Spades
- The Index
Spades Bidding
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Other Links:
The KinkyKardKlub Homepage - Visit the Club's website. The KinkyKardKlubKEY - Your key to unlock the "full" lobbies in Yahoo! Games. Spades, Hearts, Gin, Euchre, Canasta and Dominoes are included. Spades Ratings - An attempt at explaining the ratings system in use for many games, including Yahoo! Spades. Do you have a comment or a playing tip you'd like to see here? Email them to me, and I will add all the good ones. Please put "Spades" somewhere in the subject. |
Making the proper bid in Spades is the key to winning. Although some would disagree, it is important to accurately and consistently bid your tricks, and not be either overly agressive or overly conservative. Your job is to accurately estimate the number of tricks you will take and then play your cards properly to make those tricks. Getting set on one hand, and then taking 3 bags on the next is not going to win many games.
Let's first review the basic math involved in the bidding process. There are 13 cards in each suit, and 4 players. An idealistic distribution of cards would divide each suit as 3, 3, 3 and 4 to each player, with each getting 3, 3, 3 and 4 count of each suit. While this distribution of cards rarely happens, the naive bidder will make this implicit assumption. However, it is critically important to understand what happens when this distribution doesn't happen (which is nearly all the time!). For example, if someone has 6 cards in a suit, then only 7 cards remain to be distributed among the other 3 players, or an average distribution of 2, 2 and 3. This says that, at most, only 2 cards of that suit are winners. But, probability says that the chance of one of your two opponents trumping by the second round is better than 70%! So, even if you had the Ace and King, counting on getting 2 tricks is a bad bet. Indeed, even venturing to take a single trick is risky, since 40% of the time, one or both of your opponents will be void of that suit entirely. Also, note that if you have 6 cards in a single suit, that only leaves YOU with 2, 2, and 3 cards in each of the remaining suits, on average. This only adds to the difficulty in estimating your bid.
Another common belief of the novice player is that bags, or excess tricks, are taboo. Getting 9 bags is fine, as it could give you the deciding points in a close match. Since the average team bid will be about 5-1/2 (based on my personal tracking history), and if you make your bid with 6-1/2 on average, your team will receive an average of 55 points per hand (this does not consider the extra points received for making Nil and Blind Nil bids). Therefore, nine hands will give you 495 points for the bids and 9 points for the bags, or 504 points, which is enough to win a standard 500 point game. What this says is that 1 bag per hand is not necessarily a bad thing, and erring on the side of conservatism in your bidding is a strong strategy to prevent being set, which is a powerful start to winning games. [OK. You purists have pointed out that you can't have 504 points with 9 bags. It would be either 499 points or 509 points, but since my example involves averages, the message is still valid.]
However, that said, the reality is that every trick you take but didn't bid is 9 points not received. If you get 10 bags, that is 90 points not received, and adding that to the 100 point penalty, you have reduced your potential points by 190! Conversely, getting set on a 6-bid effectively costs your team 110 points (-60 pts for being set, and losing the 50 pts you would have received if you'd bid 5). The message here is that bags really can hurt, even more than 1 or 2 sets, if you go over the 10 bag limit.
Finally, never forget you are working with a partner and playing as a team. If your partner takes a trick they obviously didn't want, try to throw off one of your planned tricks. Similarly, if they get trumped earlier than hoped, save some of your higher cards to try to recover. Trust that your partner will also see these plays when they happen to you. Simply said, the key to making your bid is to pay attention to the play.
Spades Bidding - A Simple Technique
Now, any magical formula for bidding is bound to have it's faults. One crude method says to bid all of your Aces and Kings only. Now, if everyone did this, the total bid would be only 8. Clearly this cannot be a viable bidding approach. Another method suggests bidding just your spade count. This would yield a total bid of 13 if everybody followed this approach. Again, not terribly viable. An interesting note is that game variants exist which require both of these types of bidding.
But if one considers the previously discussed math and simple statistics, a reasonable, achievable, and safe bid can be computed and met with sound playing skills. The basic strategy outlined below is derived from various sources. It is designed to safely reduce the expected bags you take, without increasing the odds of being set. If you are just starting in Spades, stick with this basic formula for awhile, until you are comfortable with the dynamic conditions that can exist with bags, bids, score, and cards played. Then incorporate the more advanced techniques that are discussed later to refine your bid and play.
