If you do not have the same suit, you can play any card of any suit! The card must be of the same suit as the person who started (in this case, the person to the left of the dealer). Then, again in clockwise, each player lays down a card (trick) face up. It can be any heart, diamond or club, but no spades. Playing SpadesĪfter all of the bidding is done, the player to the dealers left begins by playing any card EXCEPT for a spade. There's also a penalty for bidding nil and getting 1 or more tricks. Why would anyone do that though? Well, there's a huge bonus if you can bid nil and succeed. This is basically a player trying NOT to win any tricks. Billy and Sarah's goal is to win at least 5 tricks based on their bids (4+1), Terrance and Beyonce will attempt to win at least 7 (4+3).Īs mentioned previously, a bid of zero is also called a nil bid. A bid of zero or "nil" is another strategy we'll talk about shortly. But be smart and remember that it's very difficult to get all or even half of the tricks. Bidding then continues clockwise around the table. The first player to bid is the person to the left of the dealer. This is the number of tricks that team has to win in order to get a positive score. The teams then add together the total number of bids. Before each round of Spades begins, each player will bid (or guess) how many tricks they will take. Biddingīidding is simply guessing how many "tricks" you can take. The dealer will deal out all of the cards so each player will end up with 13 to start. The goal is to accumulate points, and the first to 500 points wins. You are on the same team as the person across from you and the same goes for the other two. Again, it is of the utmost importance, that you are well aware of who is playing in the game, and that you can trust them completely.In a typical game, there are four players and two team. If you have any suspicions that cheating is going on you should leave the game immediately, because your focus would then be on the cheating, and not on the game at hand. Specialists in this field have produced clearly illustrated books which fully explain these tricks, and if you are going to play gin rummy competitively, you may want to read up on them, and the many gambling articles on the subject of card cheating. The only real protection that you have against this type of cheating, other than knowing who you are playing with, is to change the decks used as often as possible.ĭetecting a player who is using mechanical cheating techniques requires expert knowledge and vision. In order for an expert cheat to identify a particular card, all that he needs to do is to place a tiny nick in a card with a fingernail, an embossing device, or any other identifying mark. If he is able to identify two or three cards, then this advantage is almost impossible to overcome. A player who is able to identify any one card in the deck has a tremendous advantage. This does not by any means mean that an entire deck is marked. The most prevalent form of mechanical cheating is card marking. At one point there was even a marked deck that made it possible to identify the suits of each of the cards. It could be anything that helps a player distinguish it, without being obvious to the non-cheaters. Usually a small geometric figure is lightened, enlarged or darkened, or a line is thickened here or there. It is easy to purchase marked cards which will permit the user to tell the rank of each card. Embossing devices, which are used to mark cards, can also be concealed in rings or bandages. Shiners are mirror devices, usually concealed in a ring or similar piece of jewelry, which enables a dealer to read the actual cards that he is dealing out. All of these are most effective in Gin, as in any other card game.
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The items that are used by professional card cheats include shiners, embossing devices and marked cards. Mechanical cheating is one of the ways to cheat. It is important to be on guard for both the person who is trying to win for money, as well as simply winning for pride. There are certain people who will take that dishonest advantage for the sole purpose of winning and satisfying their own egos. There are times, especially when the stakes increase, the temptation to be dishonest grows. The most important thing is to know that you have the utmost confidence in the integrity of everyone in the game. There are other procedures that if used consistently will give you even more protection. Granted, there are certain specific rules of the game that, if followed, give you a certain level of protection against cheating.
No matter how skilled you are or may become in the game of gin rummy, you stand no chance against dishonesty.