Got it!
OK, I excluded a couple of forums, then I made sure I was subscribed to a couple of threads in those forums.
From the drop down menu (New Posts) on the upper blue bar, I clicked on "All New Posts".
The excluded forums do not show at all.
Using the "Forum Spy" the posts in those excluded forums still show.
My User CP section of "New Subscribed Threads" does have those excluded forum threads and will show new posts in those threads that I am subscribed to.
Forum Spy...
Click to enlarge