About Free Printable Speed Rules
Free printable Speed (Spit / Slam) card-game rules for 2 players — setup, real-time play, ±1 ranks with Ace wraparound, stuck reset, slap a pile to win.
How to use
- Choose your print style. Full color shows the classic red-hearts/diamonds and black-spades/clubs with a fiery orange-red header accent — great for a family game-night reference card. Ink-saver switches to a clean black-and-white card style for cheap classroom or club handouts.
- Choose whether to show card diagrams. Diagrams on (the default) includes the two-player table layout with all six piles, a worked turn sequence (play ±1 → draw to 5), the ±1 rank ring with Ace wraparound highlighted, the three-step both-stuck reset, and the endgame slap-and-shout panel. Switch to text only for the most compact, fewest-pages version.
- Read the preview to confirm everything looks right — the rules flow from the goal, through materials and setup, the real-time no-turns play, the ±1 ranks with Ace wraparound, the special rules, the both-stuck reset, how to win the round, and three popular variants: Spit (the Bicycle / Pagat 5-stockpile classic), Speed with Jokers, and California Speed.
- Click Print Rules to send it to your printer or save it as a PDF. The illustrated rules print cleanly across one or two letter / A4 pages; choose Text only for a one-page summary that fits in a card-game tin.
Frequently asked questions
What is the goal of Speed?
Be the first player to get rid of every card in your hand, draw pile, and side stockpile by playing them — one at a time, using only one hand — onto the two shared center piles in real time. There are no turns. The instant your hand and 15-card draw pile are both empty, slap the smaller center pile and shout 'Speed!' (or 'Spit!' / 'Slam!') to claim the round.
How many players is Speed for?
Speed is designed for exactly 2 players head-to-head. 3-player and 4-player variants do exist; 4-player Speed typically uses two decks shuffled together. Ages 6+ — easy enough for early grade-schoolers but fast and competitive enough for adults. A round takes 5–10 minutes; a typical best-of-3 match takes 15–20 minutes.
How does Speed differ from Spit?
Speed and Spit (sometimes called Slam) are the same family of real-time shedding games. The most common difference is the layout: Speed uses a 5-card hand plus a 15-card face-down draw pile, while the Bicycle / Pagat classic Spit uses 5 face-up stockpiles (with 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 cards) and a separate face-down 'spit' deck. The core ±1 rank play, Ace wraparound, one-card-one-hand, stuck-reset, and slap-to-win mechanics are essentially identical.
What is the plus/minus 1 rule and how do Aces wrap?
A card may be placed on a center pile only if its rank is exactly one above or one below the current top card (suit ignored). On a 7 you may play a 6 or an 8; on a Q you may play a J or a K. Aces wrap the sequence: A plays on K or 2; K plays on A or Q; 2 plays on A or 3. The 13 ranks form a continuous loop.
What happens when both players get stuck?
If neither player can or will play onto either center pile, both players announce they are stuck. They then simultaneously flip the top card of their outer 5-card side pile onto the inner center pile in front of them, exposing two new active top cards. Play resumes instantly. If the side piles ever exhaust before someone wins, the two active center piles are individually shuffled and reused as new side piles.
Why only one hand?
Speed is a one-card, one-hand game by design. You may move only one card at a time, and only with one hand — no two-card combos, no pre-staging cards in your off hand, no sliding stacks. Reaction speed, peripheral vision, and one-handed dexterity are the entire skill set. Players using both hands or staging cards are violating the core rule that makes the game fair.
What variants of Speed exist?
Three are very common: Spit (the Bicycle / Pagat classic 5-stockpile layout with a separate spit deck), Speed with Jokers (shuffle 2 jokers into the deck — a joker plays on anything and anything plays on a joker; the player calls its rank when played), and California Speed (deal the whole deck to two face-down piles, flip 5 cards face-up each, and race to slap matching ranks onto the center piles — match-by-rank instead of ±1).
What other printable card-game rules do you have?
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