Authors: Nikki Katz
The Book of Card Games: The Complete Rules to the Classics, Family Favorite and Forgotten Games (30 page)
| In Speed, each player can only use one hand at a time, and he can move only one card at a time. If he uses both hands to move cards, he automatically loses because this gives him an advantage over his opponent. |
NUMBER OF PLAYERS:
One
EQUIPMENT:
Two standard decks of fifty-two cards
TIME:
Half an hour
PARTNERSHIP:
No
COMPLEXITY:
Easy
Spider solitaire is a very popular solitaire card game and is often called the “king of all solitaires.” Along with Free Cell, Spider was made popular when it was introduced as a standard game in the Windows operating system from Microsoft. It’s quite addictive to play. The object of Spider is to build eight suit sequences from king to ace. Unlike most solitaire games, these cards are not moved to suit stacks. Instead, the sequences are built in descending order within the building stacks in the playing field.
There are two areas of the playing field. The area across the top of the playing field is where you’ll place your building stacks. Ten stacks are dealt horizontally, filling this area. The first four stacks have six cards each, with the top card facing up and the other five cards facing down. The remaining six stacks have five cards each, with the top card facing up and the other four cards facing down. You’ll place the remainder of the cards face down to form a stockpile.
A card may only be moved onto another if the card it is being placed on is of the next value—the suit and color do not matter. (In other words, you can place a queen on any king.) You can move multiple cards onto another card as long as they are in a sequence and in the same suit and as long as the top card is being moved to a card that is of the next higher value. A king has the highest value and may not be placed on any other number.
| Try to get as many open stacks as possible and build your sequences in their proper suits, even if it means juggling cards around the board. Forming a thirteen-card sequence as soon as possible will also help by clearing cards off the playing area. |
If you clear the top card (facing up) from a building stack, you may turn over the top card that is facing down. If you clear all the cards of a building stack, you may move any card or ordered sequence of one suit into that free space. Your goal is to build sequences of kings to aces in each individual suit, and once you build one, you may remove those thirteen cards from the playing area. If you can no longer move any cards, make sure there is at least one card in each of the ten building stacks and then deal ten cards from the stockpile, one on each stack. If there is an empty building stack, you must move a card or sequence of cards onto that area before dealing. The game ends when all eight sequences have been built and removed from the building stacks or when the stockpile is depleted and no further cards may be moved.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS:
Three to five
EQUIPMENT:
One standard deck of fifty-two cards
TIME:
One hour
PARTNERSHIP:
No
COMPLEXITY:
Medium
No spitting takes place in this game, but there is always a bit of drama when one player yells, “Spit!” during the deal! Spit in the Ocean is dealt similarly to the other five-card draw games, but with two differences. After you ante, the dealer begins dealing four cards face down to each player, instead of the usual five. During the deal, the first player to shout “Spit!” brings the deal to a halt. At that time, the dealer turns up a single community card to the center of the table. This card becomes the fifth card in each player’s hand. The spit card is a wild card, along with the other three cards of the same value.
The player to the dealer’s left begins the first round of betting by checking, betting, or folding. The betting round continues around the table, and each player in turn can call the bet, raise the bet, or fold. The players still in the game can then discard up to two of the cards in their hand, to be replaced by the dealer from the deck. The player to the dealer’s left then begins a final round of betting. The showdown continues around the table, with all other players matching, raising, or folding. The remaining players then reveal their hands, and the highest hand wins the pot.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS:
Two
EQUIPMENT:
Two standard decks of fifty-two cards
TIME:
One hour
PARTNERSHIP:
No
COMPLEXITY:
Easy
Spite and Malice is a well-established card game that is often referred to as an interactive solitaire game for two people. Each player plays his hand one at a time, using cards that he and his opponent have previously played. The objective of Spite and Malice is to be the first player to get rid of the cards in your pay-off pile by placing cards in the center stacks in an increasing order. Aces are low, queens high, and kings are wild.
| Spite and Malice is often called a game of “Cat and Mouse,” or the “Husband and Wife” game, because of the tit-for-tat play that you’ll be following as you each complete your turns. |
A random dealer is selected and deals each player twenty cards, face down. Stack those cards into a pile, without looking at them—this becomes your “pay-off pile” that you want to get rid of to win the game. You are then each dealt five cards to your hand, and you can look at those cards. The remaining cards are placed face down to form a stockpile. There is an area to the side of you to hold four “hold” stacks that you will be discarding to later in play. In the middle of the table, between you and your opponent, there is an area for three center stacks.
Play begins with each of you turning over the top card in your payoff pile. If the cards are of equal value, you’ll each shuffle your pile and then turn over the top card again. The player with the highest value card plays first.
The player who goes first follows a couple of steps. If you have an ace, you’ll want to play it to an open center stack. If you are able to lay down an ace, you can also build on that ace by placing a two, followed by a three, and so on, regardless of suit. The cards can come from your hand or from the top of your pay-off pile. Since your goal is to get rid of your pay-off pile, you will usually want to play a card from there first. Kings are wild and can be placed on any center stack, representing the next card in sequence. If you cannot play an ace, or when you can no longer add cards to the center stacks, your turn is over and you signify this by placing a card in one of your hold stacks. It is then your opponent’s turn.
In future turns, you’ll first check the number of cards in your hand. If you have fewer than five cards, you must draw cards from the stockpile to bring it up to five. You can then play cards on top of your opponent’s cards in the center stacks, if he was able to play. You can use cards from your hand, from the top of your pay-off pile, or from the hold stacks. When your turn is over, you’ll again discard a card to the hold stacks. There can only be four hold stacks at one time, so if all four have a card on them, the discard must go on top of a card, making the card underneath unavailable. You may play as many cards to the center stacks as you can, but as soon as you discard to a hold stack, your turn is over, and it’s your opponent’s turn to play again.
If a center stack is complete (ace through queen), you shuffle it back into the stockpile, making room for a new stack to be built. Play ends when a player’s pay-off pile has been completely moved to the center stacks. That player wins the game.
| If you are able to play all five cards in your hand, you immediately draw five more cards from the stockpile without waiting until your next turn. Your turn continues until you cannot play anymore and you place a card in the hold stacks. |
NUMBER OF PLAYERS:
Three to thirteen
EQUIPMENT:
One standard deck of fifty-two cards; a group of spoons, one less than the number of players
TIME:
Half an hour
PARTNERSHIP:
No
COMPLEXITY:
Easy
Spoons, also known by the name Pig, is a fun, silly game to play with both children and adults. The objective of Spoons is to grab a spoon before they are all gone, while developing value recognition skills, matching, and visual awareness. Before playing the game, you’ll want to place the spoons in the middle of the circle of players.
A dealer is randomly selected and deals four cards to each player. He then places the remainder of the cards on a pile to his left to create the stockpile. Play begins with each of you simultaneously passing one card to the player on your left. The dealer takes a card from the stockpile, and the player to his right places a card in a discard pile … but the remaining players are all passing cards, one by one, to the player on their left. You can pass as fast as you would like, but you can only have four cards in your hands at a time, and you may only pick up and pass one card at a time. If you’re the first player to get a four of a kind, you can take a spoon from the center of the table. As soon as one player takes a spoon, the other players may each take one. The last player to attempt to take a spoon will be unable to do so because there aren’t enough spoons to go around. That player is the loser for that round.
| Sneakiness is encouraged in this game! If you’re the first player to get four of a kind, try to sneak a spoon as if you were picking up a card or passing it. It’s much more fun to see if anybody else notices before grabbing the spoons out of the center of the table. If you notice a player take a spoon first, try to be sneaky when you take yours as well. |