Spades Rules
Spades is a family of trick-taking card games built on one deceptively simple promise: bid the number of tricks you will win, then go and win exactly that many. The full 52-card deck is dealt out - usually thirteen cards to each of four players - the spade suit is permanent trump, and after the bids are in you play thirteen tricks trying to land right on your contract. What changes from one version to the next is everything around that core: whether you have a partner, whether you get to choose your bid at all, how deep the trump suit runs, and how many players sit at the table.
This page gathers the rules for every game on Spades.now. First come the handful of core rules that apply to all of them - bidding, following suit, breaking spades, scoring, bags and nil - and then the specific twist that defines each variant, with a link to jump straight into a hand. New to it all? Start with Partnership Spades, the classic, or try Mirror if you'd rather skip bidding and learn the card play first.
💡 New to Spades? Every version below runs on the same engine - bid your tricks, follow suit, and remember spades always trump. Learn that core once and each variant is just a small twist away.
The Spades variants side by side
Skim the whole family first, then drop into the full rules for any variant below.
| Variant | Players | Deck | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spades | 4 | 52 cards | Easy to learn, a lifetime to master |
| Solo | 4 | 52 cards | Cutthroat and tactical |
| Whiz | 4 | 52 cards | Sharp - The bid is forced, the play is everything |
| Mirror | 4 | 52 cards | Pure card play - No bidding decisions at all |
| Suicide | 4 | 52 cards | High-stakes - Every hand rides on a mandatory Nil |
| Jokers | 4 | 54 cards | Fast and high-scoring |
| 3-Hand | 3 | 51 cards | Lean and tactical |
| 2-Hand | 2 | 52 cards | Intimate and skill-heavy |
| 6-Hand | 6 | 104 cards | Big, social and busy |
| 10 for 200 | 4 | 52 cards | Big-bid and high-variance |
| Blind | 4 | 52 cards | High-variance and nerve-testing |
The rules every Spades game shares
Learn these eight ideas and you can sit down at any Spades table on the site.
Bidding
Going clockwise from the dealer's left, each player calls how many of the thirteen tricks they expect to win, from 0 up to 13. In the partnership games your bid and your partner's add together into a single team contract.
Following suit
The leader plays a card and everyone must follow that suit if they hold one. Only when you are void - out of the led suit - may you play a trump or throw away a card from another suit.
Spades are trump
Any spade beats every card of hearts, diamonds or clubs, no matter the rank. If two or more spades land on a trick, the highest spade wins it. Trump is fixed for good - it is never chosen hand by hand.
Breaking spades
You cannot lead a spade to a fresh trick until spades have been "broken" - played by someone who could not follow the led suit - or until spades are the only cards left in your hand.
Winning tricks
The highest card of the led suit wins the trick, unless a spade is played, in which case the highest spade takes it. Whoever wins a trick gathers the four cards and leads the next one.
Scoring
Make your bid and score ten points for every trick you promised. Miss it and your side is "set", losing ten points per trick bid - the single biggest swing in the game and the reason bidding discipline matters.
Bags (overtricks)
Every trick you win beyond your bid is a bag, worth one point now but carrying a hidden cost: each time your running bag count reaches ten, your side is docked 100 points. Precise bidding beats greedy trick-grabbing.
Nil & blind nil
A nil is a bid of zero tricks, worth a bonus (usually 100) if you take none and the same penalty if you take even one. A blind nil, declared before you look at your hand, doubles the stakes to plus or minus 200.
Classic Spades
Partnership Spades
4 players · 52 cards · Easy to learn, a lifetime to master
Partnership Spades is the version almost everyone means when they say "Spades": four players, two teams sitting across from each other, and a shared promise to win a set number of tricks each hand. Spades are always trump, so the humble suit that gives the game its name beats every heart, diamond and club on the table. You and your partner each bid the number of tricks you expect to take, add those bids together, and then try to land exactly on that total - No more and no less. The magic of the game lives in that partnership. You never see your partner's cards, yet every lead, every trump and every discard is a quiet message about what you hold and what you need. Bid too high and you go "set," losing ten points for every trick you promised. Bid too low and you rack up penalty bags. Threading that needle, hand after hand, is what keeps players coming back to Spades for a lifetime.
Goal
Team up with the player across the table. Each hand, you and your partner promise a number of tricks and try to take exactly that many. The first partnership to the target score wins the match.
