Spades Players: How Many Books Does This Hand Have?
Yall know how I feel about Spades. It is not a game. It is life. It’s not for the faint of the heart of the easily butthurt. You gotta saddown at a Spades table knowing that you might get called everything but a child of God by your friend/family/partner. A lot of rules of common courtesy and etiquette do not apply when you sit to play.
I came across this picture of a hand of cards and the question asked is “How many books can this hand win?”
The way I see it, this is about 8 books and a possible. Lemme ‘splain.
Even if you are NEW to Spades, you can get 4 books just because of how good this hand is since the card gods smiled upon you and gave you the highest 4 cards. You got 2 jokers, Ace of spades and a 2. That’s if you’re playing deuces high. If you aren’t, you still got the highest spades, except for the King. Even if your partner doesn’t have it, you can still get 5 books EASILY. Like without much effort.
Then, you can win at least one book off those red Aces (hearts and diamonds) you got. AT LEAST. You should be able to get both if you play them early in the game before folks run out the suit and start cutting you. So that’s 7 already. Then that 2 of spades and even the 8 can be used to cut once you’re out of clubs and hearts. That’s another 2. We’re at 9 if all is going in your favor. And then your partner might have 2 good cards (maybe that King of spades of the Ace of Clubs).
Soooo if you bid 5 or 6 on this hand, you’re an underbidding summagoat and you deserve to be cussed clean out! You ain’t about that life and you can’t sit with us!
Again, don’t sit at the Spades table if you’re not ready to go hard. Them the rules. I didn’t make them up. I just follow them.
Now I wanna organize a Spades tournament. We’re gonna need Suge Knight as head of security though because if someone reneges, it ain’t gon be pretty. People get cut over this game so we’ll need to make sure we have a crisis plan. Like when someone cuts their own partner. We might need to get insurance for this event too. For obvious reasons.
There’s a convo happening on my FB fan page right now about this. Some of the spage goons are saying you could possibly run a Boston with this hand.
Anywho, how would you play this hand and how many books can you win with it?
Related post: Spades Question: Did They Renege?
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35 Comments
So this is an awesome spades hand…I mean it is really from God!! If you don’t have a sorry partner or a cheating opponent…I say 9 books
You can be my spades partner any day. I also said 8 and a possible before I saw your answer.
I see 9 books, if you have a partner that knows how to play. Especially if your partner is holding that ace & another raggedy ass club. Because somebody is swimming with a hand full of clubs. This is a hand designed by God.
This is a BOSTON hand!!! If you can’t get a Boston, you need to remove yourself from the table!
And that is why I don’t play spades; I only saw 6 and 2 possibles. I don’t play any of the regulation colored games; no spades, bones, dice or even backgammon but I shole will sit in the room cackling errytime somebody get checked. I absolutely love when somebody’s partner reneges.
You and me both. I saw 7 and 2 maybes. I ain’t for the cussing and fighting over games, so Imma be over here making snacks and cackling at everyone acting a fool.
Luvvie, you should try Bid Whist! Once I learned how to play Bid, I couldn’t play Spades anymore. I imagined running a Boston with this hand without seeing the Kitty.
Laaaaawd, did you just say “kitty” referring to Spades. You, my friend are a terrorist.
I do love Bid Whist, tho. Spades is nothing but bastardized Bid Whist.
“Bastardized Bid Whist” – HILARIOUS!
Bid Whist is EVERYTHING. I was an avid Spades player (I literally played Spades in the dorms my first 2 years at college more than I went to the library/studied. #priorities). Fast forward 15+ years, my husband and his friends introduced me to Bid. Spades is so anti-climatic now! Listen, I loves my husband….God knows I do…but I’ll kill him DEAD if he doesn’t come correct at the Bid Whist table!
My family invented bid whist and you BET NOT come to the table if you can’t play or if you can’t take the heat, because shade will be thrown at every corner. Then we’ll go to church the next day LMBO
“Laaaaawd, did you just say “kitty” referring to Spades. You, my friend are a terrorist.”
Agreed, if you are still playing with a kitty you shouldn’t new allowed to even walk down the card aisle in the store.
In my family, bid whist is for the over the hill gang. I refuse to learn it before hitting 40 (since none of those folks will even teach me anyway lol)…it’s like a right of passage in my family.
I was going to say I see 7 books…it could be made into 8 though..
A possible 10. You’re cutting hearts and clubs, like, in three seconds. You’ve got all three Jokers (counting the Baby Joker).
This is a Boston if you play it correctly, if you lead in you can start pulling spades from the rip. If not frist card outside of a diamond is a cut. One club walks and run them.
BOSTON BABAYYYYY!!!!
Boston
8..before you say a Boston you need to know what your partner has. If your partner doesn’t have your off suits..your hit!
Depends on how your play it. You could work as much as 8 out of that hand. If your King walks, and you can start cutting early you can run all the spades out of the game. Minimum 10 for 2, and a Boston is there for the taking if your partner has anything and can read cards.
7 possible 8. As soon as you play the 2 hearts you can get to cuttin folks….
[…] The homie Luvvie posted this to her Facebook wall yesterday, asking how many books we saw here. As a semi-retired Spades cognoscente (Remember that guy in high school and college who always carried a deck of cards in his pocket? Sometimes he’d even carry them in his sock like an inmate in a prison movie? That guy was me.), I couldn’t resist. […]
My brother reneged back in 2004 while playing spades after 4th of July with my uncle as his partner and since then my uncle barely speaks to him and at the time told him he was dead to him…
As far as the hand I see 8 and you could run a Boston if your partner has a good hand and has the Kings for the Aces you hold and if both partners no how to play and when to play!
That’s hilarious!!!
10. Because I’m a boss. You’re cutting clubs QUICK, and hearts soon after. There are prime cut spaces in that hand. 10.
Somebody is going to want to fight me for the trash I’m going to talk as I run this BOSTON. Now learn how to play whist cause you can still run a Boston without the pen and paper.
LMAO!
Before I even looked at your answer, I said 8 and a possible. We can play together. They would hate us. They already hate me. LOL
I could actually feel my heart race and reached for a phantom glass of Crown and Coke when I saw that hand. When I was in high school and college my little cousin and I would ruin all my mom’s friendships because we were some young shit-talking, vicious throat-cutting, spades playing fools. They hated it when we would put “that” card on our forehead then drop the hammer on them! My mom didn’t even play and she finally begged us to stop challenging people to games because none of her friends wanted to come by and get spanked by “those little girl’s” anymore. Oh well, don’t walk in the den of a hungry lion with a steak tied around your neck! (Damn, where are my cards!)
I saw that hand, and instantly got excited, I tend to over-work my hands anyway so that’s wheels to me out the gate, no matter what my partner has…
If deuce is wild, I say 9 possible 10… easy.
Man that’s a Boston if your partner got 2 for sure books run that shit. I’m sorry but I’m that shit talker at the table rather I am winning or losing. That’s the fun of it. You got to go hard or stay home. My kids friends will not play if I am on the table. I had 4 kids and taught them all how to play we always had a spade game going on.
*Waving my white flag* The non-player has a couple of questions:
a) What does it mean when a card ‘walks’?
b) What is a Boston?
If you’re playing deuce high 8 at a minimum. I’d bide 9 myself.
I was almost jumped once because my partner “thought” I reneged! It was the most traumatic experience of my life! I hope she never reads this blog because she might have a flashback! kmsl but sooo not funny!
Great Website.
I see no mention of lead. You have 8 sure tricks. If it plays out correctly and you can lead trump before its broken have 10-11. Partner needs to stay out of your way, which should be an easy message to send.