Before we start, here is a short glossary of terms which are used throughout this document:
The technique proposed here assumes two classes of cards: Spades and non-Spades. They need to be treated differently for obvious reasons. There are three basic steps to consider when building your bid: non-Spade bidding, Spade bidding, and short-suit bidding. We will consider the non-Spade bidding portion first.
1a) Count +1 for each Ace and each King you own in each non-Spade
suit.
1b) If you have 3 (or more) cards in rank below a King in a given suit,
count -1.
1c) If you have 5 (or more) cards in rank below an Ace in a given suit,
count -1.
1d) If you have a singleton King in a given suit, count -1.
For example, consider the following complete hand:
:
K Q 10 6 2
:
A 9
:
K
:
K J 8 5 3
Considering only the non-Spade suits, you'd count 3 tricks to start, one
for each Ace and King. The Diamonds suit is long, and has 4 cards below the
King, so subtract 1 trick from your bid, according to step 1b. Since no suit
has 5 cards below an Ace, nothing changes with step 1c. Finally, because
the
Now, the bid for the Spades suit. The method for computing the bid is quite simple and follows an easily remembered pattern.
2a) Count the number of Spades in your hand (=N).
2b) Count +1 for every spade greater than or equal to 15 - N in rank.
Step 2b can simply be remembered as "I have N spades, so I only bid on the spades ranked in the top N."
So, to continue on with our earlier example, the number of Spades is 5. From
step 2b, we'd calculate the rank of the lowest card to include in our bid
as 15 - 5 = 10. So, any Spade, 10 or higher, would be counted in the Spade
suit bid, which in our example would be the
So far, we've accounted for everything except for non-spades suits which are short, and that can potentially be "covered" by trump. This portion of the bid looks complicated, but really isn't. The example should help make it clear.
3a) For each non-Spades short suit, subtract the count from 3, and
accumulate for each short suit in your hand.
3b) Count the number of missing Spades above your lowest bid Spade
(=R).
3c) Subtract R from the number of non-bid Spades.
3d) Bid the minimum number computed in step 3a or 3c.
The number computed in step 3b will be the number of currently non-bid Spades to use as cover for missing top-ranked cards in your hand. You will generally use the lowest Spades in your hand for this purpose. The number computed in step 3c will be the available Spades for use as short-suit trump cards.
In our example, Clubs and Hearts are both short suits. From step 3a, we would
compute (3 - 2) + (3 - 1) = 3. Then from step 3b, our lowest bid Spade was
the
4) Sum the bids from steps 1, 2 and 3 together to produce your final bid.
In our example, the final bid would be 1 + 2 + 1 = 4. The plan
would be to take tricks with
Spades Bidding - Understanding the Nil
When you bid Nil, you are saying that you will not be taking any tricks for the hand. The basic stategy outlined above can sometimes provide the wrong bid with regards to bidding a Nil, by either saying to bid Nil when it really isn't feasible or safe, or worse, by saying to bid 1 or more, when Nil is the correct bid. Realize that when you bid Nil, your opponents will be on the offensive to try to keep you from making your Nil bid. You should expect to have your Nil bids set approximately 20-25% of the time. The following tips should help you identify good and bad Nil bids using the basic bidding strategy.
You should not bid the Nil if you don't have at least one low card in any
short suit, or a medium-low or low card in any other suit.
You should not bid the Nil with more than 3 Spades.
You should not bid the Nil if you hold the
You may wish to bid Nil if all of your bid comes from short-suit trumping,
or if you have a fringe Ace (Ace with 4 others in the suit) in your bid.
There will be times when you cannot count a trick, but you cannot bid Nil
because it is too risky. Bid 1 in these situations.
