How to Play the Card Game Spit for Beginners

If you’re looking for a fast-paced card game that’s fun for all ages, then Spit is the perfect game to try. During a game, players race to play their cards into stacks in the center, but they have to be one value higher or lower than the last card. Spit is easy to learn in just a few minutes, so keep reading to learn how to set up and start playing a game right now!

Things You Should Know

Player Count: 2
Required Materials: Deck of cards
Objective: Be the first person to play all the cards from your personal stock piles and card pack to the "spit piles" in the middle of the table.

1

Setup

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Deal out cards and make 5 stock piles for each player. Choose someone to be the first dealer, and have them shuffle a deck of cards. Deal the cards evenly to both players. Have each player deal a row of 5 face-down cards from their personal deck to start the stock piles. Stack the next cards on top so that the piles have 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 cards from left to right. Then, flip over the top card on each stock pile.^{[1]
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- Leave enough space to play cards in between you and your opponent’s stock piles for later in the game.
- Each player will have 11 cards leftover known as their “pack.” Hold the cards in a face-down pile in your non-dominant hand for the rest of the game.

2

Starting a Round

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Each player plays the top card from their pack to the middle of the table. When both players are ready, count down from 3 and say the word “Spit!” At the same time, both players flip over the top card of their pack and place it face-up between the stock piles. These 2 cards form the “spit piles.”^{[2]
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- There are no turns when you play Spit, so you and your opponent will play at the same time as soon as the spit piles are formed.

3

Playing a Round of Spit

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Play cards that are next in sequence from a stock pile to a spit pile. Both players play at the same time, so there are no turns. If a card is one value higher or lower than the top card of a spit pile, then a player can use one hand to play it to the spit pile as fast as they can. Flip over the next card in the stock pile to reveal it right away.^{[3]
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- The suits of the cards don’t matter and do not have to match.
- Aces can be played as high value after a King or as a low value after a 2.
- If both players try to play a card to the same spit pile, whoever places their card first gets to keep it there. The other player must put their card back on a stock pile.
- Players may also move a card from one stock pile to one that’s empty. After that, flip over the next face-down card in the original stock pile. For a fun variation, players may move a card to a different stock pile if the face-up card has the same value so other cards are more accessible.^{[4]
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- If neither player can move cards to a spit pile or one of their stock piles, count down from 3 and say “Spit” again. Then, each player plays the top card of their pack on top of one of the spit piles.
- If you run out of moves but your opponent can still play cards, you must wait for them to finish and get stuck too. Keep your eye out because they may play a card that lets you make another move.^{[5]
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4

Ending a Round of Spit

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Keep playing cards from your stock piles at the same time as the other person. If either person moves the last card from their stock piles onto a spit pile, then they’re the winner of the round.^{[6]
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5

Starting a New Round

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Add spit piles to your pack and deal out new stock piles. The person who won the round picks one of the spit piles in the middle of the table. The other player then takes the leftover pile.^{[7]
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Research source} Then, both players shuffle the pile they took into the cards left in their pack and deals out 5 new stock piles. After the stock piles are set again, count down from 3, flip over the top cards of each pack, and start a new round.^{[8]
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- Strategy tip: If you have the first pick, try to choose the spit pile that has the fewest cards so you’re closer to winning. While you’re not allowed to count the cards in the pile, try to judge which one has fewer.

6

Winning Spit

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Win the game if you play all the cards from your stock piles and pack. Continue playing rounds and taking spit piles. If you ever have fewer than 15 cards in your pack, deal out as many cards into stock piles as you’re able to. If you play all your cards from your stock piles, then you win the game!^{[9]
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- Because you won’t have a pack, there will only be 1 spit pile during the round. If players get stuck, then your opponent places the top card of their pack on the spit pile.

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Tips

There are multiple variations of Spit, so players may be familiar with different sets of rules. Make sure everyone is on the same page about how to play.

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Spit is similar to playing Speed, but has some differences. In Speed, you hold a hand of 5 cards that you play onto 2 piles in the middle as fast as you can. After you play a card, draw a card from your personal pack. The first player to play all of their cards and shout “Speed!” is the winner.

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