Spades Terminology

Definitions of the words spades players use at the table, from bags and books to the board and Boston. Where a term names a house rule, the entry says whether our game uses it. The full spades rules show each one in play.

A - B

Ace

The highest card in each suit. The Ace of spades is the highest card in standard spades and wins every trick it is played to; only jokers, in house games that add them, rank above it.

Bags

Tricks a team takes beyond its contract, also called sandbags or overtricks. Each bag scores 1 point, bags carry over from hand to hand, and every 10 bags cost the team 100 points. A team that reaches 12 bags loses 100 and keeps 2.

Bid

The number of tricks a player says they will win, from 1 to 13, or nil for none. Each player bids once, starting on the dealer's left, and partners' bids are added into one team contract.

Big Joker and Little Joker

In joker spades, the two jokers added to the deck as the highest trumps, the big joker above the little joker. Two 2s, usually the 2 of clubs and a red 2, come out to keep the deck at 52. Our game plays without jokers.

Blind Nil

A nil bid made before looking at your cards, usually worth 200 points if made and minus 200 if broken. Most rulebooks reserve it for a side trailing by at least 100 and let the partners trade two cards; our Blind Nil button has neither condition.

Board

A minimum bid of 4 tricks per team, used in some house rules; a player whose partner bids nil must then bid at least 4. Our game has no team minimum.

Book

Another word for a trick. Players often say they bid "four books."

Boston

Taking all 13 tricks in a hand, also called shooting the moon. Some tables treat it as a special bid worth 200 points, or the whole game. In our game all 13 tricks earn nothing extra beyond the contract and its bags.

Breaking Spades

Playing the first spade of the hand on a trick led in another suit. Until spades are broken, nobody may lead a spade unless they hold only spades, and a spade led from an all-spade hand does not break them.

C - D

Contract

The number of tricks a team must take: the total of both partners' bids, not counting a nil. Take at least that many and the team scores 10 per trick bid; fall short and it is set.

Cover

To play a higher card than the one already winning the trick. Covering a partner's nil means playing high so the nil bidder can safely play under you.

Cut

To play a spade on a trick led in another suit, when you have none of that suit. Same as trumping or ruffing.

Cutthroat

Spades without partners, with each player bidding and scoring alone. Four players can play it by choice, and two- and three-player spades are always played this way. Also called solo spades.

Dealer

The player who deals the 52 cards, 13 to each player, one at a time, clockwise. The deal passes one seat to the left after each hand, and the player on the dealer's left bids first and leads first.

Deuces High

A house rule that moves some or all of the 2s into the trump suit above the Ace, in an agreed order. Tables disagree on the order, so agree it before the deal. Our game ranks every 2 as the lowest card of its suit.

Discard

To play a card from another side suit when you cannot follow the suit led and choose not to trump. A discarded card cannot win the trick.

Double Nil

A house rule in which both partners bid nil, staked anywhere from 200 points to the whole game depending on the table. It is not part of the basic rules, and our game blocks a second nil from the same team.

Duck

To play a lower card than the one winning the trick, letting it go. Players duck to avoid taking tricks they do not need.

F - L

Follow Suit

To play a card of the suit that was led. It is compulsory whenever you hold one; only a player out of that suit may trump or discard.

Hand

One deal of the cards and the 13 tricks played from it, or the 13 cards a player holds.

Lead

To play the first card of a trick. The leader sets the suit the others must follow; the winner of each trick leads the next.

N - R

Nil

A bid to win no tricks. The team scores 100 if the nil bidder takes none and loses 100 if they take any. The partner's own bid is scored separately.

Overbid

Bidding more tricks than the team can take. An overbid team is set and loses 10 points for every trick it bid.

Overtrick

A trick taken beyond the team contract. See Bags.

Partnership

The two players who sit opposite each other and score as one team. By custom, partners do not discuss their hands during play.

Renege

Failing to follow suit when you could. Penalties vary by table, and three tricks is the most common. Our game only accepts legal cards, so a renege cannot happen.

Round

One card from each player, which makes a trick. Some players also use it to mean a whole hand.

Ruff

To play a spade when you cannot follow the suit led. Same as cutting or trumping.

S - T

Sandbag

Another word for a bag, an overtrick. See Bags.

Set

Falling short of the team contract. A set team loses 10 points for every trick it bid: bid 8 and take 6, and the team loses 80. Some house rules score a set as zero instead.

Singleton

The only card you hold in a suit. Once you play it you are void in that suit and can trump when it is led.

Sluff

To discard a card from a side suit on a trick you don't intend to win, often to get rid of a high card that could win an unwanted trick later.

Ten for Two

A house bonus for a team bid of exactly 10 tricks: making it pays 200 instead of 100, and missing it costs 200. Some groups call it wheels. Our game scores a bid of 10 at the usual 10 points per trick.

Trick

One card from each of the four players. The highest spade wins it, or the highest card of the suit led if no spade was played.

Trump

The suit that beats all the others. In spades the trump suit is always spades, so even the 2 of spades beats the Ace of any other suit.

U - V

Underbid

Bidding fewer tricks than the team takes. The extra tricks become bags, 1 point each, with 100 points lost for every 10.

Void

Holding no cards of a suit, either from the deal or after playing them all. A player void in the suit led may trump or discard.