How to Play Spades

How do you play Spades? Four players in two teams are dealt 13 cards each, everyone bids how many tricks they will take, and spades are always trump. Your team scores 10 points for every trick it bid if it takes at least that many, and loses the same if it falls short. The Spades rules in six lines:

Players: 4, in two partnerships; your partner sits opposite you.
Deal: a standard 52-card deck, dealt out completely, 13 cards each.
Bid: each player bids 0 (Nil) to 13 tricks; partners' bids add up to one team contract.
Trump: any spade beats any other suit, but nobody may lead a spade until one has been played on an earlier trick.
Play: follow suit if you can; the highest spade wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the suit led.
Score: make your bid for 10 points per trick bid, plus 1 per extra trick (a bag); miss it and lose 10 per trick bid. Ten bags cost 100. First team to 500 wins (Quick Match plays to 250).

Play Spades free

That's the game on paper, and it's the same game at a kitchen table or online, where it's often called internet Spades. It reads better watching one hand go round the table, so here is a single hand followed from the deal to the score sheet, with a bid, a nil and a bag in it. The rules in plain reference form come after, for when somebody at the table wants to argue.

One hand, from the deal to the score

You sit South, which is where our app always puts you. North is your partner; West and East are the other team. Play runs clockwise (South, West, North, East) and the deal moves one seat left every hand. East dealt this one, so you, on the dealer's left, bid first and lead first.

1. The deal

All 52 cards go out, 13 each, nothing left in the middle. You pick up:

Your hand (South): ♠ A Q 7 4 ♥ K 9 3 ♦ A 8 5 2 ♣ 6 3

2. The bid

Count it like this. The A♠ and A♦ are sure tricks: that's two. The Q♠ with two little spades under it should come good once the king is gone, and a fourth spade usually wins a late trick when the others are out of trumps. The K♥ has two hearts to hide behind, so call it half a trick. Four and a half, round down: you bid 4.

Round the table it goes: West bids 3, North (your partner) bids Nil, East bids 4.

Your side's contract is 4. North's nil is not added in; it's scored on its own, so your 4 tricks have to come from you.
Their side's contract is 3 + 4 = 7, and either of them can take the tricks.
All four bids come to 11, so two tricks are spare. Somebody is going to collect bags.

3. The first trick: no spade leads

You may lead anything except a spade on the first trick, and spades stay locked until one has been played. You lead the A♦.

A♦South leads 4♦West follows 9♦North drops a middle card 3♦East follows

You win it. Notice North: a nil bidder throws the highest card that will still lose, and under an ace the 9♦ is perfectly safe. That's one dangerous card gone for free.

4. Spades get broken

On the fourth trick you lead your last club, the 6♣. West plays the 4♣, North ducks with the 5♣, and East has no clubs left.

6♣South leads 4♣West follows 5♣North ducks 3♠East is out of clubs and cuts

East's little 3♠ beats every club, so East takes the trick. This is cutting (or trumping), and it's legal only because East couldn't follow suit. It also breaks spades: from the next trick on, anyone may lead a spade.

5. The rest of the hand

Your K♥ wins a trick, the A♠, Q♠ and your last spade pick up three more, and North gets through the whole hand without taking one. Final count:

Seat	Bid	Took
South (you)	4	5
North	Nil	0
West	3	3
East	4	5

6. The score

Your side: you bid 4 and took 5, so the contract is made: 40 points, plus 1 for the extra trick, which also goes on your bag count. North's nil held: +100. Total +141.
Their side: bid 7, took 8. That's 70, plus 1 for the bag: +71.

Two small changes show why players fuss over nils and bags.

If North had been caught for one trick (say a trick you would otherwise have won, so you finish with 4): your contract is still made at 40, but the nil fails for −100, and North's trick counts as a bag for +1. Your side scores −59 instead of +141. One trick, a 200-point swing.

If your side had come in carrying 9 bags: that one extra trick is the tenth bag. You lose 100 and the bag count goes back to 0. The same hand scores +41.

Our app works all of this out for you after every hand, line by line, but it's worth being able to do it yourself.