The deal
The whole 52-card deck is dealt out, thirteen cards to each of the four players. There is no stock and no kitty - Every card is in someone's hand.
Bidding
Starting to the dealer's left, each player calls how many of the thirteen tricks they think they can win, from 0 (a Nil) up to 13. Your bid and your partner's bid add together into one team contract.
Playing a trick
The player left of the dealer leads any card except a spade. Everyone must follow the led suit if they can. Spades are trump: a spade beats any card of another suit, and the highest card wins the trick and leads the next one.
Scoring
Make your team's combined bid and score ten points per trick bid, plus one point per extra trick as a 'bag'. Miss the bid and you are 'set', losing ten points per trick bid. Collect ten bags and you are docked 100 points.
Solo Spades
4 players · 52 cards · Cutthroat and tactical
Solo Spades, often called Cutthroat, strips away the partnerships and leaves four players fighting for themselves. The deal, the trump rule and the trick-taking are identical to the partnership game, but the psychology could not be more different. Nobody is obligated to help you make your bid, and nobody owes you a trick. Every hand is a three-way war of shifting, temporary alliances. Because there is no partner to cover a Nil or soak up your overtricks, the bidding becomes far more personal. A player who bids Nil is fair game for the whole table, and a leader running away with the match will suddenly find the other three quietly cooperating to set them. Solo rewards players who can read the room as well as the cards - Knowing when to press, when to hide, and when to let a rival hang themselves on an ambitious bid.
Goal
Play only for yourself. Each hand you bid the tricks you can win with no partner to help, and the first player to reach the target score takes the whole game.
The deal
As in the partnership game, the full deck is dealt out thirteen cards to each of the four players. Everyone keeps their own separate score from the first hand to the last.
Bid for yourself
Beginning left of the dealer, each player bids the number of tricks they alone expect to win. There is no team total - You are judged on your personal bid every single hand.
Follow suit or trump
Follow the led suit when you can. Spades are trump and cannot be led until broken. The highest spade, or the highest card of the led suit if no spade appears, wins the trick.
Scoring
Score ten times your bid when you make it exactly, plus one point per overtrick bag. Fall short and you are set for ten points a trick. Bags still bite: ten of them cost you 100 points.
Forced-bid and nil variants
Whiz Spades
4 players · 52 cards · Sharp - The bid is forced, the play is everything
Whiz is Partnership Spades with the bidding decision taken out of your hands. The rule is brutally simple: you must bid exactly the number of spades you were dealt, or you must bid Nil. There is no rounding, no hedging and no judgment call - You count your spades and that is your bid, unless you choose to gamble everything on winning zero tricks instead. That single constraint transforms the game. Because everyone's positive bid is public information the moment they announce it (their spade count is their bid), the fog of the bidding phase lifts and the entire battle moves into the play of the cards. Whiz rewards players who can make the most of a bid they did not choose, squeezing tricks from short-spade hands and defending relentlessly against the Nils that a forced bid makes far more common.
Goal
Play partnership Spades where the bid is dictated by your hand. You and your partner still combine your bids, and the first team to the target score wins.
The Whiz bid
Count the spades in your hand - That number is your bid. Deal with six spades and you must bid six. The one escape is to declare Nil instead of bidding your spade count.
Nil in Whiz
Because you can always choose Nil rather than your spade count, players with few spades often go for zero. This makes Nils common, so covering your partner and busting the opponents' Nils is central to Whiz.
Play and trumps
Trick play is standard Spades: follow suit, spades are trump and must be broken before being led, and the highest spade or highest led-suit card wins each trick.
Scoring
Score exactly as in partnership Spades - Ten points per trick bid when you make the combined contract, plus overtrick bags, minus ten per trick when set, minus 100 for every ten bags.
Mirror Spades
4 players · 52 cards · Pure card play - No bidding decisions at all
Mirror, sometimes called Mirrors, takes the forced-bid idea to its logical extreme. Your bid is always, without exception, the exact number of spades in your hand. There is no Nil escape and no judgment: deal seven spades and you bid seven; deal zero and you bid zero. The bid quite literally mirrors your trump holding, which is where the name comes from. With bidding reduced to simple arithmetic, Mirror becomes the most play-driven member of the Spades family. Every hand starts from a known, unavoidable contract, and the entire game is about squeezing your forced number out of the cards - Winning exactly the spades you were dealt, no more and no less, while your opponents try to knock you off that razor's edge. It is a favorite of players who love pure trick-taking without a whiff of bidding luck.
