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Spit-in-the-Ocean
is sometimes played with the center card part of each player's hand,
as described above, but not wild. It is sometimes played with the
center card not wild, but each card of the same rank in a player's
hand wild. How to play: The first variation is very similar to ordinary
draw poker, except that the average winning hand is somewhat lower
because one card in each player's hand is fixed. Therefore, reduce
your requirements for various actions by a few notches.
There is no special advantage to having the upcard matched in your
hand, except that it may give you a high pair. If the upcard is
a king or a queen, it may often pay to hold an ace kicker when you
have one card matching the upcard. It is likely that another player
also matches the upcard, and the odds favor your winning if you
draw two to that pair, plus an ace, while he draws three cards to
the pair. The chance of improving the pair to triplets is obviously
much lower in this case than in ordinary draw poker, because another
player has one of the cards that will form triplets.
It is this variation of Spit-in-the-Ocean in which the comparison
of the value of your hand with the value of the upcard is of the
utmost significance. If the upcard is lower than a ten, you should
simply value your hands slightly higher (an exception to the general
rule of common-card games) than in ordinary draw poker. If the upcard
is of a high rank (ace, king, queen, jack or ten) you should not
play with a pair of a rank lower than that of the upcard. Conversely,
the value of a pair of a rank higher than the upcard is increased,
since each of the other players is "stuck" with the upcard
as part of his hand.
The formation of two pairs must also be compared with the value
of the upcard. If, with a king turned as the common card, you have
kings and fours, your hand is not as powerful as you might believe.
Kings-up will be far more common on this deal than in ordinary draw
poker (while the other strong hands will be less common!). If another
player has kings-up, your kings and fours are weak. Also, players
with pairs of queens or jacks will probably drop out when a king
is exposed as the upcard. If a player draws three cards, he probably
has a pair of aces (or an ace and a king). In any event, if he improves
his hand, you will be defeated.
The second variation (center card itself not wild) is only slightly
different from deuces-wild. The hands run lower in this game because
there are only three potential jokers, and because one card is fixed
in each hand. A hand with a wild card in this game is therefore
more powerful than a hand with a deuce in deuces-wild, and you should
adjust your strategy accordingly. In general, value your hands several
notches higher than in deuces-wild.
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