Rating: 
Summary: Best Spades Book I have Ever Read
Review: If you are an experienced player, then this book is for you. I have played for almost 10 years and have won numerous tournaments. The advanced tips from this book are proven to work and are fun to try out in games. I would read a chapter, then go online and try to use some of the tips. My winning percentage has greatly improved. If you partner with someone who has also read the book, the results are comical--you will get accused of cheating. You will not only win games, but dominate them.
One side note, the book is written using a lot of examples and it is best for someone who has the time to practice the examples from the book. If spades is just a fun thing you do occassionally, I am sure there are better books than this one for you. The aggressive, no holds barred style taught in this book are for professionals only. The book starts out assuming you know your way around the ins and outs of the game. If you are open to changing your style a little, you will be pleased with the progress and it will be money well spent.
Rating:
Summary: Only for those who want to become experts
Review: If you can learn and apply all these techniques, as well as be able to remember the number of cards played in each suit, you will become a very good player.There is so much here, so many subtle things to learn, it took me a few weeks to read. Its not a book of general hints, the author explains concepts in detail and gives many hands to show examples. At the end the book has a set of problems asking the reader what he would play, and explains what the correct play is. The section on the card count principle is invaluable. That is how to estimate who has which card. Its not just lucky guesses that allow the experts to beat you, they know what they are doing. The section on how to play the Spade suit is excellent. Dont waste a long spade hand by trumping. If your partner has long spades YOU should be the one to lead spades and use up your Spades in trumping. This book will appeal to those who are serious about improving. If you are just a recreational player who doesn't want to invest the hours it takes to improve then you will be bored by the detail of this book. If you are inexperienced you will miss many of the finer points and not absord many of the techniques. Play teh game for 6 months, then read the book.
Start with How Not to Lose at Spades.
Rating: 
Summary: A Total Waste of Time and Money
Review: If you have $18 and six months of time , then get this Book. It is boring, confusing and loaded with a lot of useless information - unless you are a Bridge player. This brings the toal pages for both of Mr. Fleishman's books to over seven hundred - and that is just too much for a simple card game like Spades. Save your hard earned cash.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, a book devoted to expert level play.
Review: Master Spades is the Holy Grail of advanced spades play. Many of the concepts presented here are simply not available from any other source. The book is comprised of three sections; Techniques, Strategy, and How to Read a Spades Hand. Techniques focuses on strong individual plays, generally in a single suit, and shows readers how to get maximum benefit from their cards. Strategy uses the concepts from Techniques in part 1, and builds upon this foundation to show how to best handle a deal as a whole. How to Read a Spades Hand is an exercise in card reading, and is presented in the form of individual puzzles, and challenges the reader to find the best play. This is a "final exam" of sorts, a chance to apply what you've learned before you take your new knowledge into "live" play. Three entire chapters of the Strategy section are devoted to Nil Defense, a common weakness of spades players at all levels. In these, Steve presents 11 standard methods of nil setting, as well as some more advanced concepts that build upon these. Particular attention is also given to trump management, the area that truly separates the experts from the common players. Steve shows how to use the trump suit to your advantage in many ways. Some cautions. This book is not easy reading, but must be studied carefully to truly benefit. In the introduction, the author states, "It takes a lot of work to excel in any craft, and Spades is no exception. There are no magic potions here. To improve your play requires concentration and the willingness to work." This rings quite true. This book should be viewed not as armchair reading, but rather a college text to be studied carefully. Also, beginner and intermediate level players would do well to read Steve's other book "Spades for Winners" first, as the concepts presented here are "top-flight," and will overwhelm those without a firm foundation. That said, if you're serious about becoming an expert, this book is nearly mandatory reading.
Rating:
Summary: Horrible Book - AVOID AT ALL COSTS
Review: This book is horrible. You will become a cruddy spader just from skimming it. Stay away. These guys don't know a thing.
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