Tips spades

Beware the bags, but it's almost always better to underbid than to overbid. (BAGS are extra tricks above your guessed bid at the start.)

If you have a lot of spades, bid higher.

If you can, try to remember how many rounds of each suit have played (all 4 players playing the same suit). If there have been 3, then ONE of that suit remains. Careful as 3 others can trump that!

Try to remember how many spades have been played and which of the high ones are gone compared to what you have left to play.

DECIDING WHETHER TO TRY AND SET THE OPPONENTS, OR MAKE THEM NOT ACHIEVE THEIR TRICKS - (assuming no NILS bid) -

If a total of 13 is bid. You need all the tricks you can get. Throw away THE lowest cards if you aren't going for it. Sometimes a middle card will take a trick. Any extra 1 sets the opponents.

If 12 is bid. It's only ONE bag if you can't achieve the set. TWO bags and you've set the opponents. Worth it! If you have a few extra spades - might be worth a shot.

If 11 is bid. It is VERY tough to set the opps. You would have to take 3 bags minimum. That is in essence 30 pts you give up and if the other team has bid 3 or 4, probably not worth trying depending on the score of course.

If 10 or less is bid. Lots of rounds are going to be low playing as throw away tricks will be important to avoid BAGS. Be careful leading high cards. (Setting is VERY unlikely. Don't try it! HA!)

TIPS FOR GOING NIL -

If you have a short suit (1 or 2) that is good. Hopefully they will be played AND you can throw away a card on the 3rd run of that suit. If you have only one low card in one suit, that helps throw the face cards of your other suits when lead. Non spades of course.

If you have face cards but also 3 smaller cards in a suit, that is good because you can play the 3 small of the suit (AND probably almost 12 cards will be gone of that suit then). But if you have K or A and only 2 small in the suit - the 3rd round might be yours UNLESS luckily your partner only has/had 2 and now is free to trump.

If your partner bids 4 or more. Don't assume they can cover your nil. You STILL have to have a lot of LOW cards! A 4 bid could be 2 high Spades and 2 aces and ALL low cards other than that.

If you have 7, 8, 9, 10, J - then your partner would need Q, K, Ace to cover you. There is no break, the 7 is the same play as the Jack. Do the math on what of the suit is left if you have lots of one.

If the opponents bid will give them 500, you can risk a nil if you are well behind in the score. If you do the math, sometimes you will lose UNLESS you try a nil.

If you are covering your partner and lead the ace, pay attention to their next card. If it is the 4, then you know they do not have anything higher. They would play THE highest card in that suit after they see the ace. You can then lead a 3 or lower (and probably they will get rid of a face card in another suit, or the 2). However, this is potentially dangerous with the last 4 card as your partner MAY have gone nil with 4 spades. (I don't recommend that even if 2, 3, 4, 5), but be aware if you lead that low card because you KNOW they don't have anything higher in that suit... they may HAVE to play a spade at the end of the game...

Can your partner beat a high card? The stats - - -

If you have the queen of one suit, there is a 55.5% chance that your partner has a card to beat it (i.e. king or an ace). So even if your hand with a queen of spades is otherwise very weak, you should not go for a nil unless you are behind by many points, as the base success rate is only 55% [you can only expect 100*0.55+(-100)*0.45=10 points from the play, and will likely saddle your partner with bags].

If you have the jack of one suit, there is a 70.3% chance that your partner has a card to beat it.

If you have the ten of one suit, there is a 80.2% chance that your partner has a card to beat it.

Who is undersuited, and by how much? The stats - - -

If you have two cards of one suit, there is a 3.3% chance that someone has no cards of that suit (1.1% chance that your partner has no cards in the suit, and 2.2% chance that either of your opponents has no cards in the suit); 19.2% chance that someone has only one card of the suit (6.4%, 12.8%); and 47.7% chance that someone only has two cards of the suit (16.9%, 33.8%)

If you have three cards of one suit, there is a 5.1% chance that someone has no cards of that suit (1.7% chance that your partner has no cards in the suit, and 3.4% that either of your opponents has no cards in that suit); a 25.8% chance that someone has only one card of that suit (8.6%, 17.2%); and 58.5% chance that someone only has two cards of that suit (19.5%, 39%).

If you have four cards of one suit, there is a 7.8% chance that someone has no cards of that suit (2.6% chance that your partner has no cards in the suit, and 5.2% that either of your opponents has no cards in that suit); a 35% chance that someone only has one card of that suit (11.7%, 23.4%); and 70% chance that someone only has two cards of that suit (23.3%, 46.6%).