Rating: 
Summary: Great Spades
Review: I have read everything I could find about Spades, my favorite game, and I can report that Steve Fleishman is the only author who
provides solid information about playing Spades. My own game improved like 200% after reading his first book Spades for Winners.
And at that point I thought I knew it all. Ha.Master Spades is amazing. It describes just about all of the common, routine situations that players are likely to face in the
course of a typical Spades session -- the ruff-and-sluff, guess-the-ace, the 5-5 distribution, and so on, and shows the best way to handle them. The book's two chapters on the basic ways to sink a Nil bid are worth the price alone. And then there is the section on How to Read a Spades Hand. It's simpler than I thought and I only wish someone would have shown me this stuff years ago. Master Spades is easy to read and each idea is clearly presented and reinforced with a simple full deal. There are no trick deals
or "gee-whiz" hands.
The average player can certainly handle this material, but I would advise them to begin with
Spades for Winners to get the proper feel for the game.
Rating:
Summary: The Expert's Bible
Review: I have recently finished Fleishman's newest book, "Master Spades."
This newest work is truly the new Expert's 'Bible'. Nearly every weapon in the Expert's arsenal is presented with thorough analysis and detailed explanation. Fleishman has a talent for articulating advanced card technique which is difficult for most experts to teach. Even the most sophisticated concepts are presented in a such a manner that anyone can immediately put them to use. Particular attention is focused on "how to read a hand" - an area that is by far the most difficult for Spades players to become proficient at.
It might seem absurd that a player can learn to 'read' a hand as if the cards were face up. Not so. After reading "Master Spades," you will probably be accused of cheating on a regular basis due to your newly-gained skill capable of placing everyone's unseen cards with accuracy.
Wouldn't it be nice to know when to refuse a finesse or when to take a finesse (playing for the drop versus playing for the finesse)? Don't you ever kick yourself when you make a wrong guess in a critical suit?
Partner will thank you for your new ability to play into his hand and counter the opponents' holdings through your newly developed method of deduction.
Have you ever wondered if there were a way to know if the 10 or 11-bid set was possible before the hand is over? "Master Spades" covers all of the finer points of deducing the proper way to play each type of hand. "Master Spades" is the ONLY material available from which to study expert technique. If you're ready to take your game to the next level, I highly recommend studying this work (after reading "Spades for Winners").
Of course, I kind of hope you won't read it -- the competition out there will become much more fierce if you do. I can't fathom how competitive the Spading world will be once folks start putting these concepts to use. Indeed, the future of spades looks mighty competitive.
Rating: 
Summary: "As the caissons go rolling along"
Review: I just could not believe my eyes when I saw another new Spades Book announced for release. According to "Dustin", Mr. Fleishman's books are the ONLY reliable source of useful infomration on the game of Spades - all the others are merely pretenders, imitations, or faulty reference manuals.
"Master Spades" is kindred to diving 7 miles into the Marianas Trench (Pacific Ocean) for lifeforms, or hoping to find alien contact via the SETI outer space monitoring system. With nearly 700 pages of material already published, one has to wonder, what is next for the "Fleishman" series? - "Universal Spades"? With its vague or ambiguous comparisons to the game of Bridge, Fleisman attempts to elevate to Spades to a game of pure skill. It is a noble and daring idea; however players are still human beings. The HAL 9000 is still years away, and the IBM Deep Blue computer is programmed for chess. Although his first book "Spades For Winners' was of considerable value, "Master Spades" goes overboard, and muddles the waters with too much analysis and redundant information. It does have some nice details here and there...
Dustin, who is Steve's good friend, made the wry comment in his latest review that he hopes that players will NOT read this newest book, as it will make the competition too "fierce". That is a good point. Only a small percentage of players really care about the rarified air of professional competition, and the elusive quest for a 3000+ rating. Most of us want to play for fun and an occasional stimulating challenge. Save your money, and go to a cash prize event or the internet (iplay.com comes to mind), and have fun. Spades is supposed to be an escape from reality - not a crusade for greatness or an ego trip.....
Rating:
Summary: Please don't read this book!
Review: I like to win and if you read this book you will substantially improve your Spades skills. This book is far superior to every other Spades book I've seen. "Complete Win at Spades" by Jon Andrews? "How Not to Lose at Spades" by Jongalt Strichman? No where close. This book goes addresses many advanced aspects of play, in great depth. It requires a lot of effort to get through all the examples, so only those who want to become very good players should read the book. If you are content being mediocre head on over to How Not to Lose at Spades. Here are some tips from the book: 1) You win by setting not avoiding bags. An 11 bid is always a setting round until the bitter end. Learn how to set opponents. 2) Learn how to get the most out of you cards. Dont lead Aces as the first play from a suit, save them to trap enemy Kings. Put your Queens to good use, in tandem with your Ace or partners Ace. 3) Learn how to identify each players strong suits. Learn about signaling. 4) Nil defense is where many games are lost. Learn how to do it right. Also learn how to cover the nil bid, and how to play the Nil bid correctly. 5) Trump management. Don't automatically go trumping just because you can. You may be cutting down partners winners. How do you make best use of a long Spade suit? Not by trumping. Lead those Spades. Great book. Was facinating to read. But takes a long time, many hours over a couple of weeks. Get some experience first so you can more easily grasp and appreciate the skills taught here.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor and a total waste of time
Review: I read the first book at my partners request and was profoundly disgusted. It's quite obvious this person is educated in bridge but his spades examples and techniques are something my dad might talk about. Very little if any of either book is original material. It is just bridge and whist revisted. I advise all to save money and play more in the rated rooms on the zone. You can learn more in one week in the rated rooms that you can hope to get out of this book. If National spades champions exist in the spades world I would love to meet one. Can I get a refund? Rita
Rating:
Summary: Poor and a total waste of time
Review: I read the first book at my partners request and was profoundly disgusted. It's quite obvious this person is educated in bridge but his spades examples and techniques are something my dad might talk about. Very little if any of either book is original material. It is just bridge and whist revisted. I advise all to save money and play more in the rated rooms on the zone. You can learn more in one week in the rated rooms that you can hope to get out of this book. If National spades champions exist in the spades world I would love to meet one. Can I get a refund? Rita
Rating:
Summary: If you read this book, I may regret it....
