Spades
Partners bid how many tricks they will take, then have to take exactly that many. Spades always trump.
Spades punishes both greed and caution, because a bid you beat is nearly as bad as a bid you miss. Partners sit opposite each other.
Goal
With your partner, predict how many tricks the two of you will take, then take that many. Making your bid scores; missing it costs you more than the bid was worth.
First partnership to 500 wins.
Bidding
Deal the whole deck, thirteen each. Starting left of the dealer, every player says how many tricks they expect to take. The two partners’ bids are added together: that is what the partnership must make.
Thirteen tricks exist, and bids usually total ten or eleven, which means somebody is going to be disappointed.
Play
- The player left of the dealer leads. You must follow suit if you can.
- If you cannot follow, you may play a spade to trump, or throw anything away.
- The highest spade wins the trick. If no spade was played, the highest card of the suit led wins.
When spades can be led
Spades cannot be led until they have been broken, meaning a spade has been played on a trick where someone could not follow suit. The exception is a player holding nothing but spades, who has no choice.
Nil and blind nil
Bidding nil means you will take no tricks at all. Succeed and your side gains 100; take even one and you lose 100. Your partner still plays their own bid normally, and covering a nil partner is most of the skill in the game.
Blind nil is the same declared before looking at your cards, for 200 either way. Most houses only allow it when a partnership is at least 100 points behind.
Scoring and bags
Make your combined bid and score ten points per trick bid. Miss it and you lose ten per trick bid, taking nothing for the tricks you did win.
Tricks above your bid are bags, worth one point each. They look like a bonus and are a trap: every ten bags accumulated costs you 100 points. Bidding low to be safe is how partnerships lose.
Questions
Why are extra tricks bad in Spades?
Each one is a bag worth a single point, and every ten bags costs 100. Consistently overshooting your bid loses games slowly.
Can I lead a spade whenever I want?
Not until spades are broken, which means one has been played on a trick where somebody could not follow suit. A player holding only spades is the exception.
What happens if my partner bids nil?
You play to take tricks they might otherwise be forced into. Winning tricks above your own bid is worth a bag; letting their nil fail costs 100.
Can Spades be played with two or three players?
Yes, as individuals rather than partners. Each player bids and scores for themselves, and the deal changes to keep hands even.