Spades is the king of American trick-taking games. Four players, two partnerships, one trump suit that never changes, and a bidding system that punishes both timidity and greed. According to the United States Playing Card Company, it ranks as the number one card game among American college students, and it has held that kind of loyalty for decades.
This guide covers the standard partnership game and is part of our complete guide to card games. You will learn how bidding works, how tricks are played, how bags can sink you, and what nil bids are for.
In this guide
- Spades at a glance
- Players and partnerships
- The deal
- Bidding: your bid is a promise
- Playing a hand
- Scoring and bags
- Nil and blind nil
- Partnership strategy
- FAQs
Spades at a glance
| Players | 4, in 2 partnerships |
| Deck | Standard 52-card deck, no jokers |
| Cards each | 13 |
| Trump suit | Spades, always |
| Bid scoring | 10 points per trick bid, 1 point per extra trick (bag) |
| Failed bid | Minus 10 points per trick bid |
| Bag penalty | Minus 100 points per 10 bags |
| Winning | First partnership to 500 points |
Players and partnerships
Spades is a four-player game with two partnerships. Partners sit across from each other. You win and lose as a team: bids combine, tricks combine, and the score is shared. Everything in this guide assumes this standard partnership format.
The deal
The dealer shuffles and deals all 52 cards, one at a time, so each player holds 13. There is no leftover pile and no drawing during the hand. The deal passes to the left after each hand.
Bidding: your bid is a promise
Before a single card is played, each player bids the number of tricks they expect their side to win, starting with the player to the dealer’s left. Your partner’s bid and yours are added together into one team bid. If you bid 3 and your partner bids 2, your team must win at least 5 of the 13 tricks.
Bid honestly. This is the whole skill of Spades: look at your hand, count the tricks you are confident about (aces and kings of non-spade suits are nearly automatic), and bid that number. Bidding too high loses points fast. Bidding too low piles up bags, which carry their own penalty.
Playing a hand
The player to the dealer’s left leads the first trick by playing any card except a spade. Going clockwise, each player must follow suit if they can. If you cannot follow suit, you may play any card, including a spade, which will win the trick against any non-spade.
Two rules define Spades play:
- Spades cannot be led until they have been “broken”, meaning a spade has already been played on an earlier trick because someone could not follow suit.
- The highest spade wins any trick it is played on. If no spade is played, the highest card of the suit led wins. Card rank runs ace (high) down to 2.
The winner of each trick leads the next one. Play all 13 tricks, then score the hand.
Scoring and bags
If your team meets its bid, you score 10 points for each trick bid, plus 1 point for each trick won beyond the bid. Those extra tricks are called bags (or overtricks). Example: your team bids 7 and wins 10 tricks. You score 73 points: 70 for the bid, 3 bags.
If your team falls short of its bid, you lose 10 points per trick bid and score nothing for the tricks you did win. Bid 6, win 4: minus 60.
Bags accumulate across hands, and every 10th bag costs your team 100 points. Winning too many tricks above your bid is genuinely punished, which is why accurate bidding matters more than raw card strength. Most groups also play that reaching minus 200 ends the game in a loss, so reckless bidding can kill you two ways.
Nil and blind nil
A player may bid nil, which is a personal bet to win zero tricks that hand. It is scored separately from the partner’s bid: plus 100 if you take no tricks, minus 100 if you take even one. Your partner still bids and plays normally.
Blind nil is the high-wire version: you bid nil before looking at your hand. Success is worth 200, failure costs 200. Save it for desperate moments or very confident reads.
Partnership strategy
- Count sure tricks, not hopeful ones. Aces and kings in side suits are close to guaranteed. Queens and long spade suits are maybes. Bid the maybes down.
- Protect a partner’s nil. If your partner bids nil, your job switches to covering their danger cards: play high cards early in suits where they are vulnerable.
- Do not waste spades early. Spades are your trump suit and your endgame weapon. Throwing them away on low-value tricks leaves you helpless late.
- Manage bags late in the game. If your team is sitting on 8 or 9 bags, it is often correct to deliberately duck a trick you could win rather than eat the 100-point penalty.
FAQs
Can you play Spades with 2 or 3 players?
Yes, with cutthroat variations where everyone plays for themselves, but the classic and best version is four players in partnerships.
What does “breaking spades” mean?
Spades cannot be led until a spade has been played on an earlier trick (because someone could not follow suit). That first spade “breaks” the suit.
What happens if both teams reach 500 in the same hand?
The team with the higher score wins. If they are tied, play another hand.
Can you bid zero without going nil?
A bid of zero is a nil bid by definition, with the same plus or minus 100 scoring.
Do bags count if you fail your bid?
No. Tricks only become bags when your team meets its bid. A failed bid scores negative and produces no bags.
How long does a game of Spades take?
A full game to 500 usually runs 45 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on how fast your group bids and plays.
Keep playing
- How to Play Go Fish: the simplest classic, perfect for families and kids.
- How to Play Rummy: melds, sets, and runs for 2 to 6 players.
- How to Play Cribbage: the board game of the card world, a race to 121.