Spades Bidding - A Test on the Basics
Here are four hands dealt from a deck of 52 cards to test your understanding of the basic bidding strategy outlined above. To see the recommended bid for each hand, move your mouse over the suit icon at the bottom of each. When determining the bid, DO NOT consider the hands of the other players -- consider each as an independent problem. Also remember that this is a test on your understanding of the material in this section, and your feelings about what should be bid may be different, and rightly so. Adjustments to the basic bid are covered in the next sections.
| Player #1 | Player #2 | Player #3 | Player #4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| :
K Q 2 :
J 6 2 :
J 10 3 :
K Q 8 3 |
:
5 8 :
A 10 9 7 4 3 :
9 4 :
J 7 4 |
:
A 10 7 6 :
Q 8 5 :
Q 7 6 2 :
10 6 |
:
J 9 4 3 :
K :
A K 8 5:
A 9 5 2 |
Answer:
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Answer:
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Answer:
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Answer:
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Spades Bidding - Refining your Bid, Intermediate Techniques
This section takes the basic bidding technique a step further by incorporating half-bids into the mix. The basic techniques discussed earlier are considered "safe"; that is, there is little risk associated with using them. However, this generally means that you will often be throwing off cards to avoid bags, basically losing the points often associated with those high cards if you had bid them. With some slight changes to the bidding approach, you can take advantage of these higher cards with little or no increased risk.
The intermediate bidding techniques presented below will only affect about 20-25% of your bids, so don't look for any drastic changes here.
The new techniques affect both the non-Spade bidding portion and the Spades bidding portion. The steps are presented as they were in the basic strategy section, with the changes incorporated.
1a) Count +1 for each Ace and each King you own in each non-Spade
suit.
1b) If you have 4 (or more) cards in rank below a King in a given suit,
count -1.
1c) If you have 6 (or more) cards in rank below an Ace in a given suit,
count -1.
1d) If you have exactly 3 cards in rank below a King, count -1/2.
1e) If you have exactly 5 cards in rank below an Ace, count -1/2.
1f) If you have a singleton King in a given suit, count -1.
1g) If you have a Queen and an Ace in a given suit, and up to one
additional card in that suit, count +1/2.
For example, consider the following complete hand:
:
K 10 6 2
:
A Q 9
:
K 7 4
:
K J 7
Considering only the non-Spade suits, you'd count 3 tricks to start, one
for each Ace and King. The Diamonds suit has 3 cards below the King, so subtract
1/2 trick from your bid, according to step 1d. Finally, from step 1g, the
Now, the bid for the Spades suit. This step has not changed from the basic strategy.
2a) Count the number of Spades in your hand (=N).
2b) Count +1 for every spade greater than or equal to 15 - N in rank.
So, to continue on with our earlier example, N = 3. From step 2b, we'd calculate
the rank of the lowest card to include in our bid as 15 - 3 = 12. So, any
Spade, Q or higher, would be counted in the Spade suit bid, which in our
example would be the
So far, we've accounted for everything except for non-spades suits which are short, and that can potentially be "covered" by trump. This step is also the same as the basic bidding strategy.
3a) For each non-Spades short suit, subtract the count from 3, and
accumulate for each short suit in your hand.
3b) Count the number of missing Spades above your lowest bid Spade
(=R).
3c) Subtract R from the number of non-bid Spades.
3d) Bid the minimum number computed in step 3a or 3c.
The number computed in step 3b will be the number of currently non-bid Spades to use as cover for missing top-ranked cards in your hand. You will generally use the lowest Spades in your hand for this purpose. The number computed in step 3c will be the available Spades for use as short-suit trump cards.
In our example, we have no short suits. However, it is important to understand
that the
4) Any remaining Spades which are ranked 10 or higher, and have not been counted as a Spade bid, short-suit trump bid, or backfill spade, count +1/2.
The idea here is that you can use the "left-over" high Spades to potentially
"trump-a-trump". In our example, the
5) Sum the bids from steps 1, 2, 3 and 4 together to produce your final bid. Answers with half-bids should be rounded down.
In our example, the final bid would be 3 + 1 + 0 + 1/2 = 4 1/2 = 4.
Spades Bidding - Fine Tuning your Bid, Advanced Techniques
This section tries to descibe situations and options which may be available to you when making your bid. While the previous bid strategies are generally sound, there are many, many dynamic conditions which exist that can impact your bidding strategy. These are presented below in no particular order of importance or reliability.
