Duplicate Spades FAQ
Overview
Duplicate Spades is a tournament format designed to remove the role of luck by having multiple partnerships play the same exact hand, then comparing results against how other partnerships played the hand. Unlike regular games of Spades, hands are scored on an individual basis, so one hand with a bad result will not ruin future hands of your tournament and likewise, one hand with a good result will not necessarily result in an almost guaranteed win.
Scoring
Each Board, the prearranged cards that each player gets per hand, is scored normally. However, these differences apply:
- A bag is worth -1 point to the team that takes it and +1 point is given to the opposite team.
- If a team is set, instead of losing points, the set team earns 0 points and instead gives the amount of points to the opposite team.
Once all players have finished a hand, the score of the hand is used to determine how many Match Points are awarded. Scores for North and South pairs will be compared to other North and South pairs, and East and West pairs will be compared against other East and West pairs.
- For every team you scored higher than for the Board, you earn 1 Match Point.
- For every team you scored equal to for the Board, you earn 0.5 Match Points
Once all Boards (a fixed number - usually 8) have been played by all players participating, the North and South pair with the highest number of Match Points will be crowned a winner, and the East and West pair with the highest number of Match Points will be crowned a winner.
Example
Team A, B, C, and D are all North+South pairs with East+West opponents that all bid 6 and took the remaining tricks. A, B, C, And D play Board 1 with the following bids and tricks taken:
| Team | Tricks Bid | Tricks Taken | Resulting Score | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team A | 6 | 6 | 61 | +60 for bidding and making 60, +1 for giving 1 bag |
| Team B | 5 | 6 | 50 | +50 for bidding and making 50, +1 for giving 1 bag, -1 for taking 1 bag |
| Team C | 5 | 5 | 52 | +50 for bidding and making 50, +2 for giving 2 bags |
| Team D | 5 | 5 | 52 | +50 for bidding and making 50, +2 for giving 2 bags |
Based on their scores, here are the Match Points that they earn for the first Board of the tournament:
| Team | Score for Board | Match Points Earned | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team A | 61 | +3 | +1 each for beating C, D, and B |
| Team C | 52 | +1.5 | +1 for beating B, +.5 for tying D |
| Team D | 52 | +1.5 | +1 for beating B, +.5 for tying C |
| Team B | 50 | 0 | +0 for not beating or tying with any other team |
The teams play the remaining 7 Boards for the tournament, accumulating Match Points. The final standings end up being this:
| Team | Total Match Points | Place |
|---|---|---|
| Team B | 16.5 | 1st |
| Team A | 12.0 | 2nd |
| Team D | 10.0 | 3rd |
| Team C | 9.5 | 4th |
Formats
Card Game Academy currently has 2 formats: Solo Entry and Team Entry. One or both formats can be played for the daily duplicate tournaments.
In the Solo Entry tournament, players will enter individually and have a bot as a partner and you will play against bot opponents. In the Team Entry, you will need a partner to join you and you will play against bot opponents.