Goal
Win exactly as many tricks as you were dealt spades. There are no bidding choices - Your contract is fixed the moment the cards are in your hand, and the first team to the target score wins.
The forced bid
Count your spades. That number is your bid, every hand, with no Nil option. A hand with three spades is a bid of three; a hand with zero spades is a bid of zero, meaning you must take no tricks.
When you must go nil
If you are dealt no spades at all, your forced bid of zero works exactly like a Nil - You must avoid winning a single trick, and your partner will try to cover you as usual.
Following suit
Play is standard: follow the led suit if you can, spades are trump and must be broken before being led, and the strongest spade or led-suit card wins each trick.
Scoring
Scoring is ordinary Spades. Make your combined forced bid for ten points per trick plus overtrick bags, get set for minus ten per trick, and take the 100-point hit for every ten bags.
Suicide Spades
4 players · 52 cards · High-stakes - Every hand rides on a mandatory Nil
Suicide Spades is the most nerve-wracking member of the family, and its rule is exactly as dramatic as the name suggests: on every single hand, one player from each partnership must bid Nil. The other partner is free to bid anything they like, but somebody on your team is always promising to win zero tricks. That mandatory Nil is the pressure at the heart of the game. The result is a constant, high-wire act of coordination. The Nil bidder needs their partner to cover them, winning the tricks they cannot avoid, while that same partner usually has to bid boldly to keep the team's score alive. Two Nils are on the table every hand, so the play is a frantic scramble to protect your own zero while smashing the opponents'. Suicide swings scores violently and is beloved by players who find ordinary Spades a little too tame.
Goal
Play partnership Spades where one of the two partners must bid Nil on every hand. Coordinate the forced Nil with a supporting bid and race your team to the target score.
The deal
The deck is dealt out thirteen cards to each player as always. Before the bidding, teams know that one member of each pair will have to promise zero tricks this hand.
The forced nil
Each partnership must have exactly one Nil bidder every hand. Typically the players decide or the rules fix who goes Nil; the other partner then bids a normal number and tries to cover the Nil.
Blind nil option
A team that is behind may upgrade its forced Nil to a Blind Nil - Bid before looking at the cards - For a larger bonus and penalty, adding an extra layer of gamble to an already tense format.
Scoring
Score the covering partner's bid normally, add the Nil bonus if it holds or subtract the penalty if it busts, and apply bags and the 100-point sandbag rule just as in standard Spades.
Special-deck Spades
Joker Joker Deuce Deuce
4 players · 54 cards · Fast and high-scoring
Joker Joker Deuce Deuce - Often shortened to "JJDD" or just "the jokers game" - Is the high-octane version of Spades you will find at serious tables and in tournament rooms. Two jokers are added to the deck as the two highest trumps of all, sitting above every spade, and the deuces of clubs and diamonds are promoted into the spade suit so that the spades run unusually deep. The result is a fifty-four-card game with far more top trumps in play. All that extra firepower makes the game faster, bigger and more aggressive. The big and little jokers are guaranteed trick-winners that must be respected, the elevated deuces add surprising trump length, and the scoring targets climb to match. Bidding runs higher, sets are more punishing, and controlling the avalanche of trumps is the whole art. If standard Spades is a chess match, JJDD is a shootout.
Goal
Play partnership Spades with an expanded, joker-heavy deck. Bid and combine with your partner as usual, and race to a higher target score of 300 or 500.
The 54-card deck
Two jokers join the deck as the two highest trumps, and two low cards are pulled into the spade suit. The deck now has fifty-four cards, so someone is dealt an extra one or two.
Bidding to 500
Because there are more powerful trumps, hands are stronger and bids run higher. Teams combine their bids and play toward a larger target, so a single well-made big bid can swing the whole match.
Top trumps
The big joker is the highest card in the game and the little joker is second; both are trumps. They beat every spade, so they are certain winners you plan your bid around and spend with care.
Scoring
Scoring follows standard Spades - Ten points per trick bid, overtrick bags, minus ten per trick when set, and the 100-point penalty for every ten bags - Just at higher totals.
