Why don't more Spades players play Bridge?

Why aren't more Spades players making the switch to the king of all partnership card games? In my opinion, Bridge is the greatest card game ever invented.

Is it because of the complicated bidding? Or is the perception that it's an LOL (little old lady)game? Maybe people aren't aware you can play professionally and make a comfortable living. I admit Bridge at first seems pretty overwhelming to learn, and getting a new player through that initial phase is the hardest part.

When my dad tried to get me into Bridge when I was 15, he would take me to the club and it was filled with 65+ yr olds. This obviously made it difficult for me to get into the game and I decided to stick with Spades. I regret not getting into the game at a younger age, as now I have a lot of catch up to do. Fortunately during those years I decided to read a lot of bridge books knowing eventually I'd make the switch.

Spades is really the ideal groundwork to prepare for learning Bridge. The card play in Bridge takes years to become proficient in, but Spades players have a nice head start. Bridge experts will tell you that defense is the hardest area to get proficient in, and Spades players are already playing "defense" on every hand. This is a huge asset Spaders bring when they start out.

Contrary to what most think, the bidding is probably the easiest area to become proficient in even though it seems foreign and hard to grasp when you start (like any new language).

Last week I was playing Spades with one of the top professional Bridge players in the country (Justin Lall) and we were discussing this subject. He started playing Spades many yrs ago at a very young age, and now plays professional Bridge. He had said many times that Spades is the ideal primer for Bridge and is what got him started.

Here is a post Justin Lall made on this subject (under JLOGIC)

Is Bridge Dying?

STAT and UDAT

In the spirit of improving the game, I'd like to propose that we incorporate a "standardized" carding system for the game of Spades. This will provide 3 major needed improvements to the game:

1) Play of the hand will improve with added information (from both sides).
2) You will be able to play with a number of different partners without having to discuss signaling and carding methods in detail.
3) Disclosure to opponents will be easier.

Note: Currently, spades doesn't require disclosure of carding methods because very few pairs have agreements and it would confuse average players. As agreements become more mainstream, disclosure will be not only needed, but it will help to elevate the game.

I will be making a video which will cover the basic system
-- STAT (Standard Attitude and Trump Signals)

The same system with reversed carding will be
-- UDAT (Upside down Attitude and Trump Signals).

The system is as follows and applies to non-bagging hands:
-----------------------------------------------------------
STAT Standard Attitude and Trump Signals

Leads

* Top of sequences AKx KQx QJx J10x KJ10x
* Low from Strength Q82 K73
* Top-of-Nothing 976 102

Attitude

* Standard Attitude (high = encouraging, low = discouraging) applies when we lead a suit for the first time.
* If Attitude is obvious, standard suit preference is next priority.

Trump

* When the opposition leads for the first time, we signal trump length. High = good trumps Low = bad trumps
* Subsequent leads we signal standard suit preference.

Conventional Spades Signals -- Suit Preference

Conventional Spades Signals -- Leads

Conventional Spades Signals -- Attitude

Coming Soon

I'm putting together a series of videos on card signaling. These detailed videos will cover a complete conventional signaling system that I recommend for any advanced-level regular partnership.

This is a subject sorely lacking in any spades literature, and if you are an advanced+ level player, you'll want to add this to your team's arsenal.

Addicted To Bridge

Hey guys, if you've been wondering why I haven't posted for a long time, well it's because I've been playing Bridge over the past 6 months and I'm extremely addicted. If anyone hasn't tried Bridge, please give it a try. The game is endlessly fascinating and there is a huge online base of players on www.bridgebase.com. The site is set up extremely well, and best of all it's free. It records every hand you play, and you are able to replay it and view how others played the same hand. Feel free to send me an email and I can help you get started.

Bridge was never a big online game which is why I hadn't played it in the past much. Now it's absolutely huge online -- much bigger than Spades ever was even in its peak.

I'll be creating a bridge blog in a couple of months.