In Joe Andrews' own words Duplicate Spades is "A tournament form of Spades in which identical deals are played in order to compare individual scores."
As originally introduced and discussed at a TheSpadesConnection tournament weekend, the ranking was solely based on the table score achieved by the team, as defined by standard Spades scoring. What had yet to be formally determined was how to keep track of the ranking from hand(round) to hand(round).
There were several points of discussion regarding the scoring:

• Ranking of the final score of each round. What was more significant in determining the skill level of the team? The actual numberical score or the ranking of the score (First, second, etc)?
  There are advantages and flaws in either method. The goal was to identify the most reasonable measure.
• Setting their opponent. Typical Spades strategy is to not only make your team's bid, but also to set their opponents. Since the results of a single hand/round are what determines the score/standing, should a team receive a bonus for setting their opponent's bid(s)?
• How do you handle a situation where noone makes their bid. IE all scores are negative?
• Only like hands are compared. Thus the separation of N/S and E/W team scoring
• How many rounds would be considered a good determining factor for measuring a tema's skill?

One round TRADITIONALLY consists of one hand (see Variants). The teams receive points from the computer for the top four scores from the round.

At the beginning of each round, E/W teams (in seats 2 and 4) are moved to the next table. N/S teams stay in the same position, thus making sure each team gets to play with a different team each round.

Example:

There are several differences in scoring in Duplicate Spades versus classic Spades scoring.

• When you get a penalty assessed against your score, that penalty is also added to the score of the opponents.
  Penalties are given when you are set. A bid set is a penalty of 10 times the bid. A Nil set penalty is 100 points. A Blind Nil set is a penalty of 200 points. That score is deducted from the penalized team, and added to the other team.
• Penalties are also given for Bags, with a deduction for the team getting the bag and a bonus to the opponents.
  - Bid Bags (for tricks taken above the bid) are given a 1 point penalty to the team that got the bag, and 1 point bonus to their opponents.
  - Nil Bags (for tricks taken by a Nil or Blind Nil bidder) are given a 2 point penalty to the team that got the bag, and a 2 point bonus to their opponents.
• For the next hand or round, bags are reset to 0.

• In Duplicate Spades, teams are ranked with all other teams sitting in the same seats.
  At the end of each round, the north/south teams are ranked and scored separately from the east/west teams. The top teams are awarded a predetermined amount of points based on their standing, and the traditional table scores are cleared at the end of each round.
• In Duplicate Spades, a negative score gets can still be in the top ranking.
• A round can consist of one or more hands. The teams receive points for the top X scores from the round. The awarded points are accumulated for each round.
• First place receives more points than second place. Second place receives more points than third...etc.
  In Duplicate Spades, PLACEMENT is based on the Table Score, so if more than one team has the same Top Score, they are both ranked as First place.

• At the end of the tournament, the teams are ranked by the total number of points accumulated.
• First place ("winner") would be the team with highest number of points.
• Scoring can vary by site, so refer to the SafeHarborGames Duplicate Spades Page for specifics.