If your partner has bid Nil (or Blind Nil), then it is generally safe
to add another trick to your bid so long as doing so does not put the
total bids above 11. This is also true for when the opponent to your right
bids Nil.
Bid Nil whenever you think you have a reasonable chance of making, especially
if your partner has bid 4 or higher, or the total bid is 12 or higher.
Be more liberal with your Nils when you are behind, and more cautious when
you are ahead.
Bidding the Double or Blind Nil relies on blind luck. Avoid bidding this
unless a minimum of 11 has already been bid by the other players AND your
partner has bid 5 or more. This is a pure desperation bid, and is only viable
when down by more than 150 with the game nearing an end in one or two hands.
In general you have a better chance just bidding your cards, and trying to
set or seriously bag your opponent.
If you are completely void in Spades, then it is generally good to
subtract a trick from your bid. You will probably be trumped on one of
your non-Spade suit tricks that you were counting on.
Occasionally, don't count all of your short suit bids in your total bid.
It's easy to throw off potential bags after your short suit cards are gone,
and also easy to set the opponents if the total bid is 12 or higher.
Having the final bid provides you with a distinct statistical and situational
advantage. Bid smartly for the situation. If you'd like to bid 2 for a total
bid of 10, adding an extra trick to your bid might make sense. Probably you
or your partner will take an extra one that you really weren't counting.
If you are the last to bid, never ever bid to a total of more than
13 (except as noted in the next hint), even if the tricks are guaranteed,
or any of the above stategies tell you otherwise. It usually means that something
is odd with the distribution of cards, and most likely one or more players
are overstating their trumps. If you take a bag, so much the better, since
it will usually mean your opponents are set.
If you are the last to bid and the score is such that you will lose the game
if you don't set your opponent (and bags aren't an option), then push the
bid to a total of 14. It doesn't matter if you can't make it, as you will
lose either way. If you do make, you get the set and avoid an unnecessary
bag along the way.
If you are the last to bid and the score is such that you will lose the game
if you don't set or bag your opponent, then you must decide prior
to your bid which way you are going to go. If they only need one or two bags,
bid low enough to ensure that there are enough bags to put them over the
top. If they need two or more bags, and your natural bid brings you to 12
or more total, then push the bid up to 14 and try for the set.
If your opponent has bid Nil, you may wish to reduce your bid by 1, especially
if you have a variety of low to middle cards. This gives more opportunity
to try to bust the Nil without having to worry about making as much.
Spades Play - Making the Bid, Basic Strategy
Now that the bids have been established, it is now up to your skills as a player to make your bid. Most conservative bidders only make their exact bids 30-35% of the time, while bagging nearly 60%. Even with that, they still tend to be set about 5% of the time. In general, using the basic techniques for bidding and playing described here should allow you to make your exact bid 50-55% of the time, bag about 40% of the time, and still get set only about 5% of the time. Realize that the occassional set of your bid will be inevitable, but it may get covered by your partner. If you both use this approach, the chance of being set will be low, and the chance of accumulating too many bags will also be reduced.
Depending on the total number of tricks bid, you should establish a game plan for how to play the hand. In general, observe the guidelines in the following table. Additional information on Nils is including in the sections that follow. Remember to keep in mind the priorities of what you are doing in each hand. First priority is to cover your partner's Nil, second is to make your own bid, third is to force a set, and fourth is to control bags.
| Total Bid < 11 | Total Bid = 11 | Total Bid > 11 |
|---|---|---|
BAG THEM |
< NEUTRAL > |
SET THEM |
| There are at least 3 bags out there.
The general plan is to throw off 1 or 2 of your higher, non-bid, cards at the earliest opportunity. Throw them off in the shorter suits before the longer ones, where possible. Lead your short suits first. This allows you to throw off sooner and control which tricks you take or avoid. Take tricks only with the cards you counted in your bid. Watch your partner so that he doesn't get stuck with an unwanted trick. If you are the last to play, and have a higher card than your partner, play the highest you have, preferrably one of the ones you counted in your bid. Be cautious about not getting your team set. Do not overbag.
|
The 11 bid is the exception.
