We all play card games once in a while at family gatherings, sleepovers, or even when we're alone. So, pretty much every household has a deck of cards. While there are hundreds of different types of card games to play, Solitaire card games have managed to snag the top spot in terms of popularity. One of the main reasons for this can be the fact that the Windows operating system decided to introduce Solitaire as a PC game that came by default. Overall, there are several variants of the Solitaire game like FreeCell, Hearts, Spider, Spades, and more. In this article, we will be discussing the Spades Solitaire game. So, let's get started then!
Overview of Spades
This game is said to have emerged in the United States around the late 1930 and rose to popularity during World War II as it became a card game that was widely enjoyed by soldiers who eventually, with their movement, spread awareness of Spades around the world. All in all, Spades has a tad bit complex gameplay compared to the other Solitaire card games like Hearts and Klondike. This is because its scoring systems can be rather confusing for beginners. The number of players can vary according to the type of Spades that you choose to play. In this post, we will be discussing Partnership Spades. This variant of Spades usually accommodates 4 players or 2 couples, where the objective is to acquire the number of tricks that you and your partner bid at the beginning of the game. Confused? Keeping reading for a more detailed explanation!
How It Is Played?
To play a game of Spades you will need a 52-card deck with 4 willing players. You have to pick a partner for yourself as you will be working as a team. The first step would be to split the deck among the four players. After that, you can take a look at the cards in your hand and bid how many tricks you think you can take. You are allowed to bid numbers on a range of 0 to 13, however, you are not allowed to change your bid once it is set. Bidding 0 is considered a special occasion and it will be described further below. Once all this is done, the game starts! Overall, your goal is to acquire the total number of tricks that you and your partner bid. For example, if your partner bid 4 and you bid 2, then the two of you must collectively take 6 bids. One player will start by throwing in a card of their preference and the rest of the players must follow suit if possible. If you don't have a card from a suit similar to the leading one, you may play a different one. The player who plays the highest-ranking card from the leading suit will win the trick. However, there is an exception when it comes to Spades. If you don't have a card from the suit of the leading card and play a Spade instead, and if that spade is the highest-ranking Spade in the trick, you will win the trick regardless of the rank of cards from the leading suit. For example, say Player 1 led with an Ace of Hearts, Player 2 and Player 3 followed with 5 of Hearts and 2 of Hearts, and Player 4 played a 3 of Spades. Player 4 takes the trick. Now suppose Player 1 led with an Ace of Hearts, Player 2 followed with 5 of Hearts, and Player 3 & Player 4 played King of Spades and 3 of Spades, respectively. Then Player 3 takes the trick. Likewise, such a game is continued until all cards in hand have been discarded. Then the score is calculated and another round is started. Generally, the game continues until one team reaches 500 points.
Rules
- The bids do not have to be reached individually. That is, if your partner bid 4 but only manages to take 3 tricks, you can win an extra trick to fulfill their portion as well.
- You cannot lead with a Spade unless it was used in a trick led by another suit previously.
Scoring
There are several rules to follow when it comes to scoring so you better read them with care:
- If you manage to take the number of tricks you bid to win, you will receive points 10 times your bid. That is, if you bid 4 and manage to win 4, you will get 4x10=40 points.
- If you end up taking more tricks than you bid (these extra tricks are called bags), you will be awarded 1 point for every extra trick you've taken. However, if you exceed 10 bags, you will face a penalty deduction of 100 points. This applies to every 10th bag that you acquire.
- If your team was unable to reach the bid, you will get 10 penalty points for each trick which you missed. Suppose the bid was 6 but you only managed to get 4. Thus, your final score will be 4x10 - 2x10 = 20.
- Bidding 0 means that you plan on winning no tricks at all. The great advantage of this is that if you manage to not win any tricks, then you are instantly awarded 100 points! However, this is a very risky move since if you win at least one trick, 100 points will be deducted from your score.
Conclusion
Once you get a hold of how the Spades card game is played and how you can score points, Spades is a super fun card game to play. And now that you have read this post, you will surely have all it needs to play like a pro. Plus, there are no worries if you don't have a deck of cards at home because thanks to various websites and apps you can now connect with friends and play online! So, don't miss out on this engaging leisure activity that will not only help you pass time but will also give your brain some exercise.