No turns. If you can play it, play it now.
Two piles sit in the middle. You may play any card one rank above or below either pile — and ace wraps round to king. There are no turns: both players play at once, and the faster hand wins the spot. Your hand refills to four as soon as you play. If neither of you can move, fresh cards are turned onto the middle. Empty your hand and your stock first to win.
Known as Speed, or Spit, in Britain and America. Most card games take turns; this one does not. It spread among children through the twentieth century and, needing nothing but a deck and a flat surface, ended up in schoolyards the world over.
Think one card ahead. Don't hunt for a card you can play — play the one that leaves you another. Say you hold a 7 and a 9 and the pile shows 8. Play the 7 and the pile becomes 7, and your 9 is stranded. Play the 9 and the pile becomes 9, and the 8 follows it. And when your hands stall, remember theirs have too.
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