Playing a Hand of Spades: 2nd Low-3rd High

"Each person in the partnership takes their own tricks, or it's a term "calling rake". So that way you can always track how many tricks your partner has taken. For example, if your partner has bid five and he has taken only four tricks and he is not cashing out any winners and he's trying to get off lead with some deuce of a side suit, he's telling you "I'm in trouble. I don't have a fifth trick here". Maybe something got trumped, maybe my King got you know taken by an Ace that I didn't expect or I lost to a singleton Ace and then my Queen got trumped. Your partner is telling you that if you are in a contractive seven and he's bid five and you bid two, he's telling you "I need an extra trick; we're a team!". One of the worst excuses, it's so pitiful, that I hear is (and this will drive you up a tree) when your side goes down you get set and your partner says "I made mine". That just doesn't work. You're a team. You absolutely have to work together. If you're in a nil bid, your responsibility is to make sure that your partner doesn't take a trick. Even if it means you have to duck a trick here and there to protect your partner's nil. If your partner has bid nil and this side leads a Queen, you're not going to jump up with your Ace because you may need to cover a middle card in your partner's hand. But when you see this type of scenario where your partner might be falling short, help him out. On the other hand, if your partner has taken five and you have taken two and there is only a ten bid on the table, do you really want to start taking more? So again, look at those tricks that are taken. If you are playing on a computer, look at the tricks that are taken. It's a team game."