1 INTRODUCTION
Spades is a popular game.
On any given night, you can find tens of thousands of people playing Spades on
the Internet alone. It is the most popular card game, if not game of any kind, on
the Net. Further, millions of card lovers play Spades in one fonn or another, from
kitchen table games to the highest level of competitive prize money tournament
play.
Spades is an amazing game.
Of all the adult card games, Spades is among the easiest to
learn and to play, and
among the hardest to learn and to play well. On a relative basis, the rules are
exceedingly simple yet the level of sophistication required in order to excel at the
game is extremely high. It is this juxtaposition of simplicity and complexity that
draws one to the game, and keeps one coming back for more excitement,
frustration, pleasure, and punishment.
Spades is an interpersonal game.
Spades requires two teams of two players each. While you can partner with
anyone who happens to know the rules of` the game, you can never know the true
joy of playing Spades unless you are fortunate enough to have a Spades partner.
A Spades partner is someone with whom, over time, you develop a level of
understanding, trust, cooperation, commitment, and respect that provides more
reward than winning any particular game or tournament ever could. It is the
striving for excellence through this partnership that is the true challenge of the
game, and through which one learns lessons that apply to much more than the
game of Spades.
Spades is a demanding game.
While Spades can be played at any level, success at all levels requires certain basic
skills, abilities, and personality characteristics. These include the abilities to
concentrate, to think logically (rather than emotionally), and to learn from
mistakes. Further, the better your memory and your ability to perform simple
arithmetic calculations, the better the Spades player you will be. Finally, above
and beyond any other traits, your (capacity to persevere will go a long way to
determining how good a Spades player you can ultimately become.
Spades is a social game.
A wonderful byproduct of playing Spades, either at a table or on the Intemet, is
that you can develop wonderful friendships that just might last a lifetime.
Spades is an addicting game.
For the various reasons mentioned above, as well as others, Spades can be highly
addicting. Be warned that, should you start playing Spades on a regular basis, you
might never stop.
Spades is a fun game.
It is hard to describe how much fun playing Spades can be. _ As with any other
game, when playing Spades it is more fun to win on a consistent basis than to lose
on a consistent basis. After reading this book, hopefully you will be able to have
the most fun possible playing Spades.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this book is to teach you how NOT to lose at Spades.
Most Spades games are won by the team that makes the fewest mistakes, and lost
by the team that makes the most mistakes, it is that simple. Leaming how to play
mistake free (or relatively mistake free) Spades is the key to becoming successful
at the game and to maximizing the amount of fun that you will enjoy from the
game. -
Consequently, this book focuses on identifying common mistakes made by players
at all levels of the game, and describing how to avoid these pitfalls. The errors
discussed relate to both strategy (concepts concerning bidding and playing that are
independent of the cards that you hold in your hand) as well as execution (what
cards to play in order to achieve a desired result).
A further objective of the book is to help you develop a general thought process
regarding the game that is conducive to winning at Spades. In general, this mental
approach to the game concems moving your thinking outside of your playing hand
and into the broader area of how best to achieve the ultimate objective of the
game, namely winning... in short, how to move back from the trees in order to be
able to see the forest.
Whereas there is material contained in the book that will be of value to players at
all skill levels, the information presented will be more easily assimilated if one has
at least limited experience in playing or even watching the game. The "something
for everyone” approach used in the book is designed to help poor players become
better players, average players become good players, good players become
excellent players, and, hopefully, to help some players become great players.
An understanding of the underlying principle behind the material presented is
essential in order to gain the most benefit from the book. Specifically, the
guidelines identified in the following chapters are designed to help you maximize
the extent to which you win Spades games that you play over time.
There is no question that use of some of the various approaches presented will
result in you losing some games that you might otherwise have been lucky enough
to win. The objective of the book is not to help you win g particular game that
you play, but to help you win many non—particular games that you play. In the
long run, following the strategy and execution guidelines described in this book
will go a long way to helping you reach your maximum potential for winning at
Spades. -
Although, by definition, Spades is a technically, mathematically, and statistically
oriented game, the approach used in the book is non—technical in nature. Common
sense and humor are frequently better teachers than calculations and statistics.
Finally, although the various chapters in the book are self-supporting and a player
familiar with the game could certainly benefit by picking and choosing topics of
interest, the material is designed to be read in the order presented... there is a
method to the madness.
Again, the object of playing Spades is to have fun. Please don't ever take the game
too seriously. If, however, you are going to frequently spend hours playing the
game, the time and effort spent thinking about the ideas presented in How NOT to
Lose at Spades will be time and effort well spent, and you just might wind up
being rewarded in Spades.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of the game is to be the first team to score at least 500 points, or if
both teams score 500 or more points, to have the higher score.
PLAY OF THE HAND
Spades uses a standard deck of 52 playing cards.
The dealer performs a standard deal of all 52 cards to 4 players (2 players from
each of 2 teams, partners sitting opposite one another).
Starting with the player to the left ofthe dealer, all 4 players in turn verbally bid a
number of tricks between 0 and 13. In rough terms, each player’s bid represents
how many of the 13 tricks that will be played on the hand that that player will be
attempting to win during the hand.
Once all players have made their bids, the player to the left of the dealer plays
(leads) the first card of the first trick. This player may lead any card in his hand
other than a Spade. All other players, in turn, must play a card of the same suit led
by the first player if they are able to do so. If any player does not have any cards
in the suit led by the first player, he may play any card in his hand.
Spades is a trumping game. A trump card is a card of a suit which takes
precedence over all other suits. In Spades, the trump suit on every hand is Spades.
What a surprise!
On each trick (each set of 4 cards played 1 by each player) the highest card played
of the suit that was led wins the trick, as long as no Spade is played by any player
on that trick. lf any Spade is played on a trick, the highest Spade played wins the
trick.
No player may lead a Spade as the first card on a trick unless Spades have been
"broken" (at least one player has played a Spade as a trump card in the course of a
previous trick). Once Spades have been broken, a player is free to lead any card in
his hand on any future trick played that hand. An exception to the above rule
occurs if a player has only Spades left in his hand. In that situation, he may lead a
Spade whether or not Spades have been broken.
When a player wins a trick, by playing either the highest card of the suit led or the
highest Spade played on the trick, he gathers up the four cards played and places
them in a neat pile in front of him.
Whichever player wins any particular trick is then required to lead the first card of
the next trick. This process is continued until all 4 players have played all of the
cards in their hands (this produces 13 tricks containing 4 cards each). As a player
accumulates tricks, the individual piles of four cards each should be placed on the
table in hont of the player such that all players can easily count how many tricks
that player has won.
After a hand is completed, the player sitting to the left of the dealer of the
completed hand is responsible for shuffling the cards and dealing the next hand.
This process continues until one of the two teams wins the game.
SCORING
On any given hand, the combined number of tricks bid by the partners on a team
becomes the number of tricks that that team is responsible for wimiing on that
hand. It does not matter how many tricks either of the players wins individually
(unless, as discussed below, one player bids 0... called Nil), as long as jointly the
two partners win at least as many tricks as their combined bids.
EXAMPLE
Jim bids 3 tricks and his partner, Fred, bids 4 tricks. Together, Jim and Fred must
win at least 7 tricks during the play ofthe hand. If Jim wins 7 tricks and Fred wins
no tricks, the team will be considered to have made its bid. Similarly, if Jim wins
no tricks and Fred wins 7 tricks, the team will have successfully made its bid.
More frequently, Jim will win a number of tricks close to his bid, as will Fred, and
the team will, more often than not, win at least the number of tricks that the team
bid.