Duplicate Spades

Note: This page has been revised for online play. The system it describes is in current use at the e-Spades website.

In a customary Spades tournament, the Director will match the pairs, give each foursome a deck of cards, and tell them go play a game of Spades until there is a game winner. Using such a format, the players are at the mercy of the cards; the side that is dealt the better hands should win.

Duplicate Spades - Pairs Event

Duplicate Spades is a tournament format that eliminates the luck of the cards. The duplicate method has been successfully used in Bridge tournaments for decades. Players' skill is measured by comparing their results to the scores of other pairs holding the same cards. As each round begins, the same deal is presented at every table. A South player who is dealt a poor hand knows that every other South has the identical hand.

Each hand is a separate entity. It is not part of a 500-point game limit. The idea is to outscore the other pairs sitting in the same direction as yours. That is, each North-South pair tries to do better than the other North-South pairs at other tables who will hold the same cards. Similarly, each East-West pair tries to beat the other East-Wests. Each deal will therefore have two top scores; one for North-South pairs and one for the East-Wests. When each deal is finished the players can immediately see the results from the other tables.

Did you face tough opponents in the first round? After each round (usually two deals) the pairs change tables so that they meet all of the competitors who are playing in the event.

Scoring at Duplicate Spades

Scoring at Duplicate Spades is based on the regular game. As usual, a bid is worth 10 points per trick, points gained if the bid is made or points lost if you are set. Nil bids are still worth their usual 100 points, gained or lost.

If a pair is set, their set score is added to the opponents' score. Suppose both sides bid 6 and one of them is set. The winning side earns 120 points while the losers get -60 points.

Bags (overtricks) are a liability and an important factor in Duplicate Spades. They are subtracted from a pair's score. If you bid 6 and make your bid with one bag, your score is 59 points, not 61. The site's software handles the scorekeeping.

Hand Results

There is one more essential step to scorekeeping, and this is performed by the software after each table finishes a deal. On every board (deal), the raw score of each pair is compared to the others and awarded a percentage result. The pair that gets the best score (of all pairs in the same direction) earns 100%. The lowest score earns 0%, and everyone else falls somewhere in-between. The pair that amasses the highest percentage wins the tournament.

Comparison scoring reduces the effect of huge point swings. A nil swing normally costs 200 points, but comparing the result simply means the unfortunate pair gets 0% on that one board. If they get the top score on the next board, which could result from a single bag, they get 100%, the maximum result for that board. These two scores together yield an average result.

Scoring Examples

The scoring system used in Duplicate Spades may seem strange at first, but it works well for online tournaments. Let's look at two examples. Assume we are running a tournament with only four tables (8 pairs, 16 players in all). On the first hand, every North-South pair bids 7, and every East-West pair bids 5. The table total is 12, so there is one bag at stake. Assume we have four different results as shown in the table below.

Hand #1: N/S bid 7 E/W bid 5				Results
N/S Tricks	E/W Tricks	N/S Score	E/W Score	N/S	E/W
6*	7	-60	138
7	6	70	49
8	5	69	50
9	4*	118	-50
*Set

After Hand #1 is played four times, the scorekeeper
assigns percent results to each pair. The results will look like this.

Hand #1: N/S bid 7 E/W bid 5				Results
N/S Tricks	E/W Tricks	N/S Score	E/W Score	N/S	E/W
6*	7	-60	138	0%	100%
7	6	70	49	66%	33%
8	5	69	50	33%	66%
9	4*	118	-50	100%	0%
*Set

We see that justice is served. The two pairs that were able to set received top percent scores, handing out 'bottoms' to their unfortunate opponents. At the tables where both sides each made their bids, those who took no bags received the next highest percent score.

The situation gets a bit more complicated if there is a nil bid. In this case, the nil bid and Partner's bid are scored separately. If only one bid is made, the side receives points for the made bid but again subtracts and transfers its losing points to the opponents.

On the next hand, all North-South pairs bid 7. East attempts a nil and West bids 4. Let's consider four different results.

Hand #2: N/S bid 7 East bids nil West bids 4					Results
N/S Tricks	E Tricks	W Tricks	N/S Score	E/W Score	N/S	E/W
9	0	4	68	140
9	1*	3*	208	-140
10	0	3*	107	60
8	1*	4	169	39
*Set

Hand #2: N/S bid 7 East bids nil West bids 4					Results
N/S Tricks	E Tricks	W Tricks	N/S Score	E/W Score	N/S	E/W
9	0	4	68	140	0%	100%
9	1*	3*	208	-140	100%	0%
10	0	3*	107	60	33%	66%
8	1*	4	169	39	66%	33%
*Set

Again we see that best results at regular Spades yields the best compared results...and also that a disaster on one hand does not ruin one's chances of eventually winning the tournament.

In general, accurate bidding and play is rewarded with a good score. There are tough decisions on every hand, such as whether to bid a risky nil, or whether to try to set the opponents as opposed playing to avoid bags.

Even if you are dealt bad cards one deal after another, you still have the opportunity to get the top result on each of these hands. Over the course of the tournament, the steady pair that makes the fewest mistakes has the best chance of winning. Try Duplicate Spades. It will enable you to compare your ability to other good Spades players, without having to suffer the effects of bad cards.

Team-of-Four Duplicate

There is yet another format for Duplicate Spades that more closely resembles the regular 500-point game while avoiding the luck of the cards. This involves teams of four players each.

After the Director assigns each round's opponents, a team sits one of its pairs at a table in the North-South positions and sends its other pair to the opponents' table to sit East-West. Then each table plays an 8-board match using sets of duplicated boards played in the same order.

These boards are not independent hands. The players at each table battle to reach the 500-point game limit. When a pair reaches 500 points, play at that table stops, while the other table continues to a conclusion. When both tables have finished, they compare results. The team that reached 500 points in the fewest deals wins the match. If they both reached 500 points on the same hand, or if they played all eight boards without a victor, then total points decides the winner.

The results are reported to the Tournament Director as simply a win and a loss. The Director uses the results to assign pairings for the next round. By matching teams that have the same win-loss records (the Swiss pairing system, used in Chess and Bridge), the tournament will eventually yield an undefeated team which shall be declared the victor.

This format retains the flavor of the 500-point contest. Bags accumulate; each side must decide whether to bag or set according to the state of the match. Players must evaluate risky actions in term of whether they are leading or trailing. This type of tournament may pit teams with an aggressive style against conservative players, and baggers will compete against setters. The Team-of-Four format favors no particular style. If there is ever a major tournament to decide a Spades Championship, the Team-of-Four method is the fairest way to do it. (Note: This format for Spades teams tournaments was devised by Steve Fleishman.)