The rules, for reference

Players, cards and the deal

Four players in two fixed partnerships, partners sitting opposite.
A standard 52-card deck with no jokers. Aces are high, twos are low.
The dealer deals the whole deck one card at a time, clockwise, 13 each. The deal passes to the left after every hand.

Bidding

Starting on the dealer's left, each player makes exactly one bid, from 0 (Nil) to 13. Nobody passes. Partners' bids are added together into one team contract: 4 opposite 3 means your team needs at least 7 tricks between you, split any way. A bid of zero is always a nil, and it's judged on that player alone.

Nil

A nil promises that you personally take no tricks. Make it and your team gets +100; take even one trick and it's −100. Your partner's bid is scored separately and only on your partner's own tricks. Any tricks the nil bidder does take count as bags for the team. Our tables have no blind nil.

Playing a trick

The player on the dealer's left leads the first trick, with any card except a spade.
Play goes clockwise. You must follow suit if you can.
If you can't follow, play anything, a spade included. Playing a spade there is called cutting.
The highest spade wins the trick. With no spade in it, the highest card of the suit led wins.
Whoever wins the trick leads the next one.

Breaking spades

You can't lead a spade until spades are broken, meaning someone has already played one on an earlier trick because they couldn't follow suit. The one exception: if spades are all you have left, you may lead one. Following with a spade when you're out of the led suit is allowed at any time, even on the first trick.

Spades scoring

Spades scoring is done per team at the end of each hand of 13 tricks. This is how our app scores it:

Result	Score
Team makes its combined bid	10 × bid, plus 1 per overtrick
Team falls short of its bid ("set")	−10 × bid, and no bags
Each overtrick ("bag")	+1 point, and one bag on the team's count
Reaching 10 bags	−100; any bags past ten stay on the count
Nil made	+100
Nil failed	−100, and the nil bidder's tricks count as team bags

Spades scoring examples

Made exactly: you bid 4, your partner bids 2. The team takes 6 tricks: +60.
Made with bags: the same 6 bid, but the team takes 8 tricks: 60 + 2 = +62, and 2 bags go on the count.
Set: the same 6 bid, but the team takes only 5 tricks: −60. A set earns no bags.
Nil plus a bid: you bid Nil and take no tricks; your partner bids 4 and takes 5. That's +100 for the nil, +40 for the contract and +1 for the bag: +141.
Sandbagged: your team already has 8 bags and takes 3 more. The count reaches 11, so the team loses 100 (on top of the +1 for each bag) and the count drops to 1.

What bags mean in Spades, and the bag penalty

A bag is any trick your team wins above its bid. Each one is worth a point when you take it, but your team keeps a running count across hands, and the tenth bag costs 100. That penalty is the reason you can't just bid low every hand and coast. The skill is bidding what your hand is actually worth.

Winning the match

The first team to 500 points at the end of a hand wins. Quick Match in our app plays to 250 with the same rules. If both teams pass the target on the same hand, the higher total wins, and if they're level another hand is played. There's also a floor: a team that drops to −200 loses on the spot.

House rules you'll run into

Spades was invented in the United States in the 1930s. Online play has made the rules more standard, but kitchen tables still play it their own way. Here are three differences you'll run into, as written up on pagat.com's Spades page.

Jokers as the top trumps: In the rules Dennis J. Barmore describes as widely played by African Americans, two jokers go into the deck, the 2♣ and 2♥ come out, and the trumps run big joker, little joker, 2♠, then A♠ down to 3♠. The jokers count as spades. The New York City version adds the 2♦ between the little joker and the 2♠. Our tables play without jokers: the A♠ is the highest card in the deck.
Leading spades before they're broken: Barmore's rules let you lead a spade whenever you like, and pagat notes other tables that do the same. We don't: spades stay locked until one has been played, unless you hold nothing else.
Blind nil: A nil bid before you look at your cards, scored ±200. Pagat says it's usually only allowed when your side is losing by at least 100 points, and the blind nil bidder may swap two cards with their partner. Our app doesn't offer blind nil.

