Bird's Spades strategy tips

 

Here are some rules for playing spades I got from the Z-spades website. Some people call them tips, others call them strategies. My rules mainly focus on setting your opponents and not getting set by your opponents. Just remember this is a webpage. These rules are not written on stone (all though they should be).

General Rules

General Play

When to Nil

The Nil is on your right

Bags

Etiquette

The Lead

Covering a Nil

Setting Nil's

The Nil is on your left

Bidding

 

 

General Rules

1 Never give up. The cards always change and anything can happen.
2 Do not make mistakes. Making mistakes are the number one reason most people are beat . Taking risky nils, making risky bids, under bidding, bagging, missing sets and getting set etc. These are also the hardest things not to do. Take for example if your team underbids one or two tricks every hand over the coarse of a typical 10-hand game. Your team is likely to take 10 bags and bag back since your team underbid about 10 tricks.Your team is losing 100 points due to bagging back, plus the 100 points for not bidding your tricks. I will also add the number one reason why people lose is pure luck. The odds of your team winning at the start of any given game are only 50%. Difference in skill level between two teams typically only increases a team's chance of winning by 1-5 percent.
2A Do not nil with the Ace third in. You might be able to make it if you are short in a suit, you lead first and your partner's bid is over six.
3 Don't start taking risky nil's until you absolutely have to. For example, your opponent is over 350 and not in bag trouble and you're down by more than 100.
4 Always worry about your bid first. Worry about bagging or setting next. Getting set on a 5 bid is equal to going back on bags.
5 If it is a 12 bid, go for the set.
6 If it is an 11 bid evaluate your hand and who bid what. If you might be able to take one or two extra, think about setting. Watch what your partner takes. If your partner trumps an Ace and/or a King, or over trumps your opponent, you may have a good chance of setting. If one or both of your opponents trump with high spades they are opening themselves up to get set. Watch to see if you or your partner is bagging, if so go for the set. Setting a 5 bid costs your opponents 100 pts; going back on bags costs your team 100 pts (actually only 90 points due to bags being worth 1 point each).
7 When either your team or your opponent's team is sitting at 8 or 9 bags, go for the set. The reason for this is, if you know you are going to go back on bags, you might as well get a set out of it if you can. If you opponents are likely to go back on bags they are more likely to overbid their hands and more likely to sluff their tricks, making them perfect targets of a set.
8 If your Score is over 350 and neither team is in danger of bagging back, go for the set every hand. The reason for this is, the chances of your team taking 8,9 or 10 bags in about 3 hands in extremely unlikely and the same applies to giving your opponents 8,9 or 10 bags. Also, bags count as points. I have won plenty of games because I had the bag advantage on or after the last hand. If you happen to set, you just increased your chances of winning. You will often find that your opponents stay in a sluffing mode to avoid bags, which helps your chance of setting.
9 Be aware of the score and the rules you are playing under. Add up the bids after everyone has bid and figure out the scores if everyone makes their bids. Example of rules: At Mplayer: if a player is set on a nil the tricks that he takes counts towards his partner's bid. At Internet Gaming Zone: The tricks the set nil takes will only count as bags and not as points towards making the nil's partner's bid.
10 Another good example of knowing the score and the rules is when you play nil's are worth 50 points and DN's are worth 100 pts. (Playsite.com follows this rule). If your opponents have a 9 bid and your nil and your partner has a 2 bid. In this case, If everyone makes their bids they get 90 pts and your team gets 70 pts, but if you break your nil and are able to set them, they get -90 pts and your team only gets -30 pts.
11 If your opponent and partner are both nil and your opponents will win if they make the nil. You have to play full set on either the nil or the nil's partner; this may cause your partner to get set. Also remember this if you are ever wanting to go nil on the last hand and your opponent is nil.
12 Be cautious of hands in which you have 9 or more cards, in one or two suits (one or two suited) or 11 or more cards in three suits. With these hands, someone is usually nil. If someone isn't nil, they are usually good hands to set with or be set with.  A lot of Aces and Kings get trumped in hands like this, so be careful and don't try anything fancy and get you and your partner's tricks that you bid.
 

