A very small sampling of How Not To Lose At Spades...

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. LEARNING 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).

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THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF NOT ONLY EACH GAME, BUT EACH HAND, YOU ARE PRESENTED WITH RISK/REWARD SITUATIONS, THE HANDLING OF WHICH WILL DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT YOU WIN THE GAME......

......... WHAT MAKES ONE TEAM A GOOD TEAM AND ANOTHER TEAM A LESSER TEAM IS THE DEGREE TO WHICH THEY PROPERLY MANAGE THE RISK/REWARD OPPORTUNITIES THAT PRESENT THEMSELVES CONTINUALLY THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF PLAY. THOSE TEAMS THAT MINIMIZE RISK WHILE MAXIMIZING POTENTIAL REWARD WILL WIN, AND THOSE TEAMS THAT FAIL TO DO SO WILL LOSE. IT REALLY IS THAT SIMPLE.

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PRESENTED BELOW IS DISCUSSION OF BIDDING CONSIDERATIONS FOR SEVERAL DIFFERENT SPADES HANDS, BEGINNING WITH THE EXAMPLE HAND DESCRIBED AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS CHAPTER.

THE BIDDING ON EACH HAND IS FIRST ANALYZED IN THE CONTEXT OF HAVING BEEN DEALT THE HAND AS THE FIRST BIDDER ON THE FIRST HAND OF THE GAME (STARTING THE GAME WITH NO SCORE). THIS ANALYSIS DEMONSTRATES THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESSFUL BIDDING, FOCUSING PRIMARILY ON HOW TO BID WITH CONTROL AND FLEXIBILITY.

SUBSEQUENTLY, THE SAME HAND IS ANALYZED IN THE CONTEXT OF ONE OR MORE DIFFERENT GAME SCORE SITUATIONS IN ORDER TO DEMONSTRATE HOW BIDS NEED TO BE ADJUSTED IN ORDER TO ACCOUNT FOR THE RISK/REWARD OPPORTUNITIES PRESENTED BY THOSE SCORE SITUATIONS.

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MANY SPADES GAMES ARE NOT CLOSELY CONTESTED BY THE TIME THE END OF THE GAME APPROACHES. MANY GAMES ARE, HOWEVER, AND THIS CHAPTER IS DEVOTED TO THESE GAMES.

AMONG THESE CLOSE GAMES, A VERY LARGE PERCENTAGE (ANYWHERE FROM ONE THIRD TO ONE HALF) IS NEEDLESSLY LOST AS A RESULT OF IMPROPER BIDDING ON THE LAST HAND OF THE GAME........

IT IS DIFFICULT TO COMMUNICATE HOW IMPORTANT LAST HAND BIDDING IS. IT IS EQUALLY DIFFICULT TO EXPRESS THE DEGREE TO WHICH LAST HAND BIDDING IS BOTH IGNORED AND MISUNDERSTOOD BY THE MAJORITY OF SPADES PLAYERS. NO SPADES PLAYER WILL EVER BE ABLE TO CONSISTENTLY WIN AT THE GAME WITHOUT DEVELOPING A HEALTHY UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONSIDERATIONS AND STRATEGIES ASSOCIATED WITH LAST HAND BIDDING.

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THIS IS THE TENTH AND LAST HAND OF A TOURNAMENT GAME. WHICHEVER TEAM HAS THE MOST POINTS AT THE END OF THIS HAND WILL BE THE WINNER.

WHAT SHOULD YOU BID?

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AT THIS POINT OF THIS 11 BID HAND, THE OPPONENTS HAVE ALREADY TAKEN 1 BAG, THEY HAVE PLAYED HIGH SPADES WHEN THEY DID NOT HAVE TO, AND THE ACE OF SPADES HAS NOT BEEN PLAYED YET. ON THIS TRICK, WEST LEADS THE 5 OF SPADES...YOUR PARTNER PLAYS THE 3...AND EAST IS OUT OF SPADES. IT IS OBVIOUS TO YOU THAT YOUR PARTNER HAS THE ACE OF SPADES, SO WHAT CARD SHOULD YOU PLAY?

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IT IS THE JOB OF THE NIL PARTNER TO PROVIDE HIS COVERING PARD WITH AS MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT HIS HAND AS POSSIBLE SO AS TO ALLOW HIS PARTNER AS MUCH FLEXIBILITY IN THE PLAY OF HIS HAND AS POSSIBLE. BY DOING SO, THE COVERING PARTNER CAN BEST COVER THE NIL AND ALSO AVOID THE TRAPS OF GETTING SET OR GETTING BAGGED.

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YOU ARE DEALT THE FOLLOWING HAND AND BID NIL.

ON THE FIRST TRICK, WEST LEADS THE 6 OF CLUBS....YOUR PARD PLAYS THE QUEEN....EAST PLAYS THE J....AND YOU DUMP THE 10.

ON TRICK 2, YOUR PARD LEADS THE KING OF HEARTS....EAST PLAYS THE JACK....YOU DUMP THE 6.....AND WEST TAKES THE TRICK WITH THE ACE. THIS LEAVES YOU WITH:

ON TRICK 3, WEST LEADS THE 4 OF CLUBS....YOUR PARTNER TRUMPS WITH THE 6 OF SPADES....AND EAST PLAYS THE 9 OF CLUBS. WHAT CLUB SHOULD YOU PLAY?

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THIS IS THE TENTH (AND DESIGNATED LAST) HAND OF A TOURNAMENT GAME.

ON THE FIRST TRICK, WEST LEADS THE 3 OF CLUBS....YOUR PARTNER PLAYS THE 6....AND EAST PLAYS THE JACK.

WHAT CARD SHOULD YOU PLAY?

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The answers to these questions, along with a thorough discussion of the above topics, are only a very small part of what you will find inside the covers of How Not To Lose At Spades.

Copyright 2000, by John Strichman