The History of Spades

The history of Spades is not that old. It is believed that this card game first made its appearance in the latter half of the 1930s in the state of Ohio. Some college students, who were into Bridge and Whist, were responsible for inventing the game as they wanted a card game that would be fast, require strategic moves and also be competitive. From here the game gradually made its way to other college campuses in the Midwest.

However, Spades did not take off immediately and there was nothing much to write home about its popularity at that stage. It was when World War II started that Spades really became popular. Many youngsters joined the US military to fight the war. They started playing Spades in their free time. This card game ended up becoming very popular as it could be played anywhere due to its portability, the fact that small groups of players could play it, and one game could finish in less than 20 minutes.

Once World War II finished, the US government passed the G.I. Bill. This allowed the young soldiers who took part in the war to pursue higher education; and this was also the reason for Spades to return to the college campuses, thus completing a full circle. From here onwards, the game spread to other parts of the society -- office lunch rooms and factory break rooms. A simple card managed to bring together different strata of society.

Surprisingly, there was not much mention of the game in numerous books that were printed in the late 1960s through the late 1980s. For instance, The Official Rules of Card Games, a book brought out in 1969 by the US Playing Card Company based in Cincinnati, does not mention anything about Spades. Even a Penguin book on various card games published in 1988 makes no mention of the game whatsoever.

It’s fairly recently that Spades got the recognition it deserved. It became a part of the tournaments and started being played at clubs after Joe Andrews made it a part of the Grand Prix World Series of Classic Card Games in the year 2006. Also, the game is very popular on the Internet for the same reasons that it got popular during the Second World War and its subsequent years. 

The game play is short and partners can come and play each other over the Internet, or they can join forces and take part in online tournaments. Both partners do not have to be present in the same location. In addition, the game is quick and players have a lot of fun on the side.

Even today, Spades is a highly popular game across college campuses. It holds the same level of popularity on the Internet. Ironically, a game that was kept under wraps for so long has suddenly boomed -- a fact that even its inventors would have never envisioned.

However, the history of Spades would be incomplete without getting to know a little bit about how this card game is played. While the game has borrowed several rules and tricks from various other partnership games, it has managed to become an independent game in its own rights. In Spades, the Spade suit is always the trump. The game involves partners and invariably two pairs play against each other. It is played with one deck of card minus the Joker. The highest card in the game is Ace followed by King, while the 2 is the lowest valued card.

Once the cards are dealt, players look at their cards to see tricks or books they can make. Then each pair bids are written down and the one playing pair should have all the number of tricks they initially declared. This is done before the play begins.

The good thing about Spades is that it is not a rigid game. The game play can be changed to suit players, but in official tournaments, rules need to be adhered to. Usually games have to be played to set points, which are either 500 or 1000. The playing partnership that reaches the points first is the winner. However, what adds excitement to the game is that special bids can be made by the opposing pair to stay in the game and give the leader a run for their 'money'.

While the history of Spades is not that old, it is a highly popular game. You can play this game online at the various websites dedicated to this unique and interesting card game. You will learn more about this game if you have hands on experience or at least watch other players play. Be prepared for an exhilarating ride though.