How To Play Seep

Seep is a game from the Fishing family of card games which appears to have originated from, and is commonly played in, Northern India. This game also goes by the name Sweep, Sip, Shiv and Siv and also is quite popular in many areas of Pakistan.

The standard game of Seep is designed for play by four players divided into two partnerships. It is played using one standard 52 card deck. Other then in the initial draw for seats, partnerships and first dealer, the cards do not have a relative ranking within the deck.

The first order of business in a game of Seep is usually to determine partnerships, if this has not already been arranged. A common method of doing this is for each player to draw a card from the shuffled deck. The players drawing the two highest cards will play as partners against those drawing the two lowest. If three or more players draw cards of the same denomination, those players should discard and draw new cards. The player drawing the highest card of all has first choice of seats at the table and is set as the first dealer. The partner of the dealer should sit directly across the table from the dealer and the remaining two players should sit directly across from each other at the table, between the dealer and his partner. The ranking of the cards for this draw are as follows (from highest to lowest); Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. After each hand, either member of the partnership who has fewer points is set as the dealer for the next hand.

If the first bidder's hand contains no cards higher than an eight, he must show the hand to the other players and a new hand is dealt.

Once the players have been seated and the dealer selected, the dealer should then thoroughly shuffle the deck. After the shuffle he offers the deck to the player to his immediate left for the cut. After the cut, the dealer begins distributing the cards. He first distributes four face-down cards to the player at his immediate right. After this, he places four cards face-down in a row on the table (this area of the table on which players will place cards in play is called the floor). The player who received the packet of four cards must then pick up his cards and determine if he will attempt to "bid for a house" based on these first four cards dealt. This bid must consist of a number from 9 to 13, inclusive. This bid is based on the capture value of a specific card in his hand. If the player has at least one card in his hand of rank nine or higher he must make such a bid, based on the value of one of his higher cards. However, if that player has no card higher than an eight in his hand, he must show the cards to all participants, after which all the cards are gathered up and a new hand dealt by the same dealer.

Once a bid has been made, the four face-down cards placed in the center of the table are exposed, being turned face-up. The bidding player must then make one of three valid plays:

• Create a House of the Value as made in his bid:
This is done by adding one card from the hand and combining that card with one or more cards currently found on the table to total the amount of the bid.
• Play a card of the same value as bid, which matches one or more other cards of that same value on the table. If this play is made, the player takes the card played as well as any other cards of that same denomination matched on the table, placing these cards into his capture pile.
• Place a card equal in value to the bid onto the table. This is done if neither of the two previous play options can be made by the player.

After the bidding player has his turn, the dealer completes the deal, dealing out the remainder of the cards in face-down four card packets to each player in a counterclockwise direction. Upon completion of the deal, the bidding player will have 11 cards in hand (having already played one for his first turn), and each other player will have a hand consisting of 12 total cards.

After the dealer has completed distributing the remainder of the cards, the player to the immediate right of the bidder than has the next turn. The turns rotate in a counter-clockwise direction around the table and each turn consists of a player playing one card from his hand, face-up to the table. On his turn, each player may then make one of several plays:

• Create a House:
A house is created when a player adds a card to one or more existing loose cards on the table. These cards are all piled close together to indicate they are part of such a house and may only be captured with a card which has that same capture total capture value as the full value of that house. A player may never create a house unless he has a card in his hand which could be used to, on a later turn, capture that house. The player who creates this House is considered the current Owner of that house. To be considered a valid House, it must have a total capture value of 9, 10, 11, 12, or 13.
• Adding to a House (Cementing):
If a player has a card in his hand which either by itself, or added to other loose cards on the table, has the same value as an existing House on the board, he may add that or those cards to the House, called Cementing that house. The House has the same capture value, however it cannot be increased or broken by any other player. In order to add to an existing house already owned by an opponent, the player doing so must also have a card in the hand of the same capture value as that house. The player increasing the value of the house is considered the second owner of that house. However, to add to a House which is already owned by the player's partner, a player need not necessarily have a card in hand which could be used to capture that House.
• Increasing the value of a House:
A player may add a card to an existing House to increase the value of that house (called breaking the House). A player may never increase the value of a Cemented House, and in order to increase the value of an ordinary House he must have a card in his hand of a value which could capture the newly increased value of that house. A player may never increase the value of his own house, but may do so with Houses in which an opponent or his partner are the current owner. The player who increased the value of the House is considered to be the new owner. The new house must have a capture value no higher than 13. A player may also increase the value of a House on the table to the value of another House on the table, combining the cards from this House to that of the other. The combined House, if not already, will become a Cemented House.
• Capture Loose Cards:
If a player is able to play a card which matches the value of one or more other loose cards (cards not part of an existing House), he may take both his played card and those other cards, adding them to his capture pile. Additionally, if there are two or more loose cards, when summed together, have a capture value exactly equal to the played cards, those may be collected as well, added to that player's capture pile.
• If a player has a card which equals the current Capture value of a House currently found on the table, he may play such a card to capture that House, adding the card played and the cards comprising the House into his capture pile.
• If a player has no other plays he may simply play any card from his hand face-up onto the table as a loose card.

