How to Play Spoons (Card Game)

Spoons is a classic card game that combines the simple fun of matching games with the frantic thrills of musical chairs. Though Spoons may seem confusing or complicated at first, it is incredibly easy to learn and an absolute blast to play.

Method 1

Method 1 of 1:

Playing Spoons

1
Count your players. In the middle of the table, place however many spoons is one less than the number of players you have. For example, if you're playing with 6 people, use 5 spoons.^{[1]
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2
Shuffle a standard 52-card deck and deal 4 cards to each person. Have the dealer keep the deck next to them.^{[2]
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3
Have everyone take one of their cards and discard it to their left simultaneously. The person to the right of the dealer, however, should put one of their cards down on the table to start the discard pile, while the dealer picks up a new card.^{[3]
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- You do not have to exchange cards with the card you are given, if you do not want to. Instead, just pass the card you received on to the player to your left.
Tip: It is good strategy to exchange cards for a card that matches another card that you already have in your hand.
4
Repeat this process of everyone passing to the left. Each round the dealer should pick up a new card and the person to their right should add to the discard pile, so as to have a continuous influx of new cards.^{[4]
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- All players continue to circulate cards. It usually goes pretty quickly, and can be tough to keep track of! This is intentional, and makes the game more fun.
5
The first person to have 4 of a kind (e.g. all 4 aces or all 4 nines) has to pick up a spoon. Following this, all other players need to do the same, with the slowest person left without a spoon and out of the game.^{[5]
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Note: Often, players will try to be sneaky about grabbing a spoon, so that others will continue to play the game without realizing that a spoon has been drawn.
6
Make sure to grab a spoon as soon as you notice one missing. It can be easy to get caught up in trying to get your own four of a kind — try to pay attention to other people's movements as well as your hand.
7
Remove a spoon every time you remove a player from the game. So if the first round had 6 players and 5 spoons, the second round would consist of 5 players and 4 spoons. Continue playing until you're left with a single person, who is the winner.

Printable Rule Sheet

Spoons Rule Sheet

Community Q&A
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Question

How many cards do you get in the game of spoons?

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To begin the game, you deal four cards to each person. The remaining deck of cards stays next to the dealer.
Question

Can you play Spoons with 2 players?

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To play Spoons properly, you’ll need at least 3 players, and an ideal amount is somewhere between 5 to 7 players. You could try with 2 people but it won’t be as much fun as when you have more players. You would have to use one spoon and the winner of that round is the winner of the game.
Question

How do you hold your spoon?

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In the game of Spoons, it's a case of just grabbing the spoon, either subtly or obviously, depending on what your strategy is. For help with holding or gripping your spoon properly for eating, check out the wikiHow How to Hold a Spoon.