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Okashii's Spades (Other)
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| [January 27, 2011 12:15:34 AM]
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Spades: Tuesday, Jan. 25th (both games)
Spades is a fairly simple (depending on what extra rules you use) multiplayer (2v2) card game. The game is similar to Hearts in that play is segmented into rounds which are segmented into “tricks.”
The cards:
For both games, we used standard player cards 2-10, Jacks, Queens, Kings, and Aces of all four standard suits (hearts, spades, diamonds, and clubs). Cards are ranked by their number in the case of cards 2-10. The remaining cards are ranked as follows: Jacks < Queens < Kings < Aces. These rankings only apply to cards of the same suit. Cross-suit rankings depend on the current state of play. The spades suit is considered the suit of trumps and always wins versus any card of any other suit. There are some limiters placed on spades that will be discussed later on in this review.
Initializing play:
Each team is made up of two people. It is important that when seated (such as at a card table) that team members sit across the table from one another as table talk between team members is prohibited. Each team starts with a score of zero. Cards are shuffled and distributed evenly such that each player receives thirteen cards at random. This process of shuffling and dealing occurs between each round of play. The role of “dealer” is passed on to the person to the left of the last dealer.
Bidding:
Bidding is one of the primary strategic elements of the game. Good bidding can easily make the difference between a bad hand and a good hand or a good hand and a great hand. Simply put, each player takes turns telling how many tricks they believe they will win.
There are two major options for bidding. First, players can bid 1-13 tricks. During the round, teams aim to take exactly the number of tricks that they bid collectively. If a team does not make what they bid, they are deducted points equal to the number of tricks that they bid times ten. If the team collectively makes exactly what they bid on collectively, then they are rewarded points equal to their bid times ten. If the team makes over what they bid, then they are rewarded points as if they made exactly their bid plus one point per trick over their bid. They are also given “sandbags,” one for each trick over their bid. If a team collects ten sandbags at any pint during the game (and this can happen multiple times to the same team during play), then that team is deducted one hundred points. This system encourages exact bids.
The second option for bidding is for one (or both, if so desired (you really should not so desire)) member(s) of a team to bid “nil.” This means that this player has decided to not win any tricks in the round. His/her team member or enemies can win tricks, but a player who bids nil and wins a trick forfeits one hundred points for his/her team. On the flip side, if said player manages to not win any tricks that round, he/she is rewarded with one hundred points for his/her team. Note that rewards and punishments for going nil are often variable depending on who you ask. Adding/deducting one hundred points for nil hands is my preference.
The first person to bid per round must be the player to the left of the dealer. Bidding is one of the few ways that a player can communicate to his/her partner (consequently, this communication is available to all players). If a player’s team member bid very high, then the player may want to bid nil, knowing that his/her teammate may have a complimentary hand which could keep him/her from winning tricks. In addition, knowing what others have bid can help a player decide what he/she would like to bid. Each round (or hand) has thirteen tricks to win, so if you are the last to bid and if there are only seven tricks bid on collectively, you may wish to consider whether or not you can take the other six tricks. Of course, other players may underbid just to throw you off, so you must be careful.
Playing a hand:
The player who bid first must be the first to play. He/she begins the first of thirteen tricks by laying down a card of any magnitude and of any suit other than spades. This is the limiter on spades – they cannot be played immediately. Other players must lay a card down from their hand. They do so in order (after one player lays down a card, the player to his/her left must play a card). The card that each player lays down must be of the same suit as the card from the one who began the trick (the leading suit) if possible. If a player does not have a card of that suit, he or she must play a card of a different suit. The leading suit is higher than any card of any other suit played in the trick other than a spade. Therefore, if the player who cannot follow the leading suit wishes to take the trick (assuming that other players can still follow suit and will not win the trick with a more powerful card), then the player should lay down a spade. This is one way that spades can be introduced into play. The other way is if the one leading a trick has only spades left in his or hand, then he/she must play a spade. Once spades have been introduced into play during a hand, players can make them the leading suit for a trick whenever they lead.
Leading the first trick of the game is usually easy if a player has any aces. These cards should be played first, followed by any kings of the same suit(s) as the ace(s). This is of course assuming that the leading player wishes to win several tricks and has not gone nil for the hand.
After all four players have laid a card down during the trick, the trick is over. The winner of the trick is decided by the rules previously mentioned and must collect the cards face-down for their team. The winner then becomes the leader for the following trick and play cycles in this manner until all thirteen tricks have been exhausted. At this point, teams are rewarded or deducted points and the new hand begins with shuffling, dealing, and bidding again.
Playing the game:
First game:
My partner and I played a safe game for the majority of the time as did our opponents. Our bids averaged at six collectively for each hand. Near the end of the game, the scores were 433 (my team) and 462. It was apparent that the other team would win since they had few sandbags (we were playing to a score of 500). Therefore, I decided to go nil (I was the second to last to bid) even though I knew it would be difficult with two aces, the jack of spades, and the ten of spades (not to mention a lack of twos and the fact that my partner only bid three). The other team bid eight collectively (when a player bids nil, the hand is much different, and players often win more hands than they would otherwise – a fact I was counting on). Within the first few tricks, I had already broken my nil bid! This of course meant that we would lose one hundred points. However, my plan was for my team to win as many tricks as possible so that the other team would lose eighty points, thus extending the game and giving us another chance. Apparently, my partner had overestimated his hand and could not win those three tricks he bid (he won only one). And I was unable to win more than four tricks. So, the other team received their eighty points, and our team lost.
Second game:
We decided to play a variant in which a team that was behind by at least 200 points could “blind nil.” A blind nil must be declared before a player looks at his/her cards in some hand. This person then can trade one card with his/her partner. The points that can be won or lost with a blind nil are much greater than with a regular nil; you are playing for 200 points, and if you do not get them, then you lose 200. This element is fun to play with, though with it, at almost any point it could be either team’s win (unless of course you keep the other team consistently behind by more than 100 points but less than 200 points which is difficult to do).
My team’s bad luck at the end of the first game continued into game two. So it was no surprise that we were down by 200 two-thirds of the way through. My partner went for the blind nil, but unfortunately our trade was not good enough. We never caught up, and the other team made quick work of us.
These were my favorite two ways to play spades. I usually stick to the first way, but sometimes it is fun to goof off a little more (not play so competitively) and just add in the blind nil element to the game.
Overall, spades can be a pretty competitive or light game. The amount of time spent per game is variable depending on what you set the score limit to and also depending on how many times each team gets deducted points. The most annoying part is having to keep score, but honestly, it is not that big of a deal. The fun of the game greatly outweighs the annoyance of score-keeping. My family has played a more boring ten tricks version with a fifty point limit on going nil for as long as I can remember, so Spades has been a part of my whole life. Try it yourself if you have not already. With the right group of friends, it could become a staple for get-togethers for you too!
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Jan 27th, 2011 at 00:21:03.
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Okashii's Spades (Other)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Thursday 27 January, 2011
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