Partnership Bidding - Ten Tips for Spades

> Spades is a partnership bidding game

One of the first things you will learn about the games of spades is that it is a partnership bidding game. You will work with your partner to arrive at a bid for each hand. There are special rules which govern how much information you can share with your partner before bidding. Here's a look at the top ten partnership bidding tips for spades.

Slow Down and Evaluate Your Hand

The first thing that you have to do with each new round of spades is evaluate the hand that you have been given. In each round you will also be tasked with going first or bidding last. It is an advantage to bid last because you have more time to study your hand.

If you are bidding first, slow down and evaluate. In a friendly game of spades it is unlikely that your opponents are going to try and make you speed up your bid. It would be poor etiquette to do so. Go through each suit, and make sure that you have the suits organized before you make the attempted bid. After you have counted the number of books and possible books that you have, count again. It never hurts to be safe.

Let the Weaker Partner Speak First

In most spades teams there will be one player that is stronger than the other. The players in question will usually know who this is without any argument. It is important that the weaker partner is first to announce how many books they think they could be holding. The reason for this is obvious. Errors in bidding are more likely to come from the weaker player.

This is not a time to allow ego to get in the way. If you think that you are not as skilled as your partner, be willing to speak up and tell them what you think you have. They may be able to adjust the bid by taking a look at their own hand.

The Stronger Partner Finalizes the Spades Bid

This partnership bidding tip for spades logically follows the one we just gave. The strongest player on the team should be the one to finalize the bid and announce it to the scorekeeper. The decision of this player on the bid should be final.

A stronger player will be better able to evaluate the spades hand in terms of possibles and other factors. They can add their bid to the bid from their partner and decide what is a feasible number. A stronger player can also take into account the bid from the other team when finalizing a bid.

Split the Difference on Possibles

Possibles are one of the most difficult things to deal with in all of spades. A possible is defined as a book that you may or may not catch. For example, a Jack of Hearts in your hand could catch a book if the cards fall just right. It is almost always a possible because there are many other cards which are higher.

The trick is knowing which possibles are likely to squeeze through. You may hold two possibles and your partner may hold two. That is a total of four possibles between the two of you. A smart move is to often split the number of possibles when adding them to the bid. In this case, you would have a total of two possibles to count among your strong books.

Make no mistake about it. The teams that win the most at spades are those which learn how to bid possibles successfully. The teams that lose most frequently are those which put too much emphasis on possibles and overbid.

Know When You Are Weak

Nothing beats having a very strong spades hand to bid. The challenging thing is to recognize when you have a weak hand and somehow be able to avoid disaster. A weak hand is really one that may not be able to secure the minimum four books that you are required to bid on a spades hand.

The only option other than bidding a minimum of four books is to bid nil, but you may not be able to do this if you have just one or two high spades. You may just have to bite the bullet and realize that you are going to be set. Your partner and you both should be able to realize when you have a very weak hand, because throwing off books can load up your opponents with sand bags.

Take Your Shot With Strong Hands

The really good hands in spades just don't come around enough to miss out on them. You will never make a 10 for 200 hand or a Boston hand of all 13 books if you don't try it. Yes, you are going to miss some of these bids. But you will miss 100% of the big bids that you do not try to make.

If You Can't Agree on a Bid, Choose Lower

There may be occasions when you are bidding a spades hand where you and your partner differ on just one book. You may think you have a total of six books while your partner thinks you can pull seven. Take it from us. You are almost always going to come up on the short end. If you are not in agreement, choose the lower bid.

Here's the thing about partnership bidding in spades. It is not an exact science. You are making an educated guess. It is often best to err on the side of caution. There are few things more frustrating that missing a bid by just one single book. That can be dispiriting and cause you to lose rapport with your partner.

Beware of Clashing Hands

Team members in spades also have to be aware that sometimes the hands they hold will clash with one another. In other words, you may both be holding an abundance of the same suit. This would make it more difficult for you to trump in and take books. Hands that clash in this fashion are often doomed to fail.

How do you determine that your hands may clash? It is more likely when the two of you have very strong hands. If each of you believes you have four or more books, be wary that a clash could happen.

Always Be Aware of the Score

Your partnership bidding will be more efficient when both of you are aware of the score of the game. Knowing where you stand will often come into play with your bidding. You have to be strategic with your bids on occasion, and the only way for you to do that is to be aware of the score before you make your bid.

Never Bid More Than You Need to Win

There will be plenty of times when you reach the end of the game with a lead in hand. You will only need to bid four or five books to win the match. In this situation it can be very tempting to let pride get the best of you. You may want to make a big bid if you have the hand just to show off. Don't do it. Only bid what you need to win the match.

The exception to this is when you have a lot of sandbags. These can cause you to go back if you go over a certain number. In that case you will have to keep the bid tight. In all other cases, bid what you need to win the game.

Partnership Bidding - Ten Tips for Spades

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