Customer Reviews

Master Spades: Advanced Card Playing Technique and Strategy at Spades

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I have read everything I could find about Spades, my favorite game, and I can report that Steve Fleishman is the only author who
provides solid information about playing Spades. My own game improved like 200% after reading his first book Spades for Winners.
And at that point I thought I knew it all. Ha.

Master Spades is amazing. It describes just about all of the common, routine situations that players are likely to face in the
course of a typical Spades session -- the ruff-and-sluff, guess-the-ace, the 5-5 distribution, and so on, and shows the best way to handle them. The book's two chapters on the basic ways to sink a Nil bid are worth the price alone. And then there is the section on How to Read a Spades Hand. It's simpler than I thought and I only wish someone would have shown me this stuff years ago.

Master Spades is easy to read and each idea is clearly presented and reinforced with a simple full deal. There are no trick deals
or "gee-whiz" hands.
The average player can certainly handle this material, but I would advise them to begin with
Spades for Winners to get the proper feel for the game.

I have recently finished Fleishman's newest book, "Master Spades."
This newest work is truly the new Expert's 'Bible'. Nearly every weapon in the Expert's arsenal is presented with thorough analysis and detailed explanation.

Fleishman has a talent for articulating advanced card technique which is difficult for most experts to teach. Even the most sophisticated concepts are presented in a such a manner that anyone can immediately put them to use.

Particular attention is focused on "how to read a hand" - an area that is by far the most difficult for Spades players to become proficient at.
It might seem absurd that a player can learn to 'read' a hand as if the cards were face up. Not so. After reading "Master Spades," you will probably be accused of cheating on a regular basis due to your newly-gained skill capable of placing everyone's unseen cards with accuracy.
Wouldn't it be nice to know when to refuse a finesse or when to take a finesse (playing for the drop versus playing for the finesse)? Don't you ever kick yourself when you make a wrong guess in a critical suit?
Partner will thank you for your new ability to play into his hand and counter the opponents' holdings through your newly developed method of deduction.
Have you ever wondered if there were a way to know if the 10 or 11-bid set was possible before the hand is over? "Master Spades" covers all of the finer points of deducing the proper way to play each type of hand.

"Master Spades" is the ONLY material available from which to study expert technique. If you're ready to take your game to the next level, I highly recommend studying this work (after reading "Spades for Winners").
Of course, I kind of hope you won't read it -- the competition out there will become much more fierce if you do. I can't fathom how competitive the Spading world will be once folks start putting these concepts to use. Indeed, the future of spades looks mighty competitive.

I've been playing spades for about 6 years now and I have a regular partner on Yahoo games. We have both read both of Steve's Spade books and our game has improved dramatically. When I read this book my rating was a steady 1895. After I read both Steve's books and put them into practice my rating is now a steady 2150. My regular partner and I get accused of cheating, when in fact we use the card signaling strategies from the Master Spades books and website. We have won many online tournies in our spade league.

This book will only work for you if you have an open mind, are an agressive player or a player who knows that going for the set in most cases is the smartest choice. Even if you're a fairly good player you can use the tips on covering nils, knowing when to spade in, ace-queen finesses' and just playing in general with various types of partners. I'd recommend.

If you are an experienced player, then this book is for you. I have played for almost 10 years and have won numerous tournaments. The advanced tips from this book are proven to work and are fun to try out in games. I would read a chapter, then go online and try to use some of the tips. My winning percentage has greatly improved. If you partner with someone who has also read the book, the results are comical--you will get accused of cheating. You will not only win games, but dominate them.
One side note, the book is written using a lot of examples and it is best for someone who has the time to practice the examples from the book. If spades is just a fun thing you do occassionally, I am sure there are better books than this one for you. The aggressive, no holds barred style taught in this book are for professionals only. The book starts out assuming you know your way around the ins and outs of the game. If you are open to changing your style a little, you will be pleased with the progress and it will be money well spent.

Dont bother reading this if you dont want to invest the time going through the examples. Its a bit of work, and many of the finer points will be missed by beginners. If you have some experience (say 100+ Spades games played) and want to improve this book is INVALUABLE.

Its helped my game a lot. Steve discusses many advanced concepts (I never heard of the 5-5 before or though much about it). This will noticeably improve you game.

Fleishman is the definitive source for advanced spades play. Don't read this book if you're a beginner or just want to play for fun. But if you can handle advanced spades techniques, this is a great place to start.

"Steve's book might be OK for the expert - but I am not an expert."

Then why may I ask, are you reading "Master Spades?" Reading Master Spades before you understand all of the fundamentals is akin to reading a book on quantum mechanics before understanding the elementary principles of science. This book is written ONLY for the experienced player hoping to become an expert. Giving a book a poor review simply because you don't understand it is just plain silly. Not all books are intended for the uneducated. Reading Spades for Winners first is mandatory! A warning is given in several places --

"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."

"Also, beginner and intermediate level players would do well to read Fleishman'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."

And yes, if you aren't an experienced player, this book will go way over your head! This is college-level reading material intended for the serious Spades player. If you want to read something that is written for the 3rd grade level reader, try "how not to lose at spades." Make sure that you then read "Spades for Winners" so that you get a better understanding of the fundamentals.

- Dustin