The Lead

13 Leading is one of the most important aspects of play.
14. Don't lead a non-spade suit that the person on your right is void in. Exception: this applies to advanced players; You know your opponent on your left is holding 4 or 5 spades or only holding the boss spades and you wish to void them in spades by forcing them to trump with their spades. This will allow you to lead spades at a later point and void your opponents in spades, opening up a non-spade suit of you and/or your partner's, to set with.
15 Don't lead a non-spade suit that you know the player on your left is void in, unless you know your partner is void in the suit too and the player on your right has the suit. (Refer to the exception in rule 14)
16 Try to lead a non-spade suit your partner is void in or what your partner led. If you see your partner plays a high card in a suit (second to boss) without any apparent reason to play it (such as bags or played to force the player after him to play high), lead that suit. Your partner'should either be void in the suit or have boss.  One common convention is for a player to play high in a suit to signal to their partner that they are short in that suit.
17 If you have 5 cards of one suit, lead your Aces. The reason for this is, if you don't lead them, your opponent or partner may throw off in that suit and trump your Ace or your partner's King may get trumped. Don't try anything fancy, like trying to get the queen to count.
18 If you have three non-spade aces don't lead them one after another. Lead the two that are either likely to get trumped or the two suits you want your partner to lead to you. The reason for this is, if you lead all your aces you have taken yourself out of the hand and probably won't have any chance of getting the lead back.
19 Don't lead short suited Aces. If you wait, one of your opponents may lead the suit allowing you or your partner to take the suit with a lower card. This opens you up to being able to trump the King the third time the suit is played. (If you are two suited, lead the ace because someone else is probably short in the same suit)
20 If you have the Ace and Queen in a suit there are few ways to get them both to count. (Refer to rule 12)
1) The best way is to wait and try and get the person on your left to lead the suit. Then you can play the Queen and comeback with the Ace.
2) Lead the Queen and hope the person on your left has the King and is afraid to play it.
3) Wait for your partner to lead the suit and hope the person on your right has the King. If the person on your right plays the King, you can take the trick with the Ace and come back and take the following trick with the Queen.  If the person on your right does not play the King, you can play the Queen and take the trick and comeback with the Ace and taking the following trick.
4) Have the person on your right lead the suit and have the King. You can play the Queen and take the trick and comeback with the Ace and take the following trick.
21 Lead high. Queen in a suit in which you know probably won't go around three times is a good lead. This forces the ace out if your partner counted the king. If your partner has the Ace, it gives them the option of throwing off and letting the queen go (I do not recommend trying this trick if the suit may only go once or twice). Another option if you have the Queen is to lead low. If the person follows you does not play the Ace, then you partner will be forced to play the King, but you can make up the trick with your Queen. This also gives you a better chance of getting the Queen to take a trick, if the suit goes around three times. The worst lead you can make is not to have led high enough and force your partner to have to play the King and have it fall to the Ace.
22 Don't lead a suit you are King high in. This lead increases the chances of your King getting overtrumped.
23 If the ace has been played you can lead low in that suit.
24 If you know the person on your right is holding the King in a suit and the person on your left is void in the suit, you can lead the suit. What usually happens is the partner trumps their partner's King. What you want to avoid happening is having your partner or the player on your right leading the suit. This is an excellent lead if you know your partner is void in the suit too.
25 Don't lead spades. (There are some important exceptions to this).
a) You partner has their bid or you can cover their bid.
b) You know your partner bid high spades. Not leading spades might just give your opponents a chance to set you by trumping with lower spades. If you aren't in danger of getting set this should be taken as wanting to run out spades so that you and your partner can set your opponents.
c) Either one or both of your opponents are void in any non-spade suit you could lead. (Refer to rule 26)
d) If you're trying to sluff and have nothing better to sluff in make sure part (a) of this rule is being followed then lead spades.
e) One way you can set your opponent is if you are two suited (spades being one of the suits.) You can run spades and make your other suit good. Try to leave yourself one spade, count spades and count the suit you have a lot of. Your partner may have counted trumping that suit, so be careful and follow part (a) of this rule.
f) If your partner led spades and is going for a set.
g) When trying to set a nil. (Refer to rules 58,59,60 and 65)
26 If your opponents and your partner are void in a non-spade suit, leading this suit can be effectively the same as leading spades. (refer to the exceptions in rule 25) Your partner will be forced to trump the suit. If your partner counted trumping with spades in a different suit this lead could easily set your team. If your intent is to void the player on your right and possibly the player on your left in spades (Refer to the exception in rule 14) this can be an effective lead, because you retain your spades. One drawback to this is if your opponent on your left is aware that their partner too is void in the suit, they can throw off another suit and maintain their spades.  This lead can also indicate to you, the strength of your opponent's spades and your partners.
 