More of these, including the minimum team bid of 4 and tables that skip the bag penalty, are on the Spades variants page.

Table manners

No table talk. Your bid is the only signal you're allowed. Say the number and stop.
Reneging means not following suit when you could have. At a real table, if it's caught before the hand is over, the usual remedy is that the offending team is set. In our app the rules engine won't let you play an illegal card, so it can't happen.
Bid in turn, keep the pace up, and say well played to a made nil, even when it's the other side's.

Spades rules questions

What is a trick in Spades?

One card from each of the four players, played in turn. The highest spade in it wins, or, if it holds no spade, the highest card of the suit that was led. Each hand has 13 tricks, and bids count tricks.

How many cards does each player get in Spades?

Thirteen. The whole 52-card deck is dealt out to four players, so every card is in play and nothing is left over.

Can I lead a spade on the first trick?

No. Spades can't be led until they're broken (someone cut an earlier trick with one). The exception is a hand with nothing but spades left, which may lead them.

What exactly is a bag?

A trick won above your team's bid. Each is worth +1 point straight away, but every ten collected costs 100. Bid 7, win 9 tricks: you score 72 and bank 2 bags.

Do both partners have to make their own bids?

No, the bids are added together. If your team bids 4 + 3 = 7, any split of 7 tricks between you makes the contract. Nil is the exception: the nil bidder's zero is judged on that player alone.

When can I bid Blind Nil?

Where it's allowed, usually only when your team is losing by at least 100 points, and it scores plus or minus 200. Our app doesn't offer blind nil.

Is there a trump call like in other games?

No. Spades are trump every hand, with no auction for it. The bidding is where the skill goes instead.

What happens if we tie past 500?

Higher total wins. If the totals are level, another hand is played.

Can I play a spade if I still hold the led suit?

No. You must follow suit whenever you can. Cutting is only legal when you have none of the suit that was led.

Who wins a trick with two spades in it?

The higher spade. If East cuts with the 2 of spades and South overcuts with the 9 of spades, South wins.

Does a failed Nil hurt my partner's bid too?

No. The nil (plus or minus 100) is scored on its own, and your partner's contract is judged on your partner's tricks alone. But any tricks the nil bidder wins count as team bags, so a broken nil can cost you twice.

How long does a match take?

It depends on the bids. A side that makes 6 every hand scores about 60 a hand, so it needs nine or so hands to reach 500. Quick Match, to 250, takes roughly half that.

Is Spades related to Whist?

Yes. It belongs to the Whist family: the same 52 cards, four players and thirteen tricks, with spades fixed as trump and a bid added. If you know any Whist game you'll follow Spades within a hand.

Can Spades be played with 2, 3 or 6 players?

Yes, with house rules for each, but the four-player partnership game is the standard one, and it's the version our app plays online and against bots. For a real deck, see how to play Spades with 2 people and how to play Spades with 3 people.

How many points do you need to win Spades?

500 points. The match also ends at once if a team falls to −200. Our Quick Match plays to 250.

What happens if you bid nil and take a trick?

The nil fails and your side loses 100 points. The trick you won also counts as a team bag, so a broken nil can cost twice: once as the −100, and again if those bags take you to ten.

What is the difference between Spades and Hearts?

Spades is a bidding game you try to win tricks in; Hearts is a game you try to lose them in. Spades has a fixed trump suit and partnerships, Hearts has no trump suit and every player is on their own. See Spades vs Hearts for the full comparison.

Words you'll hear at the table

Bag: A trick won above your bid. One point now, 100 points lost at ten.
Blind Nil: A nil bid made before looking at your cards, usually for 200.
Breaking spades: The first spade played to a trick. After it, anyone may lead spades.
Cutting: Playing a spade when you have none of the suit led.
Nil: A bid to win zero tricks.
Renege: Not following suit when you could. Impossible in our app, and a serious matter at a kitchen table.
Sandbagging: Running up ten bags and paying the 100-point penalty.
Set: Falling short of your bid: minus 10 per trick bid.