It is generally wise to take your tricks early with an 11 bid. This puts pressure on the opponents to make their bid, and gives you the option of trying for the set, or trying to give them bags. If you think you have a reasonable chance to take some extra and set them, then do it. Attempt to lead with your short suits. This is the only common strategy between the BAG and the SET games. Pay special attention to how your partner is playing. If you see him throw off some cards, then any attempt at setting should probably be avoided. If you see your partner take an extra trick, then work to help him with the set. In general, do not start throwing off during the first few hands of an 11 bid hand, since you don't know whether to set or bag yet. By the 4th trick, though, you should be heading to either the left or right column. |
There are 1 or fewer bags in the game.
Avoid leading suits your opponents are out of. Lead suits that your partner is out of. When you are unable to play the highest remaining card in a non-spade suit, play the lowest you have. Hopefully your partner will have it, and you can save your higher cards for later tricks. Lead your short suits first. This will allow you to trump early. When your partner has the trick won, play your lowest card in the suit, or your lowest card in your weakest non-Spade suit. Try not to set too early. Once the set is recognized, your opponents will attempt to bag you, since there is no difference in being short one trick or three. |
Spades Play - Playing Your Nil
Start with leads in your shorter suits, but initially a medium-low card (6, 7, 8). This tends to draw out the lower cards of the opponent to your left, but still allows your partner to easily cover. If the opponent plays higher, then your partner can play low. Your partner should generally follow with a high card in that same suit, at which time you can throw off your highest under that.
When following suit, you'll usually want to play the card which is closest to, but under, the highest card played. If you are adept at tracking cards, you can sometimes play a higher card if you are absolutely certain that only higher cards remain, or that your partner will be able to trump. When you cannot play a lower card, follow with the card which is closest to the highest card played.
When trying to throw off, play high cards in shorter suits before even higher
cards in long suits. For example, if the lead suit is Diamonds, which you
are void in, and you have
:
J, 8:
K, 8, 6, 2
Duck under a trump Spade whenever possible.
Save the 2 of any non-Spade suit for later play. The 2 won't beat anything. Don't waste low cards in the early rounds.
The ultimate goal is to make it easy for your partner to keep you covered, and to flush out the low cards of your opponent early so that they are forced to cover you later by default.
Spades Play - Playing Your Partners Nil
When your partner goes Nil, your top priority is making sure the Nil is made. In fact, it really isn't your partner making the Nil, it is you! You making your own bid is secondary. More often than not, you will take extra bags, but these should not be worrisome.
Start with leads in your longer suits. The hope is that this will be the short suit for your partner. A lead of a high or medium-high card in an unplayed suit should always be high enough to cover your partner. On certain hands, it's smart to lead those medium-high cards first (9, 10, J), and save your high ones (Q, K, A) for when they are needed for cover. It is imperative that you keep track of the highest possible card your partner MAY have in each suit. Once 2 cards have been led in a suit, avoid at all costs leading a card lower than the highest card remaining in a suit that your partner may still have. If you must lead one, lead from your longer suits.
Don't lead the highest card of a high straight. If you have the A, K and Q of a non-Spade suit, play the Q first. This leaves confusion as to where the higher cards are, and the opponents may think your partner has it, or that their own partner has it.
When your partner is out of a suit, always lead in that suit if possible. This allows your partner to throw off his higher out-of-suit cards that you may not be equipped to cover. Don't do this with 3 or fewer cards left to play, unless you are certain that your partner is out of Spades.
When covering, play only the card that's high enough to cover your partners card. Do not overcover.
In general, save Spades for trump. Lead only high Spades (Q, K, A) until you are certain your partner is out, but save this for later in the hand. Trump with lower Spades before higher ones.
If you are really strong in a short suit, it is sometimes better to lead there, so that you can trump later if needed. But in general, save these for when your opponent leads.
Another strategy is to try to bag early. This puts pressure on the opponents to take tricks later in the hand, reducing the risk of them trying to set you partner's Nil.
Spades Play - Playing Your Opponents Nil
If a Nil has been bid by your opponents, then generally lead medium rank cards, saving your high cards to take suits that someone else led, and low cards to set with later on. Leading a medium-low card (6, 7, 8) with the Nil to your left is most effective, since it generally forces the Nil player to go lower, usually leaving him with higher cards in his hand. Lead medium-high cards if the Nil is to your right.