General Play

27 It isn't always good to trump with the Ace of spades. Sometimes the Ace of spades is protecting you or your partner's other spades and trumping or overtrumping with it may allow your opponents to run spades and set you. This is one of the most common mistakes I see.
28 Don't trump your partner, unless you can cover the trick and remember if your partner trumps you, keep track and count it as one of your tricks. (This rule is referring to when you trump a suit the first or second time played and you are unsure if your partner has the Ace or King) Don't trump your partner, unless you can cover the trick and remember if your partner trumps you, keep track and count it as one of your tricks. (This rule is referring to when you trump a suit the first or second time played and you are unsure if your partner has the Ace or King) If you don't know your partner, be careful counting tricks they trumped of yours as your own.
29 If your partner leads boss or plays boss and you are void in the suit don't trump it. Three times you may want to over trump your partner are:
a) You believe the person who follows you is void in the suit and in this case you better trump high. If you trump with the 2 of spades for example, all you are doing is wasting a spade.
b) You are trying to avoid taking a bag (you and your partner should count this as your partners trick).  Be sure you have a good suit to lead back in.
c) Your opponent's have most of the spades and will run them if they get the lead, you have a spade you did not count and can lead back a suit your partner is void in. This works well if your opponents have a 10 bid and your team bid is two. You keep your opponents out of the lead and you may be able to set them.
30 Bid your Kings but be careful. Most Kings fall because of improper leads and play. The King is trumped on the 3rd time the suit is led. (refer to rule 12)
31 If the person on your right leads, even with the queen, you don't have to play your king. Odds are the person on your left will play the Ace if they have it. You have to understand though; the person on your left may have the Ace and let their partner's queen go.
32 If you only have the King and Queen lead your king. Your partner may have the ace. If not it lets your partner know you are either short in that suit or have the queen. If you only have the King and Queen lead your king. Your partner may have the ace. If not it lets your partner know you are either short in that suit or have the queen.
33 If the person on your right leads a suit for the first time and you are holding the queen. Evaluate your hand. Is it evenly distributed? Will the suit likely go around 3 times? If the suit is likely to only go around twice play the queen. This forces the person who plays after you to play the king if they have it, if they don't have it and the person who led has it, you just picked up an extra trick. Unless of coarse they are holding the Ace.
34 If the person on your right leads, you can almost always play low. The person on your left will have to play high or give your partner an easy trick. This means that if you play second and you have the Ace you might play low and try and let your partner take an easy one. Be extremely careful doing this. If the cards aren t evenly distributed you are setting yourself up to get set.
35 If you have the King and Jack you can usually play the Jack. There is two exceptions you should be aware of:
1) You play third and the person who plays second has the ace and doesn't play it. Their partner may take the trick with the queen.
2) You play second and your opponent on your right has the Ace and Queen and plays the Queen.
36 If your partner leads a card, then the person on your right plays under and you know the person on your left is void in the suit. Always a tough call, and depends a lot on how you counted your spades. If your partner counted spades, trump high. Try not to put your partner in this situation. (Refer to the exception in rule14 for why your partner may try this lead)
37 If your partner leads a spade, evaluate what your partner bid. Did your partner bid spades? Is your partner trying to set or not to bag. If your partner is possibly trying to set and leads a low spade, play your highest spade and lead back spades if you take the trick. If your partner is trying not to bag, they may lead a high spade to give you a chance to dump a high spade or to dump their high spade.
 

