The rules of spades govern the bidding, which is the essence for scoring in the game. If the partnership manages to make the number of tricks they bid, they score 10 points for each successful trick. If the team doesn't reach their bid, then they lose that number of points times ten. Spades is a popular trick-taking card game that two partnerships typically play. However, this version of Spades is just for two players. It uses a standard 52-card deck; ace is high, and 2 is low. The goal is to be the first player to reach 500 points.
OBJECTIVE: The object of the game is to be the first to get rid of all the player’s cards to a discard pile.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2-7 players
NUMBER OF CARDS: 52 deck cards for 5 or less players and 104 cards for more than 5 players
RANK OF CARDS: 8 (50 points); K, Q, J (court cards 10 points); A (1 point); 10, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2
TYPE OF GAME: Shedding-type
AUDIENCE: Family
Introduction:
Spades was first introduced in America in the 1930s and has maintained its popularity throughout the decades. Spades remained popular, only in America, for many decades until the 1990s when the game began to gain international fame and appreciation via the help of online spades play and tournaments. The game is traditionally played with four players, but there are other versions of the game for three, two, and six players.
Traditional Spades Four Players
Drunk Spades Rules
The Setup:
Spades Rules Youtube
Players that are partnered together should sit across from one another. A standard pack of 52 cards is required and play will rotate clockwise.
Spades Rules Bags
How to Deal:
Choose a dealer at random and the deal will rotate clockwise from there after. The dealer deals towards the left until all cards are dispersed and each player has 13 cards in hand.
How to Bid:
Once players have received their cards they are required to make a bid. The objective is to gauge how many hands you think you can win. Winning a hand is called taking a trick. Partners must decide how many tricks they can take together and that is their bid. Partners are then required to match or exceed their bid to obtain a positive score. There is only one round of bidding and each person must bid. In leisure play, partners can discuss amongst themselves how many tricks they believe they can take before settling on their official bid, however, they cannot show each other their hands. There are only 13 total tricks that can be made within one game.
Nil – When a player bids nil they are stating that they will not win any tricks. There is a bonus for this kind of play if successful and a penalty if unsuccessful. The partner of the player that bids nil is not required to bid nil.
Blind Nil – A player can decide to bid nil before ever looking at their cards. This action is called a blind nil and if successfully played comes with significant bonus points. After everyone has bid, the player that bid the blind nil can exchange two cards face down with their partner before game play begins. A commonly accepted rule of thumb is that a blind nil cannot be bid unless a team is losing by 100 points or more.
How to Play:
Before the game begins players set the points needed to win. For example, a score of 500 points is common for a game but you can set whatever goal you like. The player to the left of the dealer goes first. Other players must follow the suit of the first card if they can. If a player is unable to follow suit they can play a trump card (aka a Spade) or they can play any other card of their choosing. Spades cannot lead until they have been introduced to the board as a trump card. The player that played the highest card of the suit played wins the trick, unless the suit was trumped by a spade or joker. The player that won the trick throws out the first card of the next round. The objective is to win as many tricks as you bid. The play will continue until all cards have been played.
How to Score:
Players earn 10pts for every trick bid and 1pt for every trick over that bid. For example, if a team bids 7 tricks and wins 8 they will get a total of 71pts.
When a team wins more tricks than what they bid, as in the example above, the extra trick won is called an overtrick or a bag. Common play states that if a team reached 10 bags they must deduct 100pts from their score. This makes the game more interesting by motivating the players to win the exact number of tricks that they’ve bid.
If a team is unable to meet their bid at the end of a round, they receive 0pts. For example, if a team bids five books but only gets four, then they get no points and instead receive -10 points for every book they bid.
If a player is successful in their bid of nil their team will receive 100pts. If the nil bid fails then the trick won by the nil bidder counts as a bag for the team and does not count towards the partners’ bid.
A blind nil receives 200pts if successful and a deduction of 200pts if unsuccessful.
Whichever team reaches the total number of determined winning points first, wins!
Spades Rules Boston
Spades Rules
The game has four players, divided in two teams, sitting on alternate positions
Definitions
Trick – a hand won
Hand - a sequence of 4 rounds, in which each player plays a card, and the winner (who discard the highest card) wins a trick.
The highest card - the highest card of the suit. The order of the cards is as follows, from the lowest to the highest: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K,A. The spade suit is always trump.
Follow the suit - play a card of the same suit from the first card of the hand..
Bid - the number of tricks a player intends to get
Contract - the bid agreed by the team.
Bags - any hand won by a team that wasn't in the contract.
Nil - A Bid to win no tricks at all in any hand. This bid is worth 100 points
Double Nil – It's the same than nil, it is worth 200 points. One player, having not yet looked at his cards, may choose to bid . These cards will be revealed once the bid is made.
The Game
13 cards are dealt to each player one by one, clockwise. After the distribution of cards, 13 hands are held. The player on the dealer's left makes the opening lead by playing a single card of any suit, except Spades. Players in clockwise fashion then play a card of their choice; they must follow the suit led by the first player. If any player doesn't have a card of this suit, they may play any card. Cards of spades can only be led after the first hand and after a player who is not able to follow the suit lays one card of spades. In the final hand, the winner is the one who have played one or more cards of spades, the highest card of spades is the winner. If the suit of spades has not been led, the highest card of the first suit that has been led is the winner card. The winning player of the hand wins a trick. This player starts the next hand. After 13 hands, players have no cards remaining on their hands, then the points are counted. If no team has reached 100 points, 13 cards are dealt to each player again and each player from every team must make new bids in order to start a new game. The game proceeds normally up to a team reaches 100 points. So, this team will be the winning team.
Spades Rules With Jokers
Scoring and Penalties
If the contract is fulfilled by the team, this team receives 10 points for each trick won and 1 point for each bag. If the team can't get the the amount of tricks they've bet (contract), they receives the amount of tricks of the contract multiplied by -10 (minus ten), adding so a negative score. When a team reaches 10 points of bags, they receives a penalty of one hundred points and the points of bags are reset.