When you are in the mood for a relaxing game with a few friends, Spades may be just what you are looking for. Spades is the only card game introduced into There up until now. Fortunately, it is quite easy to learn to play; yet the variety of the game keeps it challenging.

Spades Preliminaries

Playing spades requires a game table, but there are many spades clubhouses in There with open tables around the clock.

Spades requires a full table of four players. You may luck up and stumble into a game with spots available. You may also want to join a spades clubs to get invitations and to find other spades players online. One such club is Need a Fourth for Spades Invites.

A game of spades is played until one team reaches as score of 500. This may require several hands and can take from 30 minutes to an hour. 

Basics of the Game

Each player is dealt 13 cards at the beginning of a round. There will be 13 tricks in which each of the four players will place a card on the table. The player to the dealer's left will play first. The suit (hearts, diamonds, clubs, or spades) he plays is called the lead suit. Each person must play the lead suit if they have a card of that suit. If they do not, they can play any card they wish. Only the lead suit or spades can win. Spades will beat any other suit.

Players sitting across from each other are partners.

Bidding

What is a bid? At the start of a round, each player is asked to make a bid. A bid is a guess at the number of tricks you think you will win.

What should you bid? One of the things you will master as you play spades is how to make a good bid. In the beginning, you will not know what to bid. The number of Aces and Kings you have is a reasonable bid to make. A common bid is 3. If you bid a very high number, such as 13, you have doomed you and your partner to lose. Also, if the table bids a total greater than 13, someone will go set for sure. The total number of tricks won at a table will always be 13.

What is a Nil bid? A nil bid is a special case that occurs when one player bids 0. In this case, that player must make 0, or he and his partner will lose 100 points. If he makes his nil, he and his partner win 100 points automatically. When a person bids nil, it's important that his partner try to cover him, that is, make sure he loses each trick if possible.

Scoring

• Partners work together to make the total they bid. If the partners make the amount they bid, they get ten points for each number bid.
• If they do not make their bid, the go set and lose ten for each number bid.

If they make more than their bid, they only get 1 point for each extra, called a bag. If the partners accumulate ten bags they lose 100 points. 

Strategies

• Work with your partner to make your bid and to minimize bags.
• Only bid Nil if you are reasonably sure that you can play the round without making any tricks.
• Try to cover your partner if he/she bids Nil.
• If you plan to take a trick with a King, don't play that King until the Ace in that suit has been played. Otherwise you might lose your King to the Ace.
• If you have a suit with fewer than 3 cards, a short suit, you can try to get rid of those cards quickly and then play a spade ( trump), when that suit is played again. 

Spades is easily learned and a fun challenge to master. Most players are patient with beginners. Try some beginner spades events at Fisher Cards Hut.  Spades