INTRODUCTION
Bidding game where Spades are trumps. The best players can predict how many hands they will win. Best with four players in pairs.

HOW TO PLAY SPADES

THE DEAL

Each player is dealt thirteen cards. Players sort their cards into suits from highest to lowest with the 2 low and A high.

THE PLAY

Players bid on how many hands they think they will win. These bids are written down before play starts.

HOW TO WIN
To score points players predict how many hands they will win and score points if their bid matches the hands won. Score the most points to win.

THE FIRST HAND

Player one plays any card from the suits ♥️♣️ or♦️e.g. A. The next player/(s) takes it in turn. Players must follow suit if they can e.g. 2♦️.

A NEW HAND

The highest card played that matches the leading suit is the winner of the hand. The winner takes the cards and puts them face down to the side. They start a new hand with any ♥️♣️♦️ e.g. K.

FOLLOWING SUIT

If a player does not have a card in the first suit played, they can play any suit. They can only win the hand if they follow suit or play a ♠️ e.g 2♠️.

SPADES

Once a spade is played, the suit is ‘broken’. This means a player can start with a ♠️ in any future hand in the round e.g. A♠️.

COUNTING SCORES

Once all cards have been played, the scores are counted. Players count ten points for each hand won. If the score is under the bid, the players lose ten times their bid. Count hands won over the bid as ‘bags’ and score one point for each.

THE WINNER

The winner is the first player to reach the target score, usually a round number between one hundred and five hundred.

VIDEO OF HOW TO PLAY SPADES

BIDDING ZERO

If a player bids zero and scores zero they score one hundred points. They lose one hundred if they score one or more points, plus “bags’.

Bidding zero before looking at the cards scores or loses two hundred points.

STRATEGY

Estimate how many hands can be played in a suit before a ♠️ is played. With four players it will be normally be two to four hands.

EXTRAS

Lose one hundred points for scoring ten over the bid, called ‘bags’.

Players can have a negative score.

VARIATIONS

– The player with the 2♣️ always starts the round.
– Four of the thirteen cards are dealt face up. They must be left on the table. They can be played as per the standard rules.
– When playing with four players in teams-and both players in one team bid zero-then they can score four hundred points. If both bid zero blind then they play for eight hundred points.
– If a player or team score minus two hundred points or more they lose and the game ends.

SIMILAR GAMES

  • Contract Bridge
  • Hearts
  • Whist

FAQ

The most common questions will be added here. Scroll to the bottom of the page to add a question or comment about this game.