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Frequently Asked Questions
Short answers to common spades questions, from the deal to bags and negative scores. Where house rules differ, each answer gives the common alternatives and says which rule our game uses.
Basic Rules
How many players do you need for Spades?
Four, in two fixed partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other. That is the standard game and the one our site deals. Two players can build 13-card hands by drawing and discarding, three can play alone with 17 cards each, and six can play in three pairs with two decks.
How many cards does each player get?
Thirteen. The dealer deals the whole 52-card deck one card at a time, clockwise, starting with the player on their left, so all four players get 13 and no cards are left over. In three-player spades each player gets 17 and the one card left over is set aside.
Do you have to follow suit in Spades?
Yes. If you hold a card of the suit led, you must play one. Only when you have none of that suit may you play something else: a spade to trump the trick, or any card from another suit. Our game accepts only legal cards, so you cannot fail to follow suit by mistake.
Can you lead with spades on the first trick?
No, unless you hold nothing but spades. Spades cannot be led until they are broken, which happens the first time someone plays a spade on a trick led in another suit. Trumping is allowed from the first trick on, so a player with none of the suit led can break spades on trick one.
Who goes first in Spades?
The player on the dealer's left bids first and leads the first trick, and after that the winner of each trick leads the next one. The deal passes one seat to the left each hand. Our game gives you the first deal, which makes West the first bidder and first leader.
Bidding
What is a Nil bid?
Nil is a bid to win no tricks at all. If the nil bidder takes none, their team scores 100; if they take even one, the team loses 100. The partner still bids a number and must make it alone, because the nil bidder's tricks never count toward the partner's bid.
What is a Blind Nil?
A blind nil is a nil bid made before you look at your cards. It usually scores 200 if made and costs 200 if broken. Most tables limit it to a team trailing by 100 or more and add a two-card trade between partners; our game offers it at any score, with no trade.
Can both partners bid Nil?
Not in our game: if your partner has already bid nil, you cannot bid nil too. Standard rules leave double nil out as well. Some house rules allow it as a special bid, and tables disagree on the stakes, which range from 200 to 500 points or the whole game.
Can you bid zero without bidding Nil?
No. A bid of zero is always nil, with its own 100-point bonus or penalty, so the lowest ordinary bid is 1 trick. Some house rules go further and require each team to bid at least 4 tricks between them, a minimum called the board. Our game has no team minimum.
Scoring
What are bags in Spades?
Bags are the tricks a team takes beyond its contract. Each bag scores 1 point, but bags carry over from hand to hand, and every time a team's count reaches 10 it loses 100 points. The count then drops by 10, so a team that reaches 12 bags keeps 2 of them.
What are the penalties in spades?
The main one is being set: a team that takes fewer tricks than it bid loses 10 points for every trick it bid. Every 10 bags cost 100 points, a broken nil costs 100, and a broken blind nil usually costs 200. At home tables a renege most often costs three tricks.
What score do you play to in Spades?
Most games play to 500. If both teams pass 500 on the same hand, the higher score wins, and an exact tie usually means playing another hand. Shorter games run to 200, 250, or 300 points, and some groups play to 1,000. Our game plays to 500 and ends early if a team falls to -200.
Can you have a negative score in Spades?
Yes. A set contract, a broken nil, or the 100-point bag penalty can push a team below zero. A common house and online rule ends the game when a team reaches -200, and that team loses; our game uses it. Some rulebooks set no floor, and a few groups use -500 instead.
Gameplay Situations
What happens if I have no cards of the suit led?
You may play any card. Play a spade and you trump the trick, which wins it unless someone plays a higher spade; play a card from another suit and you discard, which cannot win. The first spade played on a trick led in another suit breaks spades for the rest of the hand.
Do I have to trump if I cannot follow suit?
No. When you are out of the suit led, trumping is a choice, not a duty. You can throw away a card from another suit instead, which is the right play when your partner is already winning the trick or when your team has its tricks and wants to avoid bags.
What if two spades are played on the same trick?
The higher spade wins. If one player trumps with the 7 of spades and the next plays the Jack of spades, the Jack takes the trick. Spades rank from the Ace down to the 2, like every other suit, and any spade beats every card of the three other suits.
What does 10 for 2 mean in Spades?
It is a house rule, also called 10 for 200: a team that bids 10 tricks and takes exactly 10 scores 200 instead of 100, and loses 200 if it falls short. Some tables accept 10 or more tricks. Our game has no such bonus and scores a bid of 10 at 10 points per trick.
Still Have Questions?
The full spades rules cover two- and three-player games and the common house variants, from jokers to deuces high, and the spades glossary defines every term on this page, from bags to the board.