Step-by-Step Spades Bidding

Bidding Your Hand In Spades Step-by-step

Spades is a card game of infinite strategy. A part of this strategy involves bidding. We have prepared a step-by-step spades bidding guide to assist you. Bidding may be the most important spades skill to master, and you need to approach it in a methodical way.

Pay Attention During the Deal

A successful spades bid begins with observing the deal. You will deal the cards one out of every four times. The other three hands will be dealt by your partner and your opponents. There are very specific things that you need to watch for during the deal.

The most important of these is that everyone receives a total of 13 cards. If you are alert and catch a misdeal in progress, you can bring that to everyone's attention and have the cards dealt anew. Sometimes in a friendly game, a team may just allow the player who received too many cards to swap one with the player who received too few. This may not be to your advantage. It is better to stop the deal when you see the error and deal again.

You may also be able to catch a glimpse of a card when the dealer is sloppy. If this happens, you may gain information about your opponent's hand to better your odds of winning at spades for money.

Count and Order Your Spades

Once the cards have been dealt, the next step is to count and order your spades. You should know how many spades you have, and they should be ordered from high to low. For example, a hand containing the following five spades would be ordered this way: Ks-10s-9s-3s-2s.

When you place the spades in order from high to low, you will quickly be able to play the right card in each situation. Knowing how many spades that you have overall will also give you a general feel for your hand strength.

What happens if you have been dealt no spades? You then have a decision to make. You can play the hand that you have been dealt, or you can choose to call for a new deal. Please reference our website section on bidding with no spades to learn more.

Order Your Other Suits

You hand will also contain a mix of other suits. These will be hearts, diamonds, and clubs. In most cases you will have at least one of each suit in your hand. You should place the cards from a single suit together in order from high to low.

Most spades players like to alternate the suits in their hand. Red-black-red-black with spades to the far right is often chosen because it is more organized.

What is the big deal with organizing your cards anyway? Keeping your hand ordered means that you are less likely to make a mistake. When you make a mistake in spades the result can be what is called a renege. To renege in spades is to break the rules. There may be penalties applies. Avoid a renege by knowing what cards you have and keeping them ordered.

Deciding How Many Books You Can Bid

You will now be required to make an analysis of your hand on your own. You will be deciding how many books that you can bid without help from your partner. Begin by looking at the spades you hold. Some hands will be easy to bid. Others will be more difficult.

A hand with high spades is usually easier to bid. Catching books with low spades is often determined by what others hold and play. You should also take into account the high cards of other suits and how likely these are to catch a book. Be careful. If you have an abundance of one suit, another player at the table may not have any.

Discuss the Team Bid With Your Partner

Now comes one of the most important phases of the step-by-step bidding process in spades. You have to discuss with your partner the number of books that you will bid as a team. There are specific rules which govern this kind of discussion.

You are not allowed to reveal to your partner any of the specific cards that you hold. You cannot offer any information about your hand beyond stating how many books that you think you will catch. Your partner is bound by these same rules. To break them is to invite trouble.

Bidding Styles in Spades – Conservative or Aggressive

Every spades team is going to ultimately develop their own bidding style in spades. There are many different styles. Two of the most prominent are conservative and aggressive.

A conservative bidding approach in spades is one that assumes slightly less books than what a team holds. This can sometimes lead to underbidding. Conservative bidding in spades can work well, but it must be managed if you are playing in a spades game where sandbags are reckoned.

An aggressive spades bidding style is one that bids more than what team members think they hold. The risk of this style is greater, but so are the rewards. Teams with an aggressive spades bidding style are those which tend to bid and make hands like a Boston or a 10-for-200. Conservative teams will rarely get a chance to attempt these bids. The aggressive team will try them often even knowing that such bids are not a sure thing.

As you play and master the game of spades you will begin to notice that you have developed your own method for step-by-step spades bidding. This is great! The method that works best for you is the one at which you will ultimately have the most success. You may also want to spend time with your partner to discuss using the same bidding methods.

When you and your partner are on the same page with spades bidding you will tend to have a more accurate bid. A more accurate bid means that you will be at less risk for being set by your spades opponents. Good bidding is always a hallmark of a team that has success in spades.