Spades Trivia Quiz Questions and Answers

Trivia quiz questions with answers about Spades.

Spades Trivia Quiz Questions and Answers

What is “spades”?
A: Spades is a trick-taking card game devised in the United States in the 1930s.

It can be played as either a partnership or what?
A: Solo/"cutthroat" game.

What is the object of the game?
A: To take at least the number of tricks (also known as "books") that were bid before play of the hand began.

Spades is a descendant of what card game family?
A: The Whist family of card games, which also includes Bridge, Hearts, and Oh Hell.

Its major difference as compared to other Whist variants is what?
A: Instead of trump being decided by the highest bidder or at random, the Spade suit always trumps, hence the name.

When was spades devised?
A: In the late 1930s and became popular in the 1940s.

Where was it devised?
A: In the United States.

Spades is a member of the Whist family and is a simplification of what card game?
A: Contract Bridge such that a skilled Spades player can learn Bridge relatively quickly.

When did the game's rise to popularity occur in the U.S.?
A: During World War II, when it was introduced by soldiers from its birthplace in Cincinnati, Ohio to various military stations around the world.

The game's popularity in the armed forces stems from what?
A: Its simplicity compared to Bridge and Euchre and the fact that it can be more easily interrupted than Poker, all of which were also popular military card games.

It also remained widely popular where?
A: In countries in which U.S. troops were stationed, both in WWII and later deployments.

The game is most commonly played with how many players?
A: Four players in pairs.

Spades may also be played with one or two Jokers or with what?
A: Predetermined cards removed.

When playing with six or more players, what is often used?
A: A second deck.

Spades are always what?
A: Trump.

Other suits have no intrinsic value during play, but a card of the suit led in the current trick will beat what?
A: A card of any other suit except a Spade.

If a tiebreaker is needed in a draw for deal, the most common suit order from low to high is what?
A: ♣ ♦ ♥ ♠.

How are points accrued?
A: By winning at least the number of tricks bid in each hand, and are lost by failing to take at least that many, or in some cases by taking too many.

The first team that bids has an option to do what?
A: To counter bid their opponent.

How is the first dealer chosen?
A: By a draw for "first spade" or "high card", and thereafter the deal passes to the dealer's left after each hand.

The dealer shuffles, and the player to the right is given the opportunity to do what?
A: To “cut" the cards to prevent the dealer stacking the deck.

The entire deck is then dealt face-down one card at a time in what order?
A: In a clockwise order (with four players, each player should receive 13 cards).

The players then do what?
A: Pick up their cards, verify the correct count of the cards, and arrange them as desired.

What is a misdeal?
A: A misdeal is a deal in which all players have not received the same number of cards or a player has dealt out of turn.

A misdeal may be discovered how?
A: Immediately by counting the cards after they are dealt, or it may be discovered during play of a hand.

If a single card is misdealt and discovered before players in question have seen their cards the player that is short a card can do what?
A: Pull a card at random from the player with an extra card.

What does each player bid?
A: The number of tricks he expects to take.

The player to the left of the dealer starts the bidding, and bidding continues in what direction?
A: A clockwise direction, ending with the dealer.

A bid of "zero" is called what?
A: "Nil".

In partnership Spades, the standard rule is that the bids by the two members of each partnership are what?
A: Added together.

Two very common variants of bidding are for a player or partnership to bid "blind", without having looked at their cards, or to do what?
A: To bid "nil", stating that they will not take a single trick during play of the hand.

These bids give the partnership a bonus if the players do what?
A: Exactly meet their bid, but penalizes them if the players takes more or fewer.

A combined bid of 2 "blind nil" is usually allowed, and is worth what?
A: Both the blind and nil bonuses or penalties.

In some variants, the player bidding nil passes 1 or 2 of his cards (depending on the variant rules) to his partner and the partner does what?
A: Passes an equal number of his cards back in what is considered "nil passing".

Each hand consists of a number of what?
A: Tricks (the 4-handed game contains 13 tricks using all 52 cards).

The player on the dealer's left makes the opening lead by doing what?
A: By playing a single card of their choice.

Players in clockwise fashion then play cards of their choice; they must follow suit if what?
A: If they can; otherwise they may play any card, including a trump Spade.

Once a card has left the hand of a player, it stands and cannot be retrieved unless what?
A: Unless the player who threw the card makes an effort to correct his mistake before the next player lays down a card.

A common variant rule, borrowed from Hearts, is that a player may not lead spades until what?
A: Until a spade has been played to trump another trick.

This prevents a player who is "long" in Spades (having a large number of them) from doing what?
A: From leading Spades one after the other at the beginning of the hand to deplete them and thus prevent other players using them as trumps.

The act of playing the first spade in a hand is known as what?
A: "Breaking spades", derived from its parent rule, "breaking hearts".

When a player leads with a spade (after spades has been broken), the other players must do what?
A: Follow suit.

Another common variant rule, also borrowed from Hearts, is that a player cannot lead spades when?
A: In the first trick.

The trick is won or taken by the player who played what?
A: The highest card of the led suit, or if trumps were played, the highest trump card wins.

The player who wins the trick does what?
A: Gathers the cards up into a face-down arrangement that allows players to count the number of tricks taken.

The contents of each trick can not be viewed after this point, except to do what?
A: To determine whether a player reneged (played an off-suit card including trumps when he could have and thus should have followed suit).

The number of tricks a player has won cannot be what?
A: Disguised; if asked, each player must count out his tricks until everyone has agreed on the "trick count".

The player who wins any given trick does what?
A: Leads the next.

Play continues until all players have done what?
A: Exhausted their hands, which should occur on the same (last) trick.

Otherwise, it is a what?
A: A misdeal.