How to Play Spades

The Objective of Spades

Spades is played in partnerships: two teams of two players sitting across from each other. The goal is to reach 500 points before the opposing team (or to avoid reaching -200 points).

Each round, both teams must predict how many tricks they will win. Hitting your prediction earns points. Missing it costs points.

Setup and Deal

Spades uses a standard 52-card deck. Deal all 52 cards evenly — 13 cards each to all 4 players.

Card ranking (high to low): A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

Spades are always trump — they beat every card of every other suit.

The Bidding Phase

Before play, each player bids the number of tricks they expect to win — from 0 to 13. Partners' bids are combined into a team bid.

Example: Partner A bids 3, Partner B bids 4. The team must win at least 7 tricks.

Nil bid: A player can bid 0, meaning they believe they will win zero tricks. A successful nil earns a bonus; failing it is a large penalty.

Blind nil: Before looking at your cards, you can bid nil. Higher bonus, higher risk.

How to Play Tricks

The player to the left of the dealer leads the first trick. Players must follow suit if they can. If they cannot follow suit, they may play any card including a Spade.

Spades as trump:
- A Spade beats any non-Spade card
- Among Spades, higher rank wins
- Spades cannot be led until either (a) a player has played a Spade on a previous trick, or (b) a player has only Spades left

The highest card of the led suit wins, unless a Spade was played — then the highest Spade wins.

Scoring in Spades

Making your bid: Score 10 points per trick bid. If you bid 7 and win 7 tricks, you score 70 points.

Overtricks (bags): Each trick won beyond your bid scores 1 point but adds a 'bag.' Collect 10 bags and lose 100 points.

Missing your bid: Lose 10 points per trick bid. If you bid 7 and win only 5, you lose 70 points.

Nil scoring:

| Result | Points |
|--------|--------|
| Successful nil | +100 |
| Failed nil | -100 |
| Successful blind nil | +200 |
| Failed blind nil | -200 |

Bidding Strategy

Count your winners: Aces and Kings are near-certain winners. High Spades are almost always winners. Count these as definite tricks.

Count your short suits: If you have only 1 or 2 cards of a suit, you can ruff (trump) once that suit is exhausted. Count these as probable tricks.

Don't overbid. Bags accumulate fast. Missing by 1 trick is less costly than collecting 10 bags.

Nil bids require the right hand: Low cards (2–5) across multiple suits, and ideally no Aces or face cards. Coordinate with your partner — they should protect your nil by winning tricks you'd otherwise take.

Partnership Communication

Spades is a partnership game. You and your partner share information only through your bids and your play — no talking about your hand.

Lead partner's suit. If your partner leads a suit, they likely have strength there. Follow up by leading it again when you win a trick.

Cover your partner's nil. If your partner bids nil, your job includes playing high cards to 'cover' tricks they might accidentally take.

Don't take your partner's tricks. If your partner is about to win a trick, don't trump it with a Spade unnecessarily.