cards you can reduce the number of cards you have in the next deal. By being successful for several deals you can eventually get rid of all your cards, thereby winning the game.

Players and cards

Two players only, using a regular deck of 52 playing cards. Older decks are ideal because the cards may become damaged in play. Shuffle well and divide the cards equally - 26 to each player.

The layout

Each player now deals a layout consisting of five stock piles in a row. The first stock pile has 1 card, the second 2 ... the fifth 5. Deal these piles face down and then turn the top card of each stock pile face up (or deal them that way in the first place). That leaves a pile of 11 cards in each player's hand, where they remain. These are the spit cards, and the players should not look at them. When neither player can play or neither wants to, flip one of these and continue.if there is a time that you cannot do anything you bring a card up from the spit pile. after you bring a card up you would go on and on about the game..........

The Play

After both players acknowledge readiness, both shout "Spit!" while turning over the top card in their hand (their first spit card). These two cards are placed side by side between the players' stock piles. These two cards and the cards that will be played on top of them are the spit piles.

The players now play simultaneously as fast as they want. The object is to get rid of all the cards in your stock piles onto the spit piles. Using only one hand, and moving only one card at a time, you can:

play the face up card from the top of one of your stock piles onto either spit pile. To play a card on a spit pile it has to be next in sequence up or down. Suit and color do not matter. Cards can turn the corner - for example on an ace you can play a two or a king
if one (or more) of your stock piles has its top card face-down, turn the top card of such a pile face-up
move a face up card from the top of a stock pile into an empty stock pile space if there is one - note that you can never have more than five stock piles.

A card counts as played as soon as it touches the pile or space onto which it is to be placed. A played card cannot be retracted and as soon as it is played the opponent is entitled to play on it.

If a position is reached where neither player can play (i.e. none of the exposed stock pile cards can be played to either of the spit piles and it is not possible to turn up another stockpile card after moving cards into spaces if necessary) then both players shout "Spit!" again, and each turns up their next spit card and places it on top of the spit pile they started. Play then continues as before.

If neither player can play and one player has no spit cards left, then the other player spits alone on only one spit pile. The player can choose either pile, but having chosen, must continue to spit on that pile whenever no play is possible until one player runs out of stock cards. In the event that both players run out of spit cards, the player with the fewer stock cards remaining has choice of spit pile.

New layout

When one of the players manages to get rid of all their stock pile cards, both players choose a spit pile by slapping it with their hand - normally both players will try to slap whichever pile they think is smaller. If the two players choose different piles, each player takes the pile they chose; if both choose the same pile, the player who gets there first (i.e. whose hand is underneath) takes the chosen pile and the other player takes the other pile. The player who still has stock cards also picks these up. Both players then shuffle their cards well, and deal new layouts as before from the cards they have, but one player will probably have more spit cards left in hand than the other. When ready, both players shout "spit" and play continues as before.

If one player has fewer than 15 cards, that player will not be able to deal a complete set of stock piles. In this case the player deals the cards into five stock piles as far as they will go, and turns over the top card of each. However, such a player can no longer spit, so there will only be one spit pile, started by the other player.

End of the game

When playing with only one spit pile, the first player to get rid of their stock cards does not take any cards from the centre; the other player takes the single spit pile and the unplayed stock pile cards. When playing with only one spit pile, if the player with no spit cards in hand also gets rid of their layout cards first, then that player has no cards left at all and has won the game.

Strategy

First and foremost, one needs to be fast. It is necessary to constantly take in what is happening on your piles, the opponent's and the spit piles, and to be able to react to this. Turning up cards should be secondary to fast play, unless the opponent cannot go, in which case it is always best to play as slowly as possible, to get as many cards in without the opponent being able to play. After playing a card in this case, all other cards should be turned up, so you can plan your next move carefully. In addition, it is necessary to think ahead constantly. If you have two eights, two sevens, a nine and a ten, you musn't play the nine then the ten unless you expect to have tens and jacks underneath. If you play the nine, then you can play eight, seven, eight, seven. On the other hand, if the opponent cannot play on the nine, it is best to play the nine then turn up the card beneath it - as stated above, it might reveal another ten, which could be piled, and so on, until you end up with two tens, two jacks, a queen and a king. In the same vein, one must keep tabs on the opponents pile to make sure you don't allow them to make a move and disrupt your run. It is common to play cards in groups of two - if the current card is a 10, then one might play a 9 and a 10 in quick succession, as ones opponent has a run down from 8. When this extends into more than two cards necessary for maintaining ones lead, it becomes difficult to play fast enough to prevent an interjection. If this occurs, it is important to adapt; it's often possible to play cards in a different order than one was planning, but maintain the run with minimum damage.

