How to play Spades

One standard 52-card deck, four players in two partnerships (partners sit opposite), and paper to keep score. Aces are high in every suit.

Be the first partnership to reach 500 points by bidding accurately and then winning at least as many tricks as your team bid—without piling up too many extra tricks.

1. 1Choose the first dealer at random; the deal then passes to the left after each hand.
2. 2Deal all 52 cards one at a time, so each player holds 13.
3. 3Starting with the player to the dealer’s left, each player bids once: the number of tricks they expect to win, from 1 to 13, or Nil (zero). There is no passing and no second round.
4. 4Add the two partners’ bids together: that total is the team’s contract for the hand.

1. 1The player to the dealer’s left leads the first trick with any card except a spade.
2. 2Everyone else must follow the suit that was led if they can. If you cannot follow suit, you may play any card—including a spade, which is a trump.
3. 3The trick is won by the highest spade in it, or by the highest card of the suit led if no spade was played. The winner leads the next trick.
4. 4Spades cannot be led until they are “broken”—that is, until someone has played a spade on another suit—unless the leader holds nothing but spades.
5. 5Count tricks by partnership, except for a player who bid Nil: their tricks are tracked separately.

• After all 13 tricks, score each team. Making the contract earns 10 points per trick bid, plus 1 point for each extra trick (called a bag or sandbag).
• Failing the contract loses 10 points per trick bid.
• Every time a team has collected 10 bags in total, it loses 100 points and the bag count starts again.
• A successful Nil earns 100 points; a failed Nil loses 100. A Blind Nil—bid before looking at your cards—is worth 200 either way.
• The first team to reach 500 points wins. If both pass 500 on the same hand, the higher score wins.

• Jokers: many groups add the two jokers as the highest spades (big joker, then little joker) and remove two 2s to keep 52 cards.
• Minimum bid: some tables require each partnership to bid at least 4 tricks.
• Blind Nil is often allowed only when a team is behind by 100 points or more, and the bidder may swap two cards with their partner.
• Three-player Spades: deal 17 cards each (remove one card), bid individually, and play every player for themselves.
• Two-player Spades: there is no deal—players take turns drawing from the stock, keeping or discarding cards until each has 13.

• Count your sure tricks: aces, protected kings, and high spades. Long spades often win late tricks too, so value a fifth or sixth spade.
• Do not overbid to be safe—bags add up, and 10 of them wipe out 100 points.
• If your partner bid Nil, play high to cover them and try to win the tricks they might be forced to take.
• Lead short suits early so you can trump in once you run out.