Objective
Empty your stockpiles faster than your opponent by playing cards onto the center piles. Each round ends when one player clears their stockpiles. Cards picked up at the end of a round carry into the next one, so the fast player shrinks their hand round by round. Play until one player has no cards left at all.
Setup
Deal the whole deck so each player has 26 cards. Each player lays out five stockpiles in a row, from left to right: one card, two cards, three, four and five, fifteen cards in all. Only the top card of each stockpile is face up.
Each player places their remaining 11 cards face down in a single pile to one side. This is your spit pile. Leave room in the middle of the table for two center piles.
How to play
When both players are ready, say “Spit!” together and each turn the top card of your spit pile face up into the middle, side by side. These start the two center piles.
Now play as fast as you like, with no turns. You may play the top card of any of your stockpiles onto either center pile if it is one rank higher or one lower than the top card there. Suits do not matter, and the ace connects both ways: it can go on a king or a two. When you uncover a face-down card in your stockpiles, turn it face up. If one of your stockpile spaces is empty, you may move a face-up card from another stockpile into it.
When neither player can move, both say “Spit!” again and turn the next card from their spit piles onto the center piles. Then the race starts again.
- 1Both call “Spit!” and flip a card to the center
- 2Play stockpile cards one rank up or down, ace connecting both ways
- 3Turn up uncovered cards and fill empty spaces
- 4When both are stuck, spit again
Winning
When one player has played every card from their stockpiles, both players race to slap the smaller center pile. Whoever slaps it first takes it, and the other player takes the larger pile. Each player adds the pile they took to their unused spit cards and anything left in their stockpiles, shuffles, and deals a new layout for the next round.
If you have fewer than 15 cards, lay out as many stockpiles as you can and play without a spit pile. When only one player has spit cards left, that player alone turns cards to the center, and the game continues with a single center pile. The first player to get rid of every card wins the game.
Variations
Speed: a close relative with a different layout. Each player holds a hand of five cards, refilled from a personal draw pile, and two side piles are used to restart play when both players are stuck.
Four-card row: instead of stockpiles, each player keeps four face-up cards in a row and refills each gap from their own pile. The race is the same.
Stacking matches: some tables let you move a face-up stockpile card onto another of the same rank in your own row, uncovering the card beneath it.
Tips from the table
Work on your biggest stockpiles first. Freeing the face-down cards under them gives you more choices, and it is where you will get stuck if you leave it late.
Keep your eyes on both center piles at once. The player who spots the play on the far pile first wins most rounds.
As the round nears its end, keep a hand ready over the smaller center pile. Slapping it first means fewer cards to work through next time.
Video Guides Are on the Way
We’re filming Game Guides that walk through full hands at the table, from the deal to the score.
Frequently asked
Do we take turns in Spit?
No. Both players play at the same time, as quickly as they can.
Can I play a card of the same rank on a center pile?
No. The card must be exactly one rank higher or lower. A five can go on a four or a six, but not on another five.
Which pile do I want at the end of a round?
The smaller one. Fewer cards means you are closer to getting rid of everything.
How is Spit different from Speed?
Spit uses five stockpiles laid out like a small solitaire, while Speed uses a hand of cards you refill from a draw pile. The idea of racing onto two center piles is the same.
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