Spades rules

Spades is played by four people in two partnerships. At the start of each hand, every player bids how many tricks they expect to win, and partners add their bids together to form a team contract. Win at least that many tricks and you score points; fall short and you lose them. The first team to reach 500 points wins.

Players

4, in two teams of 2

Deck

Standard 52 cards, 13 each

Trump

Spades, every hand

To win

First team to 500

Your bid is an estimate of how many tricks your own hand will take. A simple way to start counting:

• An Ace in clubs, diamonds or hearts usually wins a trick.
• A King often wins one too, especially when you hold at least one other card of that suit.
• High spades (Ace, King and often Queen) are strong because only a higher spade can beat them.
• Extra spades become tricks when you’re short in another suit: once you run out of that suit, you can trump it.

Your partner’s bid is added to yours, so if they bid before you, use what they’ve said. There’s no minimum team bid in our version. For a fuller method, see our Spades strategy guide.

A nil bid is a bid of zero: a promise to win no tricks at all. In most Spades games nil is scored on its own. The nil bidder earns 100 points if they take no tricks and loses 100 if they take even one, while their partner’s bid is scored separately. Many groups also allow a blind nil, declared before looking at your cards, worth 200 points either way.

Following suit is compulsory. If a heart is led and you have a heart, you must play one. When you have no cards of the led suit, you may play any card.

Playing a spade in that situation is called trumping (or cutting), and it beats every card of the other three suits. If more than one player trumps, the highest spade wins. Playing a card of another suit instead is called discarding or sloughing, and it can’t win the trick.

The online game only lets you play legal cards, so you can’t accidentally renege (fail to follow suit).

You can’t lead a spade until spades have been broken, which means a spade has been played on an earlier trick, usually by someone who couldn’t follow suit. The exception: if your hand contains nothing but spades, you may lead one, and that also breaks spades.

Once spades are broken they can be led at any time. Until then, the table shows “Spades not broken yet” under the cards in the middle.

Every trick you win beyond your contract is a bag, also called a sandbag or overtrick. A bag is worth 1 point straight away, but bags are counted across hands. When a team reaches 10 bags it loses 100 points, and any bags over 10 carry forward. The scoreboard shows each team’s current bag count.

This is why bidding low on purpose doesn’t pay. Ten bags give you 10 points and then take 100 away, so each one costs roughly 9 points over time. It’s also why experienced players sometimes let an opponent close to 10 bags win extra tricks.

Scores are checked at the end of every hand. The first team to reach 500 points wins, and if both teams pass 500 on the same hand, the higher score wins. If the scores are tied at 500 or more, another hand is played. Our version has no lower limit, so a team deep in negative points can still come back.

• Blind nil: a nil bid made before looking at your cards, scored at ±200.
• Two of clubs leads: some games require the 2♣ to open the first trick of each hand.
• Jokers: two jokers are added as the highest trumps, with two 2s removed to keep 52 cards.
• Shorter games and mercy rules: games to 250 or 300, or an instant loss for a team that falls to −200.
• Minimum and big bids: some groups require a team bid of at least 4, or give a bonus for bidding and making 10 or more tricks.

How many players do you need for Spades?

Four, playing as two teams of two with partners sitting opposite each other. On this site the computer fills any empty seats, so you can play alone against three computer players or with one to three friends. Two- and three-player versions exist, but they use different rules.

Do you have to follow suit in Spades?

Yes. If you hold a card of the suit that was led, you must play one. Only when you have none of that suit can you play a spade to trump or discard a card from another suit.

Can you lead spades on the first trick?

Only if your hand contains nothing but spades. Otherwise spades cannot be led until one has been played on an earlier trick.

What happens if you do not make your bid?

Your team is set and loses 10 points for every trick it bid. For example, falling short on a team bid of 6 costs 60 points.

What is a bag in Spades?

A trick your team wins beyond its bid. Each bag is worth 1 point, but every 10 bags a team collects costs it 100 points.

How many points do you need to win Spades?

Our version is played to 500 points, which is the most common target. Some groups play to 250 or 300 for a shorter game.

Who leads first in Spades?

The player to the dealer's left leads the first trick. After that, whoever wins a trick leads the next one.