January_Column

After a month off for the holidays, we�re back!!!

I have been asked by a few people to talk about some specific areas of Spades this month. I don�t want to spend too much time on these topics. I just want to, hopefully, start you thinking about it.

I have two topics to cover this month. The first is much better covered in a book by John Strichman called �How Not To Lose At Spades.� Several people have requested this topic and if you find what you read interesting, I suggest you go to his web site and buy his book, see the link on the home page of this web site.

Although this first topic can be easily deduced by anyone who gives it much thought, for some reason, I see many people making this mistake. The only explanation is that they have not properly thought it through. After just a few moments of rational thinking this becomes your logical deduction.

I�m only going to talk about the most basic form of this mistake. Mr. Strichman covers many, many other facets of this principle in his book.

If you are bidding last, and it is either the last hand, or the pones bid will put them out, you need to STOP! Figure your bid as you normally would. Before you enter your bid, do a little math to see if this bid will give you a chance to win. Here�s an example�

Score: Pones 468, You 453
Bids: West pone 3, Your Pard 2, East Pone 3

In your hand you see 3 sure winners, a singleton A diamonds and the A, K of spades. What do you do? Well, let�s take a look.

First, you can bid 3 and exactly make your bid, giving the pones both bags to bag them out, and you would win. Second, you can bid 6 to take the total to 14 and pull 8 between you and your pard to win. Any other scenario gives you a 100% chance of losing. Personally, I don�t like the prospect of having to give 2 bags to win, and I don�t like having to over bid when the pones are well balanced. But, either of those scenarios gives me better than a 0% chance of winning.

The proper bid is determined by several factors, the most important of which is your hand. If you have a very low chance of taking 4 tricks, bid 3. If you see very good chances to get 2 more tricks in your hand, you will probably take at least 1 bag, and must bid 6. With a singleton diamond you will be flexible to either trump tricks or slough high cards that you might get stuck with.

Wouldn�t you like to know what cards are in your partner�s hand? Well, if I were playing this hand and I were playing with any of my regulars, I would know what to expect from them. Work that out ahead of time too, it makes bidding in these situations less of a guess and also less frustrating. You can find excellent strategies for this in Jack�s book too.

Don�t waste your partner�s time with either a 3 or a 5 bid here. A 100% chance of losing is absolute and must be avoided.

The next topic has to do with bidding also.

A few months ago we talked about bidding. Our discussion was basic. The things that were talked about are true. However, the way you apply your knowledge of bidding is what makes players different. Some play aggressively and routinely bid the highest possible trick count in their hand. Others, who maybe aren�t so confident, will subtract 1 or 2 bids from their hand based on the game situation, or even on the �feel� they have as to how the game is progressing, or how the cards �look� in their hand. I have to admit, from time to time, I raise and lower my bid sometimes because of a �gut� impression.

I am a mechanical designer by trade and, needless to say, guesses and gut impressions go against my nature. I feel better if I have evidence to back up my thoughts, at least as far as designing and cards are concerned.

Here�s a hand to illustrate my point�

Q,J,7,4 spades
K,5,4 hearts
7,5 clubs
A,Q,10,5 diamonds

What would you bid here? 3? 4? 5?

What did you decide?

Did you get a number you feel good about?

If you did, I�m ashamed of you. How can you properly know what to bid without knowing the hand number, score, bidding position, and what all prior bids are? What if you�re bidding in 4th position, and a 4 bid would only take the total to 10? I would think seriously about going to 5. What if a 4 bid would take the total to 14? You might consider dropping back to 3.

If you learn anything when you play spades, please learn this. There is an uneven playing field when you play spades. Unlike chess or checkers, where at the start of the game the playing field is even, in card games, that just isn�t the case. Someone has an advantage at the beginning of each hand due to the random nature of the deal. You must take every extra piece of information and use it to your advantage.

The worst place to bid is 1st. You know absolutely nothing about what cards the other players have, other than you know they don�t have yours. Don�t treat bidding 3rd or 4th like you�re bidding 1st, you will lose your share of the advantage for the game. This includes the concept that you MUST wait your turn before you bid.

There is enough to overcome by the uneven deals and guess work in cards, you should never forfeit the little information you have and give yourself less opportunity to make good decisions.