Spades is a classic trick-taking card game that combines strategy, planning, and a bit of competition. Every round sharpens your mind and decision-making: play it safe or go bold, but miss your bid and you’ll lose points. Spades delivers a satisfying challenge that rewards making smart moves, and gives you a chance to unwind along the way.
Spades is played with a standard 52-card deck and four players, each competing individually. Jokers and extra cards are not used. Each player gets 13 cards. The cards in each suit are ranked from Ace (high) to 2 (low). Spades are always the trump suit, meaning they outrank all other suits, but they can’t be used to start a round until someone has played a Spade during a previous trick.
Before the Spades game begins, everyone takes a moment to look at their hand and decide how many tricks they think they can win. This is called a bid or contract. Once all bids are placed, the first round begins, and players take turns in clockwise order.
The Spades game is divided into two main phases: bidding, where players predict how many tricks they will win, and trick-taking, where the actual gameplay unfolds.
The goal is to make accurate bids and try to take exactly as many tricks as you promised. No more, no less.
1. Bidding: How to Make Bids in SpadesBefore each Spades round begins, every player must place a bid. Bid is a prediction of how many tricks they think they can win with their current hand. You can bid any number from 0 to 13, and your goal is to win exactly that many tricks during the round. Unlike other trick-taking games, Spades doesn’t require bids to increase in order, and passing is not allowed. Everyone must bid something.
If you feel confident that you can avoid taking any tricks, you can place a Nil bid (0 tricks). It's a bold move: succeed, and you'll earn +100 points; fail, and you'll lose –100. Keep in mind that bids cannot be changed once they’re placed, so think carefully before committing.
Bidding is the heart of strategy in Spades:
Once all four bids are placed, the Spades round begins.
2. Trick-taking: The Play of the Hand→ Over time, bags can lead to penalties!
⚠️ What happens with bags (overtricks)💡 Example: if you already have 7 bags and take 3 extra tricks this round, you lose 100 points and reset the bag counter.
❌ If you miss your bid, you lose points💡 Example: if you bid 4 and win only 2 tricks, you lose 20 points.
🕳 Nil Bid (0 tricks)Leading a trick means playing the first card in the round. The player who won the previous trick leads the next one.
Being long in a suit means having many cards of that suit. Short means just a few. Void means you have none, which can be an advantage, since you can use a Spade to trump the trick when that suit is led.
There are 13 Spades in a standard 52-card deck, ranked from 2♠ to A♠.
A Nil bid means you’re aiming to win zero tricks that round. If successful, you earn 100 points. If you take even one trick, you lose 100 points. Nil works best when your hand has mostly low cards.
No. Once all bids are in, they’re locked for the round.
A bag is an extra trick taken above your bid. While each bag gives you 1 point, collecting 10 bags triggers a 100-point penalty. Bags carry over from round to round.
Yes. Forcing someone to fail their bid or Nil can cost them major points. Watch their moves and play your cards wisely.