There can never be more than one House on the table at any time with the same capture value. If a player does create a second such House, these two Houses are combined together, creating a Cemented House of that same capture value. If there are any loose, individual cards on the table which have the same value as an existing House, those cards are immediately added to that House, creating a Cemented House with that same capture value.

Note that capture plays may be combined. If a player is able, with the same card played to the table, capture a house of that same value, as well as any loose cards or combinations of loose cards he may capture all such cards or combinations of cards, adding them to his capture pile. If a card played could capture a house or loose cards, the player must do so.

As noted, each card in the deck has a specific value which is used to determine it's capture value. The following chart shows the values for each card in the deck:

Card	Build or Capture Value
Ace	1
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10	Value as marked on card
Jack	11
Queen	12
King	13

The game continues in this manner, turn by turn, until the last player has played his last card. If there are any remaining loose cards on the table at the end of the hand (there should be no houses remaining as these would have all been captured by a player during the hand), these cards are added to the capture pile for the player who last managed to capture one or more cards from the table.

Scoring: There are two methods of scoring in this game. The first method is the capture of certain point scoring cards. At the end of the hand, both members of a partnership combine the cards from his capture pile into one pile. The pile from each partnership is then examined, and certain cards as found in these piles will earn that partnership a number of points:

• Spades:
Each card captured in the suit of spades has a corresponding point value, which is equal to that card's capture value. Thus, the Ace of spades is worth 1 point, the numbered cards 2 to 10 (of spades) are each worth the value marked on the card, the Jack of spades has a value of 11 points, the Queen of spades 12 and the King of spades 13 points.
• Aces:
Other than the Ace of spades (which is already worth one point) the three other Aces (Ace of clubs, Ace of hearts and Ace of diamonds) are worth one point each.
• Ten of Diamonds:
The ten of diamonds has a scoring value of six points for the partnership which manages to capture it.

All other captured cards have no scoring value.

The second method of scoring in this are Sweeps (also called seeps). A Sweep occurs if a player manages to capture every card remaining on the table in one play. A Sweep on the very first play of the hand earns that player's partnership a bonus of 25 points. A Sweep on the very last play of the game, however, entitles that player to no bonus points. On any other turn of the game, performing a Sweep earns that player's partnership 50 bonus points.

At the end of each hand the total scores earned by both partnerships is then compared. If one team fails to earn at least nine points, that team is said to immediately lose one game (or game point also called a Baazi), and the opposing team is set as the winner of that game. However, if both teams manage to score at least nine points during the hand, the scores are compared and the team earning the higher score during the hand is entitled to add the different in score to an ongoing total for that team. Once the total difference between the two teams, over any number of games, becomes 100 or more, the team with the higher score then wins one game (which is called a Baazi). At any time a Baazi is won, the scores of both partnerships are reset to zero and the next hand starts the next game or Baazi. Thus, over a full game session, the team with the most Baazis is set as the overall session winner.

Variations and Optional Rules

Two Player Seep: A variant of Seep has also been developed for two players. This two player variant is played identically to the standard variant except for the following differences:

The deal is similar to that for the standard game. However, each player is dealt two individual 12 card hands, face-down which they do not look at. At the start of the game, each player picks up one of the 12 card hands, leaving the other such hand on the table, unused. Once each player completes play using the first 12 card hand, he then picks up the second hand and continues the game using that second hand. Any remaining cards on the table are not removed at the completion of the first hand, however, upon completion of the second hand, any cards left remaining on the table are added to the hand of the last player to have captured one or more cards from the table. Other than these differences and the obvious differences that both players play independently, the rules are otherwise the same as the standard four player, partnership version of Seep.

Thirty Point Seep: A fairly common variant of Seep which is played in the Punjab is one in which the total potential card points which can be earned in one deal is 30 (vice the 100 in the standard game). This variant is played identically to the standard game save the following differences:

• There are much fewer point scoring cards in this variant. The total list of point scoring cards in the deck are as follows:
  • Ace:
  Each of the four Aces earns one point to the partnership who manages to capture that card.
  • Two of Spades:
  Capturing the two of spades earns the capturing partnership one point.
  • Nine of Spades:
  The team that manages to capture the nine of spades during a hand earns 9 points for the capture.
  • Ten of Diamonds:
  Capturing the Ten of diamonds earns the capturing team a score of 12 points.
• In addition to the points scored for capturing specific cards from the deck, the team which manages to capture more total cards during the hand earns a bonus of 4 points. If both teams capture exactly 26 cards, neither team scores these four points.
• If a player manages to perform a Sweep (capturing every card currently on the table in one play), the value earned from the Sweep is equivalent to the capture value of the card that was played by that player to make the capture.
• Because of the high value for the Nine of spades and Ten of diamonds, after the four table cards are dealt, the currently dealer must check these cards, and if either or both of these special cards are found amongst these four cards, all the cards are gathered together, reshuffled and the same dealer deals again.
• The game continues until one team manages to earn a 30 point advantage over the other team, which then earns that team one game (or game point or Baazi).
• There is no specific penalty for a team who fails to earn at least 9 points in a hand as there is with the standard game.
• If one team manages to capture all 30 points during a hand (not counting Sweeps), that team earns 60 points for the hand (in addition to any possible points earned for Sweeps during that hand). This is called a Satthi.

In all other aspects this variant is played identically to the more common variant of Seep as described above.

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