Counting tricks to bid
Go suit by suit and count what is likely to win:
- Aces are nearly a trick each, though an ace in a long side suit can be trumped by the third time the suit goes round.
- Kings need company: a king with one or more cards below it wins often; a bare king rarely does.
- Spades past the third usually win once the other hands run out. Count each one from the fourth as most of a trick.
- A short side suit with spades to spare lets you trump in. A void plus a few low spades is worth a trick or so.
Then shade down a little. Missing the contract costs the whole bid, while an extra trick earns one point and moves you a bag closer to a 100-point penalty.
Bid as a team
Your bid joins your partner’s. If your partner has already bid high, don’t pile on optimism; if the table’s bids already add to twelve or thirteen, someone will fail, and a cautious bid keeps it from being you. Bidding last is an advantage: you know how many tricks are left to go round.
When to bid Nil
A good Nil hand has no aces, no high spades (nothing above about the nine), three spades at most, and low cards to duck under every high card it holds. Nil is worth 100, so it pays when your hand would only have bid one or two tricks anyway.
Blind Nil is a 200-point gamble on cards you haven’t seen. It is best saved for when your team is well behind and needs a big swing; with the scores close, the downside usually outweighs it.
Covering a Nil partner
- When your partner bids Nil, bid a little higher yourself: you will be winning tricks they would otherwise be stuck with.
- Lead high cards, so your partner can throw their high cards under yours.
- When your partner is winning a trick, take it from them if you can. That is the one time you should overtake your own partner.
Breaking an opponent’s Nil
- Lead low cards in suits the Nil bidder still holds, so they have to find something lower.
- When the Nil bidder is winning a trick, play under them and let them keep it. Breaking a Nil is worth 100 points to you, more than most contracts.
Keeping bags down
Once your contract is safe, stop taking tricks. Throw your highest losing cards, the ones that might otherwise win a trick you don’t want later. Watch your bag count on the scoreboard: at seven or eight, an overtrick is close to costing 100.
The exception: if the opponents are one or two tricks short of their contract with little left to play, winning tricks to set them is worth far more than the bags it costs.
Remember what’s been played
Keep track of the high cards and the spades that are gone. A king becomes a sure winner once the ace has fallen, and knowing how many spades are still out tells you whether a side-suit winner is safe to cash.