How to Play Bridge (Lesson 1...learn how to play Spades first)

some family members have told me in the past that they might want to learn how to play bridge

wouldn't be fun to get together for an hour one nite and play a little bridge with your siblings ??

i play once a month with some doctors from Tampa (and my Indian friend who took me to Cuba) on the internet and play bridge....but THEY are serious and we play for 2 hours

i am also able to play with my Chinese student who is off to college

and my director plays with her daughter in South Africa often

there are million of people around the World playing bridge on the internet....it is a game the British taught India and China

anyways the first thing about bridge is that you need to know how to play SPADES

in Spades, you have 4 people....each person gets 13 cards (4 X 13 = 52 cards)

in Spades, the person sitting across from you is your "partner"...you two are a TEAM

there are 13 possible "tricks" or "rounds" of cards play

the object of Spades is to Predict how many of those 13 tricks you think your partnership will win

now what usually "wins" a round or trick ??

Aces usually win...and Kings....and sometimes queens (if you are very careful)

the #1 rule in Spades (and Bridge) is that YOU MUST follow the "lead"....whatever card is "led"

so if a person leads a HEART....everyone MUST play a heart....the highest Heart wins the trick

(wow, if you can FOLLOW all that....with words like "trick" and "lead" you are well on your way to learning Spades and Bridge)

BTW  the basketball players at JU all played Spades....so ANYONE can learn how to play spades

i have taught most of the nephews and nieces

now what happens if someone leads a Heart and you have no more Hearts left ?? then you can "Trump" with a Spade (Spades is a "wild suit".....that is why it is called Spades)

the 2 of spades can beat the Ace of Hearts

but be careful....if someone else is also out of Hearts....they can play a higher spade and win

and that is the basics of Spades

try to learn THAT game BEFORE thinking about playing Bridge

if you can not learn how to play Spades....then forget Bridge

and thus ends the FIRST lesson from the Tall Cuban