How Spades are Broken
If you are knew to the game of spades there is a concept that you will need to become familiar with. It is called breaking spades. How spades are broken in the game of spades is regulated by the rules. You cannot simply play a spade whenever you choose. Here is a closer look at the subject of breaking spades.
Following Suit in Spades
In the game of spades all players must follow suit. This means that they must play a card from the same suit that was led. There is one exception to this rule. When you do not have a card from the suit that was led, you may play any other card including a spade.
Spades are considered to be the highest suit in the game. They outrank any other suit. If a spade is played when another suit is led, that spade automatically wins the book. If more than one spade is played in this situation, the highest spade wins.
Any suit may be led at any time – except for spades! There is another rule that determines when a player may lead with a spade. You can only play a spade to lead under one of two conditions:
- Someone has previously played a spade when they could not follow suit
- You only have spades left in your hand
The first of these conditions is known as breaking spades.
What is Breaking Spades?
Quite simply, breaking spades is to be the first one to introduce a spade into play. There is no particular advantage to doing this. You will not receive extra points, although you will probably catch a book when you break the first spade. The real benefit of breaking a spade is what comes after. Now that a spade has been played you can lead one from your hand.
Why is there a rule about when spades can be played? If you did not have this rule, players could immediately begin playing spades as soon as the cards were dealt. This would quickly remove the spades from everyone's hand. Spades would no longer be a game that requires skill and strategy. It would just be a contest of power between the players that have the biggest hands.
Breaking spades is a needed rule because spades is a bidding game. Players are bidding on the amount of books that they can catch during a round. Having a rule about when spades can be played means that more strategy is required when someone makes a bid.
When Should You Break Spades?
Is there a certain time that you should introduce the first spade into the game? Is it always the right play to break a spade? In the most basis sense, spades should be broken at the first opportunity. This is especially true if you happen to be holding a lot of spades. The sooner you get them into the game, the sooner you can begin to assert your power.
But what if you can catch a book in the game without breaking a spade? Yes, this can be done. If a team leads a suit that you think your partner can catch, you can throw off another suit instead of playing a spade. This is a good play.
There may also be times when your teammate has already played a card that will take a book. You have none of that suit. If you play a spade in this situation to break spades you will be cutting your partner's throat. Why should you waste a spade if your partner has already secured the book?
Playing a Spade When None Have Broken
There is one circumstance when you are allowed to play a spade when spades have not been broken. This is when you only have spades remaining in your hand. This situation is rare. In almost every spades game a spade will have been broken before someone becomes spade tight.
If you happen to find yourself in this situation, be happy. You obviously have a strong hand that merits a very large bid.
Do You Consider Breaking Spades When Bidding?
The breaking of spades is not something that usually factors into the overall strategy of the spades game. You don't really have to be thinking about it when you are making your bid.
Breaking spades is an organic, natural circumstance of the game that will happen as it happens. This is true in probably 99% of spades games. With that being said, there will be times when you are hoping for spades to be broken so that you can get them into play.
