Spades

How to play Spades

Four players sit in two partnerships. Your partner sits opposite you. Each player receives 13 cards from a standard 52-card deck. Aces are high. The dealer rotates after every hand; the player to the dealer’s left bids and leads first.

Bid, then follow suit

Bid how many tricks you expect to take, from 1 to 13, or choose Nil to promise no tricks. Partners’ regular bids combine into a contract. Play a card of the suit led if you can. If you cannot follow suit, play any card, including a spade. The highest spade wins; with no spades, the highest card of the led suit wins. The winner leads the next trick.

Spades are always trump. You may not lead them until someone has played a spade on another suit, unless your whole hand consists of spades.

Scoring and bags

Make your partnership’s regular contract for 10 points per bid trick, plus 1 point per overtrick. Miss it and lose 10 points per bid trick. Each overtrick is a bag: every 10 bags costs 100 points, carrying any remainder forward. A Nil succeeds for 100 points and fails for −100. Tricks taken by a failed Nil count as bags and do not help the partner’s contract. Those bags earn their usual 1 point.

Optional Blind Nil is offered before you see your cards, for +200 or −200. There is no card exchange and no score-gap requirement in this table’s house variant. The server hides your hand until you look or commit. Partners cannot see each other’s cards.

Winning and private rooms

Reach 500 points, or choose 300 for a shorter match. The higher score wins; a tie at the target means another hand. In private rooms, everyone chooses Ready before the room creator starts. Open seats are computer guests. Everyone reviews the hand before choosing Next hand. After the match, return to the same lobby for another game. No open chat; use friendly emoji reactions.

Corin’s table tips

Count your reliable high cards before bidding. Long spades can take later tricks, but small spades are not guaranteed winners. Protect a Nil partner by taking a trick above their card when you can. Do not spend a high trump to beat your partner’s winning card. Watch the bag count as carefully as the score.

Solo progress is saved on this device. Speed, sound, light/dark and reduced-motion preferences are respected. Solo scores are for practice; no coins or wagering.