Covering a Nil

38 If your partner has a nil bid, always cover the nil first. Don't let your partner get set because you are worried about bags or getting set. Remember, if your partner's nil gets set because of a mistake you made, you just cost your team 200 pts.
39 Don't leading a suit that one or both of your opponents are avoid in and your partner has. This can be one of the worst leads possible, especially if one of your opponents is nil and void in the suit. What occurs with this lead is it allows your opponents to dump high cards and spades that may be required to cover your partner's nil. Example: Hearts is your best cover suit; your are weak in the other suits. The third time you lead hearts; both of your opponents throw off a different suit. This means your partner has whatever hearts remaining, that you don't have, if you still have two hearts, then your partner has 3 left. Leading hearts twice more only allows your opponents to dump twice more each and accomplishes nothing towards your partner making their nil. When it comes time for your weak suits to be played, your opponents have all ready dumped the high cards they would have been forced to cover with. So, sometimes it is better to lead a suit you are holding the 2,5 and 8 in, than continuing with a lead that allows your opponent(s) to dump.
40 If there isn't more then three bags and you have a weak cover hand, take the bags as soon as you can. This will force the other team to concentrate on making their bid. If your partner's nil gets set, then your opponents bid gets set.
41 If your partner is going nil try to confuse your opponents. If you have a high streak in a suit play, don't play the highest card you have in that suit first. Your opponents may believe your partner has the higher one(s). Example: You are holding the Ace, King, Queen, Jack in a suit. If you play the King then the Queen your opponents may believe your partner had the Ace.
42 If your partner is going nil and you can throw off, sometimes it is better to throw off in a suit you are good in and leave your really bad suit alone. Your opponent is more likely to lead your good suit next. If you are really bad in a suit and have a lot of them the odds are your partner is low in that suit or is short and throwing off in that suit will not increase the chance of your partner making their nil. Now if you are short in the suit you are bad in, you will probably want to throw off in it.
43 If your partner is going nil, you know your partner is void in a suit AND you play before your partner, trump with a high spade. This allows your partner to dump a high spade and your opponents will still have their high spades to cover with too. If you don't have a good suit to comeback in or you are going to have to cover a different suit with spades or you really need to throw off a different suit you might not want to do this. Keep this rule in mind if your partner maybe trying a 4-spade nil.
44 If you have a short suit with moderate to high cards in it and your partner has a nil bid, lead them. This lets your partner know how high they can play in the suit and maybe the only opportunity they have to play high in the suit. Example: Your are holding the Queen and 8 in a suit and your partner is holding the 2,5 and Jack in the suit, if your opponent on your left leads the suit twice, unless your partner plays unusually high, they will not have the chance to play the Jack and you may possibly be force to use a spade to cover your partner.
45 If you have a short suit with a low card and a high card, try to avoid leading this suit. Ideally what will occur is, one of your opponents will lead a moderatly high card and your partner will likely be able to play under. You will then still be holding the high card to cover with. Example You are holding the Ace and 4 in a suit, your opponent on your right leads the 7 in that suit, you play under with the 4 since the likely hood of your partner has a card below the 7. You still have the Ace to cover with and hopefully be able to lead.
 

When to Nil

46 If the person on your right bid nil and you could make a nil, put some thought into it. Your partner has to cover both nils since he plays after the other nil's partner, which means your partner will likely take all the bags. Sometimes it is better to try and set the nil. For example: The person on your left bids 3, your partner bids 4, person on your right nil's. This leaves 6 bags and your partner will most likely take the bags defending your nil bid. I have a standing rule with my partners for this situation. If the person on my right nil's and I nil after them, I should have at least one card in each suit that is a 5 and under or only have one high card in a suit. This allows my partner to lead low and get out of the lead and possibly set the other nil.
47 If the person on your left had bid nil, try and nil if you can. In this situation you can try a riskier nil, because the other nil's partner will have to cover there partners nil.
48 Don't nil over 400 unless you have too. (Unless you have to might be as simple as your opponents are over 400 too and not bidding nil might be throwing your chances of winning away.)
49 Don't blind nil* unless you have too. This means if your partner bids eight don't blind nil. A nil-8 bid is worth almost 200pts and if you have to bid 1 a 9 bid is worth almost 100pts.
50 Be careful nilling when your short suit is spades, especially if you may need to throw off a card or two.
51 Don't let an Ace fourth or fifth in prevent you from nilling. The only time you should ever get set due to having an Ace fourth in is when one of your opponents only have one or less in that suit and your partner and other opponent both have 4 or 5 of the suit. This 4-4-4-1 or 5-4-4-0 distribution in a suit is extremely uncommon.
 

