1Spades is a partnership trick-taking card game for 4 players (2 teams of 2) where the spade suit is always the trump suit, outranking all other suits.
2Spades was invented in the United States in the 1930s, likely originating in Cincinnati, Ohio. It became popular among American college students and military personnel during World War II.
3In Spades, each team must bid the number of tricks they expect to win. Teams earn 10 points per bid trick, but overbidding results in a penalty of 10 points per bid trick.
4A "nil" bid in Spades means a player bids zero tricks. A successful nil bid earns 100 bonus points, but failing to take zero tricks incurs a 100-point penalty.
5Collecting overtricks (called "bags") in Spades is risky: every 10 accumulated bags penalizes a team by 100 points, a rule designed to discourage sandbagging.
6Spades uses a standard 52-card deck dealt evenly to 4 players (13 cards each). Unlike Hearts, there is no passing phase before play begins.
7A 'blind nil' bid in Spades means a player commits to taking zero tricks before looking at their hand. This high-risk bid typically earns 200 bonus points if successful.