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North 2/2
4 J
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West 3/5
3 7
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East 2/1
8 A
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South 4/3
6 K
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AND YOU ARE IN THE LEAD ON TRICK 12. OBVIOUSLY, YOU CAN SEE THE CARDS IN YOUR HAND ONLY.
YOUR TEAM NEEDS ONE MORE TRICK TO MAKE ITS BID, EAST/WEST ALREADY HAVE TAKEN 1 BAG, AND THERE IS ONE MORE BAG TO BE DISTRIBUTED ON THE HAND.
ON TRICK 12 YOU LEAD THE 6 OF SPADES, WEST PLAYS HIS 7, YOUR PARD.... THINKING THAT YOU HAVE THE ACE OF SPADES....DUCKS WITH THE 4 IN ORDER TO AVOID TAKING WHAT HE BELIEVES WOULD BE THE REMAINING BAG, AND EAST WINS THE TRICK WITH THE 8.
EAST THEN LEADS THE ACE OF SPADES AND YOU GET SET ON YOUR BID.
HOW MANY POINTS DID YOUR PARTNER’S FAILURE TO PLAY HIS JACK OF SPADES ON TRICK 12 COST YOUR TEAM?
HOPEFULLY, YOU HAVE LEARNED AN IMPORTANT LESSON FROM THE MIXUP BY THE POSTAL SERVICE, AND YOUR ANSWER IS NOT 60 POINTS. IF IT IS, HOWEVER, YOU ARE MAKING ONE OF THE MOST COMMON AND MOST SERIOUS MISTAKES IN THE GAME OF SPADES.
IF YOU THINK THAT GETTING SET COSTS YOUR TEAM ONLY 10 TIMES THE AMOUNT OF YOUR BID, YOU ARE FAILING TO UNDERSTAND THE TRUE COST OF GETTING SET, YOU ARE NOT PLAYING WITH THE APPROPRIATE RISK/REWARD APPROACH REGARDING TAKING BAGS VERSUS GETTING SET, AND YOU AND YOUR PARD ARE LOSING MORE SPADES GAMES THAN YOU SHOULD.
IN THE ABOVE EXAMPLE, THE TRUE COST OF NORTH NOT PLAYING HIS SPADE JACK ON THE NEXT TO LAST TRICK IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE NUMBER OF POINTS THAT YOUR TEAM WOULD HAVE EARNED HAD IT MADE ITS BID, AND THE NUMBER OF POINTS THAT IT WAS PENALIZED FOR GETTING SET.
SPECIFICALLY, IF YOU HAD MADE YOUR BID, YOU WOULD HAVE RECEIVED 60 POINTS ON THE HAND FOR A TOTAL SCORE OF 332 POINTS. AS A RESULT OF GETTING SET, YOUR TEAM LOST 60 POINTS, FOR A RESULTING SCORE OF 212 POINTS. GETTING SET COST THE TEAM 120 POINTS (MORE POINTS THAN THE PENALTY FOR AN ENTIRE GAME’S WORTH OF BAGS).
WHENEVER YOU GET SET ON A BID THAT YOU COULD HAVE MADE BY PLAYING THE HAND MORE CONSERVATIVELY, THE COST IN LOST POINTS TO YOUR TEAM IS 20 TIMES THE NUMBER OF TRICKS THAT YOUR TEAM BID, NOT 10 TIMES THAT AMOUNT.
IN A SIMILAR FASHION, IF YOUR TEAM OVERBIDS, FOR EXAMPLE BIDS 6 TRICKS ON A GIVEN HAND AND, TRY AS YOU MIGHT, IS ABLE TO TAKE ONLY 5 TRICKS, THE OVERBID DOES NOT COST YOUR TEAM 60 POINTS, BUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE POINTS THAT YOU WOULD HAVE SCORED HAD YOU NOT OVERBID AND THE POINTS THAT YOU ARE PENALIZED FOR GETTING SET.
IN THIS SITUATION, IF YOUR TEAM HAD BID 5 TRICKS IT WOULD HAVE EARNED 50 POINTS FOR MAKING ITS BID, BUT ENDED UP LOSING 60 POINTS FOR GETTING SET ON THE 6 BID, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO BEING 110 POINTS, THE TRUE COST OF HAVING PUSHED THE TEAM BID ONE TRICK TOO HIGH.
AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE TRUE COST OF GETTING SET, AS A RESULT OF EITHER TRYING TO AVOID BAGS OR BIDDING TOO HIGH, IS ESSENTIAL IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO PLAY SPADES WITH THE APPROPRIATE PERSPECTIVE REGARDING THE POTENTIAL RISK/REWARD OF TAKING TRICKS VERSUS ATTEMPTING TO BAG THE OPPONENTS. THERE ARE TIMES TO RISK POSSIBLY GETTING SET AND MANY MORE TIMES NOT TO RISK DOING SO. ONLY BY UNDERSTANDING THE TRUE COST OF GETTING SET CAN YOU LEARN TO MAKE APPROPRIATE JUDGMENTS CONCERNING THIS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT ASPECT OF PLAY.
IN THE ABOVE EXAMPLE WHERE NORTH FAILED TO PLAY HIS SPADE JACK, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN VIRTUALLY NO RISK IN DOING SO BECAUSE NEITHER TEAM IS GOING TO BAG BEFORE THE END OF THE GAME (EACH TEAM STARTED THE HAND WITH ONLY 2 BAGS). IN FACT, IT IS MUCH MORE LIKELY THAT A BAG ON THIS HAND WOULD HELP YOUR TEAM THAN HURT YOUR TEAM. IT IS A VERY CLOSE GAME, AND IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE GAME WILL BE WON ON BAG POINTS.
ALWAYS TRY TO LOOK AT THE RISK/REWARD PICTURE WHEN TRYING TO DECIDE WHETHER TO TAKE A TRICK OR TO LET IT SLIDE. IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT SPADES, IT IS NECESSARY TO HAVE A GENERAL UNDERSTANDING OR FEEL FOR WHAT THE POTENTIAL RISKS AND REWARDS ARE FOR VARIOUS POSSIBLE APPROACHES ALL THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF PLAY.
BASICALLY, THIS CONCERNS WHETHER IT IS TIME TO PLAY USING A CONSERVATIVE OR AN AGGRESSIVE APPROACH. THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION WILL ALMOST ALWAYS BE DICTATED BY THE SCORE OF THE
GAME, BUT THERE IS ONE GUIDING PRINCIPLE THAT SHOULD NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. THIS PRINCIPLE IS THAT
IN GENERAL, GETTING SET ON YOUR BID IS THE WORST THING THAT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU IN THE GAME OF SPADES.
YOU SHOULD NEVER ALLOW YOUR TEAM TO GET SET UNLESS THERE IS A GOOD REASON FOR DOING SO (THERE ARE SEVERAL INSTANCES WHERE GETTING SET OR RISKING GETTING SET IS APPROPRIATE, AND THESE ARE DISCUSSED IN MY BOOK).
MOST FREQUENTLY, HOWEVER, THE AVERAGE SPADES PLAYER PLACES AN OVEREMPHASIS ON AVOIDING TAKING BAGS AND IS NOT SUFFICIENTLY CONCERNED WITH THE PROSPECT OF GETTING SET. THIS IS THE SINGLE BIGGEST REASON WHY SPADES GAMES ARE NEEDLESSLY LOST.
IT IS FREQUENTLY POSSIBLE TO OVERCOME HAVING EARNED A BAG PENALTY DURING THE COURSE OF A GAME, BUT FREQUENTLY IMPOSSIBLE TO OVERCOME GETTING SET ON ANY KIND OF SIGNIFICANT BID. ONE REASON WHY GETTING SET IS SO DEADLY IS THAT, DUE TO THE FACT THAT IT SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASES THE NUMBER OF HANDS THAT YOUR TEAM WILL HAVE TO PLAY IN ORDER TO REACH 500 POINTS, IT SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASES THE LIKELIHOOD THAT YOUR TEAM WILL EARN A BAG PENALTY BEFORE THE GAME IS OVER. COMBINE GETTING SET WITH AN EVENTUAL BAG PENALTY, AND YOU MIGHT AS WELL CONGRATULATE THE OTHER TEAM AND TRY AGAIN.
VERY RARELY AFTER LOSING A SPADES GAME WILL THE LOSING PLAYERS BE THINKING......IF ONLY WE HAD NOT TAKEN A BAG PENALTY IN THAT GAME. VERY FREQUENTLY, HOWEVER, THEY WILL BE THINKING......IF ONLY WE HAD NOT GOTTEN SET ON THAT HAND WHERE....
SUCH IS THE LAMENT OF THE LOSING SPADES PLAYER. IT IS FOR THIS REASON THAT, IF YOU PLAY BY ONE RULE AND ONE RULE ONLY, THAT RULE MUST BE
......DON’T GET SET!
NEXT MONTH......ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY SPADING!
Tiger_Galt
(Please note: JohnGalt will be signing books and meeting friends at the live tourney in Atlanta in September.)
