re: Does anyone play spades?

My partner was typically my father in games against my aunt and cousin growing up.

Now it's my wife. I've had to adjust my typical approach because my dad bets big and loves to go zero. My wife bids conservative, so I'm now the one going zero with increased frequency.

I prefer to go zero to get big points instead of bidding huge, though really the name of the game is adapting to the hand you have and bid about one under what'd you typically expect with that hand. It depends on the house rules, but typically better to miss high as compared to missing low. Then score your big points on zero hands.