Thread by @SheKnowsSports

QUICK SPADES COURSE: TWITTER STYLE ♠️♠️♠️

(i’m only doing this once… And I’m doing it basic… Like super beginner basic… I don’t have the time or space to go into detail strategy and 50-Leven dozen house rules 😂😂😂)

Follow this thread for a brief tutorial ⬇️ #Spades

Sooooo, the game is usually played with two partnerships. The object of the game is for you and your partner to collect more books (or tricks is the formal name) than your opponents. If you are taking score the team who reaches the selected score (usually 500) wins ⬇️

To start, the dealer deals 13 cards to each player. Now there are 52 cards in a deck + 2 jokers. Black people usually play with jokers, so that means we instead take out two of the 2’s (either ♥️♣️♦️). But in a basic game, we would remove the jokers, making the Ace the highest ⬇️

Quite naturally, as the game is called “Spades”, they are the trump suit, which means they out rank every other suit in the deck. In a basic game, the A♠️ is the highest card you can play. (If using jokers, your big & little jokers are the top ranking cards).

Ya’ll following? 👀

Alright, so now that all 4 players have been dealt 13 cards (And please count to make sure that you have 13 cards… Don’t wait until is the last round to realize that maybe you don’t have the proper amount of cards in your hand) it’s time to bid your hand ⬇️

Bidding is where you look at your cards and guess how many books you think you can successfully make over your opponents (notice I said opponents- NOT PARTNER). You can legally bid any number from 0-13. (But if you say something outrageous, you better back it up)! ⬇️

There are only 13 books that can be made in the entire game, so bid wisely! In a basic game where the A♠️ is the highest card , you want to consider your high cards (A, K, Q, J) as books you can make. You also want to pay attention to how many cards you have in a given suit ⬇️

Example: in this hand (with A♠️ being highest card), you could successfully bid the Q♠️, K♣️, & Q♣️ as books you could make. Therefore, you would bid 3.

(Advanced ppl could get 4 & a possible but this ain’t about ya’ll)

Still following? 👀

Alright, so everyone is going to go through the bidding process. But remember you and your partner are a team. So in the example above, if you bid 3 and your partner bids 3, that means together you must make 6 books to not be whats called “set.” ⬇️

After you all bid, the game begins with the person left of the dealer going first. They can play any card they want (except a spades. Being the trump suit, they have to be “cut” in - I’ll explain later).

Each player goes and the person who plays the highest card wins that book.

1. You MUST play the suit that led that round. Even if that means you’ll lose the book. If you don’t, that called reneging and THAT will get you fucked up. 🤷🏾‍♀️

2. If you do not have the suit that led, but you have a spade, you can play it. That’s called “cutting” ⬇️

Once spades have been cut in, they are free to be played at any time.

One major component to this game is paying attention to the board and realizing what has been played. It will help you know when you should or shouldn’t cut. ⬇️

Example: if there is 4♥️, 8❤️ and a J❤️ on the board and you don’t have anymore hearts BUT your partner is the person who played that J on the board, DO NOT PLAY A SPADE. Instead you do what’s called “throwing off” since your partner is going to win that book.

Still with me? ⬇️

Throwing off is simply playing another card of any other suit on your hand that’s not a spade.

The ONLY time cutting your partner is acceptable is a.) you are trump tight, meaning no other suit’s in your hand but ♠️ or b.) you have no other choice (only card left in that suit)

The game continues until all 13 cards have been played. The team that collects the most books wins that hand and the team to reach the final pre- set score (500) wins.

Things to keep in mind when playing with Black ppl⬇️

#1- don’t talk across the board. Imma take 3 of your books and you might catch these hands

#2- DO 👏🏾NOT 👏🏾RENEGE👏🏾. I can’t stress this enough. FURNITURE WILL MOVE and I am will not be held responsible

#3- Dont overbid. But don’t underbid. Keep it 💯 about what you got. ⬇️

If you follow these instructions you should be able to play a basic game of spades. The more you play, the better you’ll get it. You will become better at strategizing, reading the board, and can then incorporate various alternatives to the standard rules of play. #Spades

Oh… and another thing *in my @SarahSpain voice * lol