The 2024 U.S. National Bicycle Spades Championship Qualifier

The United States Playing Card Company and Double Exposure present an official qualifier for the U.S. National Spades Championship at Gen Con 2024.

Strict Hoyle rules will be used for partnership Spades. Two preliminary rounds followed by Elimination rounds.

The winning team will receive trophies and a free entry into the first elimination round of the U.S. National Spades Championship at Gen Con 2024 (plus a free 4-day badge for Gen Con 2024!). You can enter with an established partner or find one at the event.

Full Rules for the 2023 U.S. National Bicycle Spades Championship: Qualifiers and Main Event - Rules modified July 12, 2023

Standard Hoyle rules for 500-point games are in effect unless noted otherwise below.

52-card decks will be used, with the Big Joker and Little Joker replacing the 2 of hearts and the 2 of clubs. The 2 of diamonds and the 2 of spades are the 3rd and 4th highest Spades – for a total of 16 spades. The first dealer of each game will be selected randomly. A Renege forfeits three books (they do NOT go to the other team).

Each player must bid a whole number, starting to the left of the dealer. Each partnership must make the combined bid to win any points. Blind bidding is not allowed and the minimum bid for each partnership is 4 regardless of the actual bids. Teams score 10 points for each trick bid and made, and 1 point for each overtrick. Collecting 10 overtricks results in an immediate 100 point deduction. There is NO other deduction of points – a team which has not made their bid simply gets 0 points for that hand. If at any point the gap between scores is 250 or more, the game is instantly decided in favor of the team in the lead.

Participants will enter the tournament as partners. One partnership will win the tournament.

The tournament will consist of 2 preliminary rounds. During each of these rounds, partnerships will be randomly matched against each other. No two partnerships will play each other more than once.

Each preliminary round will consist of one 500-point game. The result of that game may be a tie. The round will be timed. At the 45 minute mark, all hands currently in process will finish. If there is no winner (500+ points) at the end of that final hand, the team that has the most points will win that game. If the score is tied, each team will be awarded a tie.

A win will award a team 3 points. A tie will award a team 2 points. A loss will award a team 0 points.

After round 1, random matching will occur for the next round.

After round 2, all team scores will be calculated. Depending on the number of teams and the exact spread of scores, a cutoff will be determined, and teams which equal or exceed that cutoff will advance to elimination play. In the event that the number of partnerships advancing does not fit into clean pairing, BYEs may be awarded to teams in the first elimination round.

Each elimination round will consist of one 500-point game. The result of that game can NOT be a tie. The round will be timed. At the 45 minute mark, all hands currently in process will finish. If there is no winner (500+ points) at the end of that final hand, the team that has the most points will win that game. If the score is tied, additional hands will be played until there is no longer a tie.

The winning team at each elimination table will advance randomly to the next elimination round. The winning team from the final table will be declared the winners of the tournament.