Strategies for Playing When You Are Spade Tight

There are so many because there are so many different situations that you will encounter in spades. One of the situations is being left with only spades in your hand. When you are spades tight, how should you choose to play? The answer can have an impact on whether or not you are able to make your books.

What is Spades Tight?

Each hand of spades consists of 52 cards dealt evenly between four players. Each player receives 13 cards in total. There are a total of 13 spades in a deck. This means that spades tend to be somewhat evenly distributed among the four players when the game begins. Of course, there are variances. One player may receive 5 spades while another receives 2. About 3-4 spades would be the median that you could expect on a single deal.

Occasionally, a point will be reached in the game where a player has only spades left in their hand. This is known as being spade tight. It is a powerful position to be in, but you have to be able to play it right. Playing spades tight with poor strategy can harm your partner and your chance to make all your books.

Assess the Situation

The first thing to do when you are spades tight is to assess the situation. Consider how many books you have. How many more do you need to make your bid? How many do your opponents have? Have they made their bid? These are all valid considerations. Let's look at some individual scenarios for when you are spade tight.

Your Opponents Have Made Their Books and You Have Not

This is a pretty simple situation to deal with. When you are spade tight in this spot, you will want to run your spades as long as possible and catch every book that you can. There is little danger of hurting your opponent here. You need the books, and if you cannot catch them by running out the spades you are going to be set anyway. Lead in order of your highest spade and hope your partner can snag the lead if necessary or that your opponents are out of bullets.

You Have Made Your Books and Your Opponents Have Not

This is a wonderful position to be in if you are spades tight. You can try to set your opponents by being a little bit aggressive. Play those spades and drain your opponents. They will probably run out before you and you will pick up a few books that you weren't counting on. This is important because you usually can't win a game of spades without setting your opponents at least once.

Neither Team Has Made Its Books

This is where some strategy is going to be involved. You need to make your own books first and foremost, but you also need to hold on to a chance to set your opponents. In many cases you will be able to do both if you play your hand correctly.

First, recall how many books your partner bid in their initial discussions before the bid was made. If they made a bid of 4, you can assume that they are counting on taking two of those books with spades. This does not mean that they only have two spades. They may have four with two of them being small. In that case, you should not run your high spades but let your partner cut the spades as they can.

Also, have you noticed that any of your opponents have been cutting suits? If so, they have been using spades. You may be able to run them out when you get spades tight. If only you and your opponent have spades, you are going to catch every single book that remains.

The message here is that you have to have a feel for your opponents and your teammates when you are playing spades tight. There will be no room for error. Spades are power, and playing them wrongly can hurt your partner.

Using A Spade Tight Hand to Pull Spades

You may be able to use a spade tight hand to pull spades from an opponents hand. If you are successful in pulling out the big spades, this will make the smaller spades in your own hand more powerful. Just remember, you may also pull from your partner's hand.

This is not always bad. There are times when you will want to be able to get your partner in the lead. You can do this if you have low spades and your partner has big ones. But when you are spade tight you will automatically catch the next book no matter what your partner leads, unless an opponent has a bigger spades.

Being Spade Tight is an Advantage

As a general rule, being spade tight is an advantage that you want to maximize. In most cases, you will be the only player that is spade tight. In such a situation you can sometimes call the roll and drain the other team's spades.

Never squander your advantage in spades. Play the game correctly and use the proper strategy to capture as many books as you can.