Setting Nil's

52 Do not cover your opponent's nil. Play under and force the nil's partner to cover.  Try to force the nil's partner to trump with their spades, when they don't have too.
53 If one of your opponents is nil, trump with your high spades whenever it is possible to do so without covering the nil. Be careful not to get set. If one of your opponents is nil, trump with your high spades whenever it is possible to do so without covering the nil. Be careful not to get set.
54 Don't let you or your partner's bid get set because you are trying to set a nil, unless it is a must set the nil situation or you have a guaranteed set on the nil.
55 Don't lead a suit that your opponent's nil is void in, especially if the nil or the nil's partner knows the other one void in the suit.
56 I will typically underbid one or two tricks, if I bid after a nil and my partner. The reason for this is it allows my partner and me to throw off in suits, in which we would normally have counted or had counted, and still make our bid. This also allows for you and your partner to trump with your high spades and not get set. An example of this is, if you have the 3,5,7,K and A in a non-spade suit. If you bid the Ace and King you will have to play them in order not to get set, but if you don't bid them you are in a perfect situation to set in that suit or force the nil's partner to use spades to cover in that suit. If your team bid would be over 8 if you bid your hand, you may want to bid it and not really try hard to set the nil. A nil-3 bid only gets 40 pts more than a 9 bid and you may even set the 3 bid.
57 If you only have an A or K in a suit or just a couple of high face cards in a suit, don't lead them. You know you will cover in that suit. Wait for your partner or the nil's partner to lead the suit. Don't give the nil's partner a chance to throw off his low cards in that suit, unless you have to.
58 If you only have one or two non-spades left that you know you can't set with and your opponent is nil, you might want to try leading spades and leaving your non-spades to throw off with to set the nil.
59 Leading spades can be a good lead or a devastating lead. I recommend only leading spades if you feel you can run your opponent out of spades and then set is spades or you have nothing else that would force the nil's partner to cover. You are more likely to accomplish this if you are two suited and spades is one of them. An example of this would be if you had 6 spades and 4 hearts. You can run the nil's partner out of spades and comeback with a 2 of spades and set the nil, or 2 of hearts and set the nil. Leading spades can be good or bad lead. I recommend leading spades if you feel you can void your opponent, who is covering the nil, in spades and then set in spades or a non-spade suit that your cover opponent is void in. You may also consider leading spades if you have no other lead that would force the nil's partner to cover. You are more likely to accomplish this if you are two suited and spades is one of them. An example of this would be if you had 6 spades and 4 hearts. You can run spades and void the nil's partner in spades and then lead with a 2 of spades and set the nil, or 2 of hearts and set the nil.
60 Mix up which suit you lead. What you are trying to accomplish with this is confusing the nil's partner on what has been played. This can cause the nil's partner to trump a suit which doesn't need to be trumped or not trumping when actually needs to trump.
61 If your opponent is nil and you have little or no chance of setting the nil; consider setting the nil's partner.  This can be easier sometimes, because you can lead Tens and Jacks and Queens and your opponent might not play over them in order to cover their partner's nil. Make your decision clear to your partner by either leading high or bidding high.
 

The Nil is on your right

62 If the opponent on your right has a nil bid, try to lead a low suit. The first time you lead, lead your second or third lowest card, preferably a card that is an 8 or under. Most likely the person covering the nil will still play their highest one in that suit. This will still leave you a low card in that suit to set with.
63 Lead a suit that will force the nil's partner to trump. You may not want to lead a card though that you could possibly set with, if the nil's partner's spades ran out due to spades being led. You may want to hold the card and wait till the nil's partner is void in spades. A good lead would be when you are holding 10 and K of a suit, knowing you have the nil covered, lead the 10. The nil's partner may trump fearing their partner has the King.
64 If the opponent on your right is nil and you know his partner is void in a suit, lead low in that suit and force the nil's partner to cover. This also gives your partner a chance to throw a spade if you opponent is under the card you lead.
 

The Nil is on your left

65 Leading spades can be quite effective when the nil is on your left. What occurs in this situation is the nil has to play a spade; question how high of a spade they can play and their partner will be able to cover.  If the nil plays low, your partner has a chance to throw off a high spade. I prefer to wait until my partner has led a non-spade suit and forced the nil's partner to cover one or two times with spades previously. The drawback to this is, the nil's partner plays last and will know exactly how high they need to play.
 

Bags

66 Every trick you don't bid is 10 less point you don't get. If you set the other team back 100 points on bags it is probably 100 points that you didn t bid. I have also found that most of the time the players not bidding their hands will take the bags.
67 Trump with the lowest spade you counted. Trumping with your high spades makes it easy for your opponents to set you if they decide to.
68 Okay, I have another thing to say about bags now. If possible over trump the tricks your opponents bid. This does three things.
a) Puts you in a position to set them.
b) Gets rid of your high cards, if you don't want to try and set.
c) Makes them stop sluffing and start worrying about their bid.
69 Lead your bag suits first. For example you are holding Ace, King and 8 in a suit. The 8 is a possible bag. Leading the three cards will let you know if you are going to take a bag in that suit and from there you can decide if you can sluff another trick you counted or possibly set.
 

