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How to Play Spoons Card Game

how to play spoons card game
how to play spoons card game

Known also as 'Pig' or 'Tongue', but Spoons is a fun card game that can be played by three or more players.

To play a game of spoon you will need to have with you a standard deck of 52 cards, and a number of spoons totalling one fewer than the number of players.

If you don’t have spoons at hand - do not worry. Although the name of the game may lead you to believe that you do need actual spoons, you can use any other available object in place of spoons.

If you are really going to spoons however, then make sure that they are all arranged in a circle in the middle of the table - with their handles pointed outwards.

How to Play Spoons

The game starts when one person, who is designated as the dealer, deals out four cards to each and every player.

Once the cards are dealt, the players picks them up - making sure that no one sees them - and the game begins.

Note: The aim of the game is for each player to use the four initial cards to build a set of four of a kind by by drawing new cards and discarding those that they consider to be useless.

After the dealer distributes the cards, he puts the remaining ones in a stockpile. Then, he let the game begin by taking the top card from the pile, face down.

After looking at that card, he can then choose to exchange it with any of those in his hand, or to pass it - keeping it face down - to the player who sits at his left.

The next player does the same, and the game continues until the last player completes his turn. The dealer then restart the same round by taking anther card from the top of the stockpile.

In some less popular variations of Spoon, a player is not allowed to pick up a discarded card unless he has already discarded one of his own cards. Once a player has a four-of-a-kind, he can finally take a spoon.

Let the Spoon-Battle Begin

Here is where the game takes a crazy turn, because as soon as the winning player takes his spoon, all the other players are required to take one for themselves too.

However, as there’s always one spoon less than the total number of players, there will always be one player who is left without a spoon.

The player who fails to grab a spoon is considered the loser, and is eliminated from the game. Every time a player is eliminated, one spoon is removed from the middle so that they always stay one less than the number of players in the game.

How to Bluff at Spoon

The game is not as simple as it sounds, as there are different tricks one can use to beat the other players.

If you play Spoon, you always need to keep an eye on the most experienced players, as they usually are the ones who know how to slip a spoon from underneath everyone’s eyes.

You should also know that Spoon players tend to bluff very often in order to confuse their opponents. While you can’t bluff on your cards - that would be cheating, not bluffing - you can always quickly reach out for the spoons without touching them.

The other players will instinctively reach out for the spoons left on the table and try to grab one before it’s too late. Yet, by the time they will realise that you have simply bluffed and you don’t actually have any four-of-a-kind, they will have to leave the game as no one is allowed to touch any spoon without a four-of-a-kind.

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BioPolitical scientist, and gambling expert, I have spent the most part of the last ten years writing about the casino and poker industry. As a professional journalist, I work with FOX News, La Repubblica, the Economist, Politico, and PokerNews. As a gambler, I won money pretty much anywhere in Europe. As a gambling editor, I'll help you do the same.
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