Variations

Stock pile layout

Some people play with only four stock piles - containing one, two, three and four cards. Some players call this variation Chinese spit.

Some people deal eleven cards to the centre stock pile, and the other four have just one card each.

Some play with two shuffled together decks of cards (52 cards a piece) and use five or six stock piles, thus allowing for longer more frantic game play.

In another version, the player who first gets rid of all of their stock pile cards has a free choice of which spit pile to take. There is no slapping - the player will simply take the pile they judge to be smaller. The other player then takes the other (probably larger) spit pile and their remaining stock cards and both players deal a new layout. From the feedback I have received, the alternative version in which the spit piles are chosen by slapping is more widespread.

Variations in play

Once the game is under way, some varations allow players to use both hands, allowing for speedier play. It is often hard to police the single hand rule. This also allows one hand to play cards and another to turn over hidden cards. However, it is usually necessary to play each card in discrete motions - one is not able to take their hand, order it so as to be playable in succession and play every card at once. This is a grey area, and sportsmanship is expected.

In some variations, it is also permissible to pick up the last 5 cards so that the other player cannot see them. This adds an extra element to the endgame; the player that has their eyes on their opponents cards as they pick them up can play strategically to prevent them winning.

'Spit card, please'

One variation is, when one player cannot fill their stock and have at least one spit card left over, they request or take a spit card from the other player. They must then slam the spit card in order to win, and the other player spits from his spit cards. If the winning player fails to slam the spit card in time, then they get the whole spit pile, and the other player gets the spit card. This means that if the current loser wins this round, they have a very large advantage.

Rules for playing on Spit piles

Some play that the cards played on the spit piles must alternate in colour (i.e. on a black 5 you can only play a red 6 or a red 4).

Some play that if on your stock piles you have two cards of equal rank showing (such as two nines), you can move one of these cards on top of the other, thereby exposing a face-down card that can be turned face up, or creating a space.

One other rule is that when and not before the spit piles have been put down you can look underneath but not before the spit piles have been put down.

Some people play with four stock piles- containing one card in each. When one card is used, it can be refilled with another card from their hand.

Version with five card hand

Some people play that each player has a hand of five cards, held concealed from the other player, and a single face down stockpile. You play cards from your hand to the face up spit piles, and whenever you play a card from your hand you can draw one from your stock pile, so that you keep five cards in your hand. In this version the face-down spit cards are kept either side of the face-up spit piles.

To begin, you deal face down in the centre two piles of ten spit cards with two single cards between them, and a stock pile of 15 cards in front of each player, so that the layout is like this:

                     15 cards
 
   10 cards     1 card     1 card     10 cards
 
                     15 cards

(Some play with 20 cards in each stock instead of 15 and just 5 cards in the piles at each end of the centre row instead of 10.) Each player draws a five card hand from the top of their 15 card stock, and when they are ready the two single cards are simultaneously flipped face up. Both players then play from their 5 card hands to the two centre piles - either the next higher or the next lower card in rank. If you run out of plays but have fewer than 5 cards in hand, draw the cards from your stock to replenish your hand to 5 cards, and continue playing any cards you can.

When neither player can play, though both have 5 cards in hand, a new spit card is simultaneously flipped from each end pile of the centre row onto the two centre piles. If the reserves of spit cards in these end piles run out, shuffle all the cards except the top one from each of the two centre piles and place them face down on either side of the centre cards to form new reserves.

When your stock runs out you continue to play from your hand without replenishing it. When your hand runs out as well, you have won the deal; you score one point for each card in your opponent's hand and stockpile. The first player whose score reaches or exceeds an agreed amount (for example 25 points) wins the game.

Spit for more than 2 players

It is possible to play Spit with more than 2 players. You need one deck for every 2 players. When one of the players wins the hand by exhausting his stock cards, he chooses one of the spit piles and sits out the rest of the hand. Then, the remaining players continue for 2nd, 3rd, etc. When each player but one has exhausted his stock, then a new hand begins. The game ends as in the 2-player version. When one player doesn't have enough cards to deal his stock, there is an empty spit pile, and if that player wins the hand, he wins the game. The game can then continue with the rest of players playing for 2nd, 3rd, etc.

External links

Spit! Card Game commercial version published by Patch Products
Spit and other children's card game rules provided by The United States Playing Card Company
A freeware PC game that plays spit