Spades is a partnership trick-taking card game, in which the object is for each pair or partnership to take at least the number of tricks they bid on before play began. Spades is a descendant of the Whist family of card games, which also includes Bridge, Hearts, and Oh, Hell. Its major difference as compared to other whist variants is that, instead of trump being decided by the highest bidder or at random, the spade suit is always trump, hence the name.

Spades was invented in the United States in the late 1930s and became popular in the 1940s. It is unclear which game it is most directly descended from, but it is known that spades is a member of the Whist family and is a simplification of Contract Bridge such that a skilled spades player can learn Bridge relatively quickly. The game's rise to popularity in the U.S. came during World War II, when it was introduced by soldiers from its birthplace in Cincinnati, Ohio to various military stations around the world.

The game's popularity in the armed forces stems from its simplicity compared to Bridge and Euchre and the fact that it can be more easily interrupted than Poker, all of which were also popular military card games. After the war, veterans brought the game back home to the U.S., where due to the GI Bill it spread to and became popular among college students as well as in home games. It also remained mildly popular in countries in which U.S. troops were stationed, both in WWII and later deployments.

As of 2000, Spades is considered the #1 partnership game in the United States, surpassing Bridge. However, Bridge, Hearts, Skat and other trick-taking games remain popular and eclipse Spades in various regions and demographics of the U.S. and in other countries, especially in Europe.

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