Spew Tips

PLAYING TIPS for SPEW

HOW TO PLAY SPEW
The objective of Spew is to have the highest or lowest points total at showdown. The pot is split between the highest point total and lowest point total. Cards are valued as follows: Deuces through tens are valued as their rank. Face cards are 10 points. Aces may be valued at 1 or 11 points per the player's choice.

Start by dealing each player 5 hole cards followed by a round of betting. Next, each player may discard and draw up to 3 cards followed by a second round of betting.

After the 2nd betting round the dealer turns a card from the top of the deck face up on the table. Any player holding that rank card must immediately discard (“spew”) it face up in front of them. A round of betting follows.
This process is repeated for an additional 4 “spew” cards with a round of betting after each. If a player loses all of his hole cards he is eliminated from the game.

Lastly, each player declares their hand to be highest point total, lowest point total or both highest and lowest. Any player going for both must win both or loses everything. The pot is split between the highest point total and lowest point total.

Spew is best suited for up to 5 players. For 6 players limit the draw to 2 cards. For 7 or 8 players the game can be further modified to each player receiving 4 hole cards, drawing up to 2 cards and utilizing only 4 “spew” cards.

Alternative Rule: A player who "Spews" all his hole cards is not eliminated but is credited with zero points, which would be the nut low. That player is immediately awarded half the pot at that point. Play continues as usual, but now only for the high point total.

SUMMARY of ACTION
Deal each player 5 hole cards.
Bet
Draw: Each player may discard and draw up to 3 cards.
Bet
1st Spew: Turn 1 card up from the remaining deck. Any player holding a card of the same rank must discard that card from their hole cards.
Bet
2nd Spew: Turn 1 card up from the remaining deck. Any player holding a card of the same rank must discard that card from their hole cards.
Bet
3rd Spew: Turn 1 card up from the remaining deck. Any player holding a card of the same rank must discard that card from their hole cards.
Bet
4th Spew: Turn 1 card up from the remaining deck. Any player holding a card of the same rank must discard that card from their hole cards.
Bet
5th (Final) Spew: Turn 1 card up from the remaining deck. Any player holding a card of the same rank must discard that card from their hole cards.
Bet
Declare
Bet
Showdown

PLAYING TIPS FOR SPEW
Spew features a total of up to 8 betting rounds and so tends to result in large pots.

Scooping the pot is difficult. In split-pot games it is extremely profitable to "scoop" the pot by winning both the high and low portions. In Spew the only possible way for a player to win both the highest and lowest point totals requires holding one or more aces in a hand. Therefore, whenever aces "spew" it becomes impossible for a player to have both the highest and lowest point total.

It is extremely important to keep track of the number of cards each of your competitors have remaining.

Luck plays a large role in the game.

THE IMPACT OF "SPEWING"
Losing cards favors players going for low. The fewer cards in your hand, the lower your point total will be.
Retaining cards favors players going for high. The more cards in your hand, the higher your point total can be.

The specific cards that spew provide information regarding the type of hand your opponents (and you) are holding. For example, when a player spews a low value card it hints that they are probably going low. Should they spew a high value card is hints at a high total (and in this case it also means that their high hand has been substantially diminished). Two spewed similarly valued cards serves as even stronger evidence of a player's intent.

It is important to consider the impact of aces spewing. Eliminating aces makes it impossible for any player to make both a high and a low hand. Nor is it possible for a very high point value to change into a very low point total. Hands now become polarized, that is they are either high or low. This makes hand reading easier. However, if the only card a player has spewed is a single ace it is difficult to determine the direction of their hand. But if he must spew a second card it signals a tendency toward either high or low.

STARTING HAND SELECTION
Your pre-draw starting standards can be very liberal. These starting hand considerations refer to your hand after having made the draw.

Because it is so difficult to scoop the pot, it is best to concentrate on making either the highest or lowest point value hand. And, of the two possibilities, it is easier to play for the low hand. Consider determining whether a starting hand is worth playing or not to be a 2-step process of evaluation.

The first step is to count the point value of your starting cards. You should limit yourself to playing hands that are significantly higher or lower than average. To compete for the high hand, you probably want to have a point count of 40 or higher. For low, you obviously want to start with as few points as possible. The maximum starting point total is harder to define but is probably never more than 20.

The second step involves how vulnerable your starting cards are to being spewed. If you are vying for a high point total, you want to retain cards. The fewer cards there are that you can lose, the better. Whereas, losing (spewing) cards improves a low point total.

Consider an example in which your starting hand is a very strong high point total of 49. There are several ways to make this starting total:

A hand of 5 differently ranked cards, like K Q J T 9. There are a total of 15 spew cards in the deck that this hand is vulnerable to and for every card lost its point value is reduced.
How different it is when hands contain multiple cards of the same rank:
Four of a kind: K K K K 9 could never have a king spewed. There are only the 3 remaining nines in the deck that can hurt this hand. Even then it would still be valued as a very respectable 40 points.
Three of a kind: these hands have only 7 spew cards to fear. (e.g K K K Q 9)
Two pair: also, only 7 spew cards. (e.g. K K Q Q 9)
Single pair hands (e.g. K K Q J 9) have 11 spew cards.

As the examples show, quads, trips and pairs of high face value cards are good for high since they are less likely to spew. However, if they do, a large number of points are lost and the hand might then become a competitor for low. K J J J A is a nearly unbeatable high of 51. In the unlikely event the final Jack spews you would have a very strong 11 for low. If your Ace spews, but not your face cards and all the other players spew down to four cards or less you’d have the nut high of 40 at the showdown.

Contrary to high hands, unpaired cards are good for low. Every card you lose means your point total becomes lower, so you are hoping to have as many cards spew as possible.
For example, 5 4 3 2 A is a total of 15 points. There are a total of 15 spew cards that will lower its point total. You can generally expect to spew two cards out of a five card hand, so you are likely to hold 9 or less at the showdown. In the unlikely event that you lose no cards it probably means that many of the spew cards were high value giving you an opportunity to bluff high.

MINIMUM, MAXIMUM AND AVERAGE POINT TOTALS
Avoid playing "average" point total hands and limit yourself to hands that are significantly higher or lower than average.

Number of Cards
5
4
3
2
1

Minimum Point Value
6
4
3
2
1

Maximum Point Value
54
44
33
22
11

Average Point Value
35
28
21
14
7

IF ACES SPEW

Number of Cards
5
4
3
2
1

Minimum Point Value
11
8
6
4
2

Maximum Point Value
50
40
30
20
10

KEEP TRACK OF HOW MANY CARDS YOUR OPPONENTS HAVE
Winning point totals change depending on how many cards remain in a player's hand as well as the specific cards that are lost to spewing. Keeping track of that is very important as it helps to identify when you have a nut hand.

Whenever you have more cards than your opponents do you have a greater opportunity to win high. For example, if you have 35 points in four cards and all the other players are holding three cards or less you have the nut high.

Whenever you have fewer cards than your opponents you have a greater opportunity to win low. For example, if you have A A 2 and all the other players have three cards or more you have the nut low. If you have A A A and all the other players are holding three cards you have the nuts both ways.

BLUFFING OPPORTUNITES IN SPEW
Keeping track of the number of cards you have compared to your opponents can also provide good bluffing opportunities.

A full hand of five cards has great bluffing value. If you have a bad hand like Q Q K 3 2 you would have 35 at showdown which is a fairly mediocre 5-card point total. But, if you bet large against players with only four cards they would be hard pressed to call, even with 40.