Many of the frequent tournament players at e-Spades have discovered the following bug in the software. If you are viewing the previous deal using the Replay feature and it is your turn to bid the current deal, clicking on the Close button will register a bid for you! It is generally a nil, but in in any case it will not be the bid you intended to make.

Q542 1097 7 AQ732 KJ8 KJ852 J4 984 63 4 AK10832 KJ65 A1097 AJ63 Q965 10 West North East South 3 nil nil 7 North led the 7

If this happens to you, immediately click the Undo icon on the top of the screen. A message will be flashed to the oponnents who have the option of allowing you to withdraw your previous action. They should be sporting about it; after all, it's a software glitch.

North on this hand was bitten by the bug. The system registered an unintended nil bid, and North was not aware of it until the bidding had concluded and the screen prompted him for a lead. Uncertain whether or not to protest, North considered that he had bid far worse nils than this one, and calmly accepted his fate.

The Spades gods must have smiled on North that day, or perhaps they were doubled up in hysterical laughter. There was no way to defeat North's nil. South also made his optimistic 7-bid. Since no other North had bid nil, the pair received a 100% score and a come-from-behind 2nd-place finish. This time the glitch turned out to be a friendly bug.

Post Mortem

The software problem may be annoying, but users can prevent it from ever happening to them. After viewing the previous deal using the Replay feature, always close the window by clicking on the X symbol in the upper right, never by using the Close button at the bottom. Once you get into this habit you will never be in the position of having to beg the opponents to let you off the hook.