Seep card game rules
Seep — also written sweep, and known as siv or sīp — is a fishing card game for four players in two partnerships, played across South Asia and especially in northern India and Pakistan. It is played with a standard 52-card deck. Players capture cards from the floor by matching values, build piles called houses that only a specific card can take, and try to clear the floor completely for a sweep — the seep the game is named after.
Players, partnerships and the deal
Four players sit in two partnerships, partners facing each other across the table, so play alternates between the sides. A standard 52-card deck is used and every card is dealt — nothing is held back.
The player to the dealer’s right receives four cards first and looks at them before anyone else has a hand. Four more cards are dealt face down to form the floor. That player then bids: they name a value from 9 to 13 that they hold in those four cards, promising to make or take a house of that value with their first play.
If the first four cards contain no card of 9 or higher, no bid is possible and the deal is abandoned and dealt again. Once the bid is made, the floor is turned face up and the rest of the cards are dealt — twelve to each player in total.
What the cards are worth
Every card counts as its face value for capturing. An ace is one, numbered cards are their number, a jack is eleven, a queen is twelve and a king is thirteen. There is no trump suit and no card outranks another — a nine captures a nine, and nothing else beats it.
Scoring is separate from capturing, and only seventeen cards in the deck are worth anything at all. Every spade scores its own value, from the ace of spades at one through to the king of spades at thirteen — ninety-one points in the suit alone. The other three aces score one each, and the ten of diamonds scores six. That is one hundred points in every deal.
Capturing
On your turn you play exactly one card from your hand. If it matches anything on the floor, it captures — and capturing is compulsory. You may not throw a card away when it could take something.
A card captures every loose card of its own value, and every combination of loose cards that adds up to its value. A nine takes a nine; it also takes a five and a four together, or a six and a three. It takes all of them at once if they are all there — captures are maximal, so you cannot choose to take less than your card can reach.
A card of the same value as a house captures that house entire, however many cards are stacked in it. Captured cards go face down in front of your partnership and are counted at the end of the deal.
Houses — kachcha and pukka
A house is a pile built to a single value between nine and thirteen, and only a card of exactly that value can capture it. You build one by playing a card onto loose floor cards so they total the value: a five onto a seven makes a house of twelve.
You may only build a house if you hold a card of that value in your hand, and you must keep one there. While you own a house you cannot play your last matching card elsewhere — the rule guarantees that every house can still be taken before the deal ends.
A loose house — kachcha — can be raised by an opponent adding a card to increase its value, up to thirteen. A cemented house — pukka — contains its value more than once and can never be raised, only captured. Adding a second set of the value to a house cements it.
When a house is established, loose cards on the floor that match its value are drawn into it automatically, including sets that add up to it. Two houses can never share a value, and a loose card never sits beside a house worth the same.
Sweeps — the seep
Clearing the entire floor with a single capture is a sweep, and it is worth fifty points on top of the cards themselves. It is the biggest single swing in the game — half a deal’s worth of card points in one play.
A sweep on the very first play of a deal scores twenty-five rather than fifty. A sweep made with the last card of the deal scores nothing, because the floor would have been emptied anyway.
This is why the floor is watched as closely as the hand. Leaving a single low card behind is often better than taking everything and handing your opponent a clean floor to sweep.
Scoring and winning
When all forty-eight cards have been played, any cards still on the floor go to whichever side captured last. Each side then counts its spades, its aces, the ten of diamonds, and adds any sweep bonuses.
The difference between the two totals is carried forward, and a side that reaches a lead of one hundred wins a baazi — a game. A side that scores fewer than nine card points in a single deal loses a baazi immediately, however the running score stood.
The deal passes on: the dealer keeps dealing while their side is behind or level, and passes it along when their side moves ahead.
Common questions about Seep
How many players do you need for Seep?
Four, in two partnerships sitting opposite each other. A two-player version exists in which each player receives two hands of twelve and plays the second half after the first is exhausted, with the floor carried across.
What is a sweep worth in Seep?
Fifty points, on top of the cards captured. A sweep on the first play of a deal scores twenty-five, and a sweep with the last card of the deal scores nothing.
What is the difference between a kachcha and a pukka house?
A kachcha (loose) house can be raised to a higher value by an opponent adding a card. A pukka (cemented) house contains its value more than once and can never be raised — it can only be captured by a card of that exact value.
Which cards score points in Seep?
Only seventeen. Every spade scores its own value (ace one through king thirteen, ninety-one in total), the other three aces score one each, and the ten of diamonds scores six — one hundred points per deal.
Do you have to capture if you can?
Yes. Captures are compulsory and maximal: if the card you play can take something it must, and it takes everything it can reach, not a chosen part of it.
What is the bid at the start of a Seep deal?
The first player sees only four cards and names a value from nine to thirteen that they hold. Their first play must use that value — capturing with it, building that house, or throwing it.
Is Seep the same as Sweep or Siv?
Yes. Seep, sweep, siv and sīp are all names for the same game. It belongs to the fishing family, alongside Casino and the Italian game Scopa.