How to Play Spades: Rules and Terminology

In Spades, every player places one card in the center of the table. When all four players have placed a card, that group of four cards is called a trick. One player wins each trick.

Before you play: Spades Tourneys uses its own simpler house rules, shown first below. The rest of this page explains the common bidding game you may know from home tables.

Spades Tourneys house rules

• Always partners. Two teams of two, partners sitting opposite. Register alone and you’re paired with a partner; register as a team and you stay together for the whole tourney.
• No bidding. Every book (trick) your team takes is worth 10 points. A hand has 13 books, so 130 points go out every hand.
• First to 300 wins. Late tourney rounds play to 500. If both teams pass the target on the same hand, the higher score wins. A dead tie plays one more hand.
• Follow suit when you can. Spades are always trump. Spades can’t be led until one has been played on another suit, unless a hand holds only spades.
• No nil, no bags, no jokers.
• Turn clock. You have 30 seconds a turn. If your clock runs out, the game plays your lowest card of the suit led (or your lowest non-spade if you can’t follow), and your clock is 15 seconds for the rest of that game.
• Only legal cards can be played. The game only lets you tap cards that follow the rules, so there are no reneges.

The common bidding game

The basic idea

Each player first states how many tricks they expect to win. This number is called a bid. Players then play their cards one at a time. A team tries to win at least the number of tricks that both partners bid together.

Spades are special. A spade can defeat a card from any other suit. A suit with this power is called trump. In this game, spades are always trump.

Standard table and deck

A common game uses four players, two teams, and one standard deck of 52 cards. Partners sit opposite each other. Each player receives 13 cards. Within each suit, the ace is highest and the 2 is lowest.

Objective

Each player makes a bid. Partners add their bids together. The team tries to win at least that number of tricks during one complete deal. One complete deal is called a hand. The game continues until a team reaches the score stated in the rules.

How a hand works

1. Deal the cards: Give each player 13 cards.
2. Make bids: Each player states how many tricks they expect to win.
3. Play the first card: The starting player places one card. The suit of this card is the suit that every other player must use if possible.
4. Play in order: Each other player places one card. A player who has a card from the required suit must use that suit.
5. Choose another suit when necessary: A player who has no card from the required suit may play a card from another suit, including a spade.
6. Find the winner: The highest spade wins the trick. If nobody played a spade, the highest card from the required suit wins.
7. Start the next trick: The winner plays the first card of the next trick. The hand ends after 13 tricks.
8. Calculate the score: Compare the number of tricks each team won with the number it bid.

Using the required suit

The suit of the first card determines the required suit for that trick. A player who has a card from that suit must use it. Using a different suit while still holding the required suit is a rule violation. This violation may be called a renege or revoke.

A common rule does not allow a spade to be the first card of a trick until someone has already used a spade to defeat another suit. Players often call this “breaking spades.” Some games use a different rule.

Common scoring

A common scoring method gives 10 points for each trick in the team bid and 1 point for each extra trick. For example, a team that bids 6 and wins 7 tricks receives 61 points. An extra trick is often called a bag.

If a team wins fewer tricks than it bid, many rules subtract 10 points for each trick in the bid. Other rules give the team zero points for that hand. Some games subtract 100 points when a team collects 10 extra tricks. The app states which method applies.

Nil and other variations

A nil bid means that one player plans to win zero tricks. A successful nil usually adds points. An unsuccessful nil usually subtracts points. Blind nil is a bid of zero made before the player looks at their cards. Many games do not use either option.

Other versions may use two jokers, remove selected low cards, require a minimum bid, change the score needed to win, or score each player separately. Review the displayed rules before the game begins.

Spades terminology

Team communication

Partners cooperate through their bids and the cards they play. They may not reveal their cards or use secret signals. Conversation may be allowed, but players may not use it to identify hidden cards. The tournament conduct rules state what is allowed.

Tournament play

Spades Tourneys customers register as a single player or as a team. The game chooses a four-player table arrangement from the players who are ready. A team keeps the same partner throughout the tournament. Rank and tournament position are the results; there are no cash prizes, winnings, or payouts.

Rule reference

The standard play sequence and card ranking on this page are consistent with the Bicycle Playing Cards guide to Spades. Variations are identified because groups use different rules.