Spades for Beginners

Someone pulls out a deck, someone else says "you can be my partner, it's easy, just bid what you'll take," and suddenly you are holding thirteen cards and a lot of questions. What counts as a good bid? What does nil mean, and why did your partner just look so happy about it? Why did the other team lose points for taking extra tricks? Spades for Beginners is a friendly, step-by-step first course in the classic partnership trick-taking game. It starts with the deck, the seats and the deal, then teaches following suit and why spades always trump, then walks you through bidding: how to count your likely tricks, how to add your partner's bid to yours, and when nil or blind nil is worth the risk. Scoring is explained slowly with worked examples, including bags and the 10-bag penalty. Where other guides give you a page of rules and leave you to fend for yourself, this one adds strategy chapters on leading, cutting, protecting a partner's nil, setting opponents and counting cards, plus an honest look at the house rules and variations that make every table a little different. Simple card diagrams show each hand, and every chapter ends with practice hands and answers you can work out with a pencil and a real deck. Inside, you'll learn: How to deal, seat the partners and follow suit, and why a tiny spade can beat an ace A simple method for counting your likely tricks and turning them into a confident bid How partners combine their bids, and how to adjust once you have heard everyone When nil and blind nil make sense, and how to protect a partner's nil or bust an opponent's Scoring step by step: contracts, overtricks, bags, the bag penalty and how a game ends Leading, cutting and defending, with a beginner-friendly way to count cards Common house rules, jokers, double nil, three-player, cutthroat and two-player versions Table etiquette, what you may and may not say, and what to check before playing online The book closes with a one-page summary of rules and scoring, a glossary and a blank scoresheet to keep by the table. Pull up a chair, deal the first hand, and learn the game at your own pace.

Imad Muratspahic is an independent author of practical how-to guides, technical handbooks, history and fiction. The books aim to be clear, honest and useful from the first page.