Product Description

For those who wish to advance their skills at this very popular card game, Master Spades is written for intermediate and advanced Spades players who seek the status of true expert.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1729919 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 328 pages

About the Author
Steve Fleishman is the leading authority on the game of Spades. Master Spades follows his highly successful Spades for Winners.

Customer Reviews

Please don't read this book, because I like to win!
I like to win and if you read this book you will substantially improve your Spades skills. This book is far superior to every other Spades book I've seen. "Complete Win at Spades" by Jon Andrews? "How Not to Lose at Spades" by Jongalt Strichman? No where close. This book goes addresses many advanced aspects of play, in great depth. It requires a lot of effort to get through all the examples, so only those who want to become very good players should read the book. If you are content being mediocre head on over to How Not to Lose at Spades.

Here are some tips from the book:

1) You win by setting not avoiding bags. An 11 bid is always a setting round until the bitter end. Learn how to set opponents.

2) Learn how to get the most out of you cards. Dont lead Aces as the first play from a suit, save them to trap enemy Kings. Put your Queens to good use, in tandem with your Ace or partners Ace.

3) Learn how to identify each players strong suits. Learn about signaling.

4) Nil defense is where many games are lost. Learn how to do it right. Also learn how to cover the nil bid, and how to play the Nil bid correctly.

5) Trump management. Don't automatically go trumping just because you can. You may be cutting down partners winners. How do you make best use of a long Spade suit? Not by trumping. Lead those Spades.

Great book. Was facinating to read. But takes a long time, many hours over a couple of weeks. Get some experience first so you can more easily grasp and appreciate the skills taught here.

Finally, a book devoted to expert level play.
Master Spades is the Holy Grail of advanced spades play. Many of the concepts presented here are simply not available from any other source. The book is comprised of three sections; Techniques, Strategy, and How to Read a Spades Hand. Techniques focuses on strong individual plays, generally in a single suit, and shows readers how to get maximum benefit from their cards. Strategy uses the concepts from Techniques in part 1, and builds upon this foundation to show how to best handle a deal as a whole. How to Read a Spades Hand is an exercise in card reading, and is presented in the form of individual puzzles, and challenges the reader to find the best play. This is a "final exam" of sorts, a chance to apply what you've learned before you take your new knowledge into "live" play.

Three entire chapters of the Strategy section are devoted to Nil Defense, a common weakness of spades players at all levels. In these, Steve presents 11 standard methods of nil setting, as well as some more advanced concepts that build upon these.

Particular attention is also given to trump management, the area that truly separates the experts from the common players. Steve shows how to use the trump suit to your advantage in many ways.

Some cautions. This book is not easy reading, but must be studied carefully to truly benefit. In the introduction, the author states, "It takes a lot of work to excel in any craft, and Spades is no exception. There are no magic potions here. To improve your play requires concentration and the willingness to work." This rings quite true. This book should be viewed not as armchair reading, but rather a college text to be studied carefully. Also, beginner and intermediate level players would do well to read Steve's other book "Spades for Winners" first, as the concepts presented here are "top-flight," and will overwhelm those without a firm foundation. That said, if you're serious about becoming an expert, this book is nearly mandatory reading.

Only for those who want to become experts
If you can learn and apply all these techniques, as well as be able to remember the number of cards played in each suit, you will become a very good player.

There is so much here, so many subtle things to learn, it took me a few weeks to read. Its not a book of general hints, the author explains concepts in detail and gives many hands to show examples.

At the end the book has a set of problems asking the reader what he would play, and explains what the correct play is.

The section on the card count principle is invaluable. That is how to estimate who has which card. Its not just lucky guesses that allow the experts to beat you, they know what they are doing.

The section on how to play the Spade suit is excellent. Dont waste a long spade hand by trumping. If your partner has long spades YOU should be the one to lead spades and use up your Spades in trumping.

This book will appeal to those who are serious about improving. If you are just a recreational player who doesn't want to invest the hours it takes to improve then you will be bored by the detail of this book.

If you are inexperienced you will miss many of the finer points and not absord many of the techniques.

Play teh game for 6 months, then read the book.
Start with How Not to Lose at Spades.