It sounds counterintuitive -- everyone knows to get rid of the King and Ace of Spades as soon as you can, so that you don't get stuck taking the Queen with them. Let's be clear, I'm not suggesting that you hold on to either of those cards, if you can get rid of them. But a lot of people will play the Jack early, to try and take the lead and flush the Queen. Most often, you'll have more success flushing the queen if you lose the first few Spade tricks!

The reason is simple: If you play the Jack, then the Ace and King can take the lead from you -- and whoever has those cards will try to play them as soon as possible. The result: a wasted Jack, one that you could have used to flush the Queen.

Playing an 8 or 9 with the hopes of taking the lead is even worse, because there are more cards out there that can take the lead from you. Remember that the Queen-holder will be trying to win Spade tricks and then move onto another suit, to get void in that suit and then throw the Queen.

Instead, while other players drop their middle and high Spades on the first two Spade tricks, keep your 8, 9, 10, or Jack. Then use those cards to hold the lead for 2-3 tricks and flush the Queen for sure.

The same strategy works if you are holding the Queen, too. First of all, you're not worried about the first two Spade tricks, those won't flush your Queen; you're worried about Spade tricks 4 and 5. If you keep your high spades for those tricks, you're better-defended; and, by not playing like the typical Queen-holder, you disguise where that card is and give yourself an advantage in later hands.