Review: I'm reading here that this book is for 'professionals only' and wonder what that means? How many out there make $ playing spades? But for SURE there aren't many who can play spades well. Not THIS well. They just think they do. You think you play well and you 1) aren't a bridge player or 2) haven't read Steve Fleishman? Not a chance. Those other books? Sure, I read em all. They'll help. Your game will improve some. But Steve's books will help you become a spades GodZILLA. And I admit I'm not too thrilled about that! (Perhaps those folks saying 'pros only' think so too??) So you go ahead and listen to them and don't even think about visiting Steve's 'Master Spades' website for a boost up. Don't even consider buying his books. I mean if everybody knew this stuff (and this stuff is absolute GOLD) I would NOT win as much. As it is now? Just like somebody said earlier, I too get accused of cheating now and then because they just don't have a clue. It's that simple. And I've only been spading online for a coupla years and do NOT play bridge. P.S. No point in listening to that Dustin guy. He's only one of the top national spaders. What could he know about it?
Rating:
Summary: If you read this book, I may regret it....
Review: I'm reading here that this book is for 'professionals only' and wonder what that means? How many out there make $ playing spades? But for SURE there aren't many who can play spades well. Not THIS well. They just think they do. You think you play well and you 1) aren't a bridge player or 2) haven't read Steve Fleishman? Not a chance. Those other books? Sure, I read em all. They'll help. Your game will improve some. But Steve's books will help you become a spades GodZILLA. And I admit I'm not too thrilled about that! (Perhaps those folks saying 'pros only' think so too??) So you go ahead and listen to them and don't even think about visiting Steve's 'Master Spades' website for a boost up. Don't even consider buying his books. I mean if everybody knew this stuff (and this stuff is absolute GOLD) I would NOT win as much. As it is now? Just like somebody said earlier, I too get accused of cheating now and then because they just don't have a clue. It's that simple. And I've only been spading online for a coupla years and do NOT play bridge. P.S. No point in listening to that Dustin guy. He's only one of the top national spaders. What could he know about it?
Rating:
Summary: This is it!
Review: I've been playing spades for about 6 years online. The first 4 I played just like everyone else: bags are the issue, don't lead a spade to save your life, every player for himself. And boy did I think I was hell on wheels! Just like everybody else does. Then I found Steve's Master Spades website and really had to think about it. Huh? Can this be true? I started reading (still do as new articles are added)and over a period of months and saw my game change remarkably. Then I bought Steve's first first book and found I knew about 1/3 of it (from the site) and the other 2/3rds were stuff I should have known if there was a real way to really learn this game out there. But there isn't! You just go online and flounder around learning from who you play with. (Yeah, like they know!) Until Steve came along. Well, I read the others too, but Steve teaches this really aggressive style that is just dynamite. You will not learn to really play well until you STUDY Steve's strategy. But it's got such a payoff! You will start to win more and see others mistakes with such clarity. And its so much more fun now! Especially if I find a partner equally aggressive. I'm still studying this game from Steve's perspective (going on 3 years now) and every few months I apply myself to some section of this book (the advanced book) that didn't make sense to me before and find that I can no longer play with the partners I had! I have to move on and find better players. It's just boring if they don't know this stuff. And frustrating. That's the down side. 98% of the players even in the best sites, even in rated, are not going to know this stuff. Gives you a real edge, but frustrating when your partner is one of them. So buy this book if you REALLY want to improve your game. If you work at it and have a few cells to rub together, you will become one of the strongest players around. But not the best. That takes talent. And only a few of the millions of us can actually be the best, right? So I'm happy with the top 5%. : )
Rating:
Summary: This is it!
Review: I've been playing spades for about 6 years online. The first 4 I played just like everyone else: bags are the issue, don't lead a spade to save your life, every player for himself. And boy did I think I was hell on wheels! Just like everybody else does. Then I found Steve's Master Spades website and really had to think about it. Huh? Can this be true? I started reading (still do as new articles are added)and over a period of months and saw my game change remarkably. Then I bought Steve's first first book and found I knew about 1/3 of it (from the site) and the other 2/3rds were stuff I should have known if there was a real way to really learn this game out there. But there isn't! You just go online and flounder around learning from who you play with. (Yeah, like they know!) Until Steve came along. Well, I read the others too, but Steve teaches this really aggressive style that is just dynamite. You will not learn to really play well until you STUDY Steve's strategy. But it's got such a payoff! You will start to win more and see others mistakes with such clarity. And its so much more fun now! Especially if I find a partner equally aggressive. I'm still studying this game from Steve's perspective (going on 3 years now) and every few months I apply myself to some section of this book (the advanced book) that didn't make sense to me before and find that I can no longer play with the partners I had! I have to move on and find better players. It's just boring if they don't know this stuff. And frustrating. That's the down side. 98% of the players even in the best sites, even in rated, are not going to know this stuff. Gives you a real edge, but frustrating when your partner is one of them. So buy this book if you REALLY want to improve your game. If you work at it and have a few cells to rub together, you will become one of the strongest players around. But not the best. That takes talent. And only a few of the millions of us can actually be the best, right? So I'm happy with the top 5%. : )
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