Spit Take

Spit Take is a straight test of your poker face. Take a sip of your drink, keep it sitting in your mouth, and hold there for 30 seconds while the rest of the table does everything short of touching you to break your composure. Get through the full half-minute without laughing, spluttering, or losing your nerve and the whole table drinks. Crack before the clock runs out and it's just your loss — the sip goes down and the round moves on.

Around a real table this is the one that turns quiet. Cheeks puff out, eyes go glassy, someone starts doing an impression two feet from your face, and the countdown gets shouted louder as it nears zero. The actual spit take, when it happens, is rarely subtle — whoever's sitting closest usually wears it.

The sensible move is a small sip, not a mouthful. A thimbleful is just as valid as a swig, and it gives you a lot more room to keep a straight face. If you feel it going, aim down at the table or your own glass rather than at whoever's doing their best to wind you up.

Spit Take sits in the 2nd Circle, a ring out from the board's busiest patch, so it's not the very first wedge you'll meet but it comes round often enough that everyone gets a turn holding their nerve.