If your partner is void of a suit, lead that suit to enable him to throw off some high cards, or to trump with high Spades. The goal is to play your high cards and trump suit in such a way that will not let the person who bid Nil to play under them, and also to force the opponent opposite the Nil to play his higher cards unecessarily.
If you have them, it's usually wise to lead suits that you didn't count in your bid. This avoids having to worry about making a trick you bid, avoids covering the Nil with a trick you "must" take, and doesn't significantly affect your chances of making your bid.
Don't forget that making your own bid has higher priority than setting the Nil. If 12 or higher is bid, setting the Nil may be close to impossible (except by luck). Try to set the opponent covering the Nil instead. Leading medium cards early is a good way to do this. The opponent covering the Nil may "duck" one too many times to recover.
Remember, the opponent covering the Nil will throw off a low card if the Nil opponent is already covered. In cases where 10 or fewer is bid, throwing off one of your anticipated tricks is viable to avoid bags, as you or your opponent is highly likely to get a "gift" along the way.
If the opponent covering the Nil has bid 3 or lower, then an effective approach to setting the Nil is to flush out the Spades early. This leaves the Nil opponent somewhat naked without trump support from his partner.
Spades Play - Intermediate and Advanced Playing
Tips
This section tries to descibe various tips, situations ,and options which may be available to you when playing. These are presented below in no particular order of importance or reliability.
Always keep track of what the highest unplayed card in each suit is.
Don't trump your partner when he has played the highest unplayed card in
a suit, unless avoiding bags is required.
Avoid leading the very last card of a non-Spade suit. Your opponents will
always have the last play when you or your partner lead, and will have full
control over whether they want the trick or not.
Avoid leading a non-Spade suit that you have all the remaining cards of,
unless all of the Spades have been played. Your partner will not know you
have all the rest of the suit, and usually ends up trumping in, only to be
overtrumped by the player to his left.
In general, lead the highest card of a straight first, unless covering a
Nil (see above).
If you have a long non-Spade suit, and are also long in Spades, be aware
that you have a high potential to set your opponents. You can clear out Spades,
and take the rest of the tricks with your non-Spade suit, providing you have
enough high cards in that suit. You may need to lead the lowest card of that
suit to flush out the higher cards first.
If you are dealt a Queen in a short non-Spade suit, as a singleton or with
one other card, lead the Queen as soon as possible. This is especially powerful
if you have the Ace, as your opponent to the left may be afraid to play the
King if he has it, in which case you will win the trick. Follow-up with the
Ace immediately after. Another option is to wait, and hope that the person
to your left leads the suit. In this case, you should have two easy tricks.
This section will be periodically updated with statistics on how the above approach is working for me. I keep track of all bids/tricks for all four players in a standard 4-player, 2-team game. I also track, for my own purposes, when I adjust a bid from the basic strategy outlined above using some of the advanced bidding techniques discussed. I eventually hope to use this information as a way to refine the basic/advanced bidding strategies. If I start to see a pattern of failure or success, I will be sure to include it somewhere in the above text.
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Of the 665 hands played, I had only 22 uncovered sets, or
about 3.3%.
I made my exact non-nil bids about 43% of the time. If you include all my bids, including nils, then I made nearly 47%. I made over 76% of my Nil attempts. I underbid my non-nil bids about 45% of the time. If you include all my bids, including nils, then I underbid 43% of the time. I overbid 70 times, or about 12% of the total hands played. I covered my partners' sets about 65% of the time (55 of 85), while my partners covered me about 68% of the time (48 of 70). Our opponents covered each other less than 56% of the time, while averaging 77 overbids each. We had a total of 78 successful sets against opponents, while only being set 47 times. With 12 or more bid, we have been set only 27 times, while our opponents have been set 49 times, nearly twice as often. We were set on Nil on 28 of 130 attempts (about 21%), while opponents were set on Nil on 35 of 134 attempts (or 26%). Average bid per hand was 11.0. My personal average was 2.65. The following chart shows the distribution of bids for all 665 hands:
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| Results as of 12/13/1999. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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