Bidding

70 There are really only two ways to bid your spades. You bid your spades on whether you will trump a non-spade suit or if spades are run, how many tricks can you get. A lot of times you bid your spades in a combination of the two. If you trump too many times in non-spade suits you are setting yourself up to have spades run on you and the spades you counted on if spades were run will be overtrumped because they are no longer protected by your lower spades. Keep track of what trump you planned to trump with and in what suit you planned to use it while remembering what trumps you counted on taking if spades were run. If you play second or third, be extremely careful trumping a suit the 4th time it is led.
71 Be careful bidding spades on suits you are void in. Your partner may have bid the Ace and King in that suit. Remember if you are short suited in a suit, someone else may be short in the same suit. This usually occurs when you are two suited. Be careful bidding spades on suits you are void in. Your partner may have bid the Ace and King in that suit. Remember if you are short suited in a suit, someone else may be short in the same suit. This usually occurs when you are two suited.
72 Understand the math in spades. If you are dealt 5 cards in one suit. This means there are 8 cards of that suit out. 8 cards divided amongst 3 players; therefore by the odds of everyone having at least two of that suit, makes the King of that suit good. If you don't bid the king your partner might be the one who takes the bag. (Refer to rule 12)
73 Be careful bidding based on what the player on your left may bid, when you bid third. Underbidding to trying to avoid your opponent from nilling can cause more damage than good and is not very effective.  Underbidding to avoid you opponent from Double Nilling can be quite effective. Two reasons you may want to underbid are:
1) Opponent on your left is probably going to nil. If you underbid one or two tricks, it will be easier for you try and set the nil and still make your team bid.
2) Your opponents are behind and need a DN. A good number of players will DN if it s an 11 or 12 bid all ready before they have a chance to bid. Underbidding and making it a 10 bid prevents the DN is some cases. The drawbacks to this are:
1) You are giving up points and if you take the tricks anyways you are gaining bags.
2) You are also making it costly to try and set the nil's partner or your opponents bid if the player on your left doesn t nil.
Take for example, your partner bid 4, opponent on right bids 3, and you are holding spades that no matter how you play your hand you are going to take 4 or 5 tricks. You bid 3 to avoid the DN, the player decides to nil. Everyone makes their bid and your team takes 2 bags from tricks you didn t bid. Your team is losing 20 points for tricks you didn t bid, plus another 100 points should you bag back due to those two bags.
74 If it is the last hand and you are behind do whatever it takes to win or force opponents to make a mistake. If the only way to win is to get a double nil and you have already looked at your cards inflate your bid to 5, 6 or 7 to encourage your partner to double nil. You never know your opponent might just try a risky nil afraid your partner will double nil.
 

Etiquette

75 Shazta's rule: Never set the other team on the last hand if you have the game won.
76 Lady_Luck_123 s extra piece of advice use good manners when you play. Don't make the other team feel bad by over celebrating a super hand, the cards can soon turn and usually do. By all means congratulate your opponents and your partner on every positive play in the game. Everyone likes to play with a good sport no one wants to be the partner or opponent of a poor sport.
77 Recently new programs have been developed that count and track the cards that have been play. I consider the use of these programs without the prior consent of the other players cheating. One thing that separates expert players from intermediate players is their ability to count and keep track of what cards have been played in their head. If you were having a few people over for spades at your house, with the stakes being $1.00 a point. One of your opponents who has a poor short term memory and can never remember what cards had been played, pulled out a pen and paper and proceed to write it all down, I doubt you would continue the game.
78 Play fair! Cheating and table talk are things that I don't do and my partners don't do. If I win a game, I want to win it because I deserved to win it. Either due to better cards or better play on the part of my partner and me. Anyone can play unfair and win but not everyone can play fair and win!


*Blind nil is called a Double nil at The Zone.

**Even distribution is 3,3,3,4 in of each suit. Under Even distribution, all 3 three non-spade queens should go around. Most people only bid Aces and Kings. So under even distribution there would be 3 bags.

I would like to thank PetShrink for his input. His knowledge of spades helped make this a better site.
I enjoy discussing different plays in spades. If you disagree with any of my rules or have any suggestions please email me at bird1970@zspades.com

Alternatively, if you enjoy card gaming , you can go to the Spin Palace website by clicking here.


My guestbook



My travels



   Did you already visit my travelsite?

www.lingbeek.com/travel


Art Music
Cars Nature (Animals)
Cartoons Posters
Designer Science Fiction
Fantasy Special Occasions
Flowers Sports
Food Theatre
Fractals Travel
Games TV-series
Men Women
My own decks  
Miscellaneous How-to install the decks (FAQ)
Movies Hardwood games related links (links)
  Back to the index page (home)
Upload a deck Spades Strategy (new)
Request a deck from the guild Write in my Guestbook
Go to my personal website Go to my travelsite