Spades for two, three and six
3-Player Spades
3 players · 51 cards · Lean and tactical
3-Player Spades adapts the game for a table of three, and it does so with a neat trick: remove the two of clubs, leaving fifty-one cards that divide evenly into three hands of seventeen. There are no partnerships - Everyone plays for themselves, exactly like Solo - So the game is pure cutthroat with a larger, more revealing hand. Holding seventeen cards instead of thirteen changes the texture of every deal. You see more of the deck, so bidding is a little more informed and the trump suit runs longer. With only two opponents to read instead of three, the politics tighten: alliances are more obvious, and there is far less cover if your bid goes wrong. Three-handed play is the go-to Spades game whenever a fourth player is missing, and many fans prize it for how much of the deck each player gets to control.
Goal
Play cutthroat Spades with three players. Bid the tricks you can win alone from a larger hand, and be the first to reach the target score.
The 51-card deal
The two of clubs is removed so the deck splits evenly. Each of the three players is dealt seventeen cards, and all fifty-one are in play from the first trick.
Bidding solo
Each player bids for themselves, from Nil up to seventeen. With no partner, your bid is entirely your own responsibility, and your two opponents may cooperate to knock you off it.
Follow & trump
Follow the led suit when you can, spades are trump and must be broken before being led, and the highest spade - Or highest led-suit card - Wins the trick and leads the next.
Scoring
Score ten points per trick bid when you make it, plus overtrick bags, minus ten per trick when set. The 100-point sandbag penalty for every ten bags applies to each player individually.
2-Player Spades
2 players · 52 cards · Intimate and skill-heavy
2-Player Spades turns the four-handed classic into a tense one-on-one duel. The traditional version uses a draw phase - Players take turns drawing from the stock, keeping or discarding to build a thirteen-card hand - Before the familiar bidding and trick play begin. With only two hands in the game, an enormous amount is knowable, and the contest becomes a memory-heavy battle of deduction. Because half the deck can pass through the draw and both players see so much, 2-Player Spades rewards sharp card counting above all else. There is no partner to help and no third or fourth player to muddy the read, so every bid, every trump and every discard is a direct message to your single opponent - And a clue about their hand. It is the connoisseur's Spades, distilled to its purest one-on-one form.
Goal
Duel a single opponent over thirteen tricks. Build your hand, bid the tricks you can win, and be the first to reach the target score with no partner to help.
The draw
In the classic version, players alternate drawing the top card of the stock, choosing to keep it or discard it and take the next, until each has assembled a thirteen-card hand. This draw phase is what makes two-handed play distinctive.
Bidding
Once both hands are set, each player bids the number of tricks they expect to win, from Nil upward. With only two hands in play, your opponent's bid is an unusually loud clue about what they hold.
Play the tricks
Trick play is standard: follow suit, spades are trump and must be broken before being led, and the higher spade or higher led-suit card wins the trick and leads the next.
Scoring
Score ten points per trick bid when you make it, one per overtrick bag, minus ten per trick when set, and take the 100-point penalty for every ten bags - Just as in the four-player game.
6-Player Spades
6 players · 104 cards · Big, social and busy
6-Player Spades scales the partnership game up to its largest common form: six players split into three teams of two, sitting so each partner faces their teammate across a crowded table. Two full decks are shuffled together into a 104-card pack, and everyone is dealt a generous seventeen-card hand. Because two decks are in play, every card exists twice - There are two aces of spades, two of every rank - Which changes how tricks are won and how confidently you can count. The result is the loudest, busiest branch of the Spades family. With three teams chasing the same pot of tricks, the politics multiply: two partnerships will often find themselves informally cooperating to stop a third from running away with the game. Bidding runs higher to match the bigger hands, the trump suit is deep because there are twice as many spades, and a good memory for which of the paired cards have already appeared is worth its weight in points.
Goal
Team up with the partner across the table in a three-team game. Each hand your partnership bids and tries to make its combined total, and the first team to the target score wins.
The six-handed deal
Two standard decks are shuffled together into 104 cards and dealt out seventeen to each of the six players. Every card appears twice, so there are two of every rank and suit in play.
Bidding
Starting left of the dealer, each of the six players bids the tricks they expect to win. You and your partner's bids combine into one team contract, exactly as in the four-player game.
Trumps & tricks
Spades are trump and must be broken before they can be led. The highest spade wins a trick, or the highest card of the led suit; when two identical cards appear, the one played first takes it.
Scoring
Each partnership scores ten points per trick bid when it makes its combined total, plus overtrick bags, minus ten per trick when set, with the usual 100-point penalty for every ten bags.
House-rule scoring and blind bidding
10 for 200
4 players · 52 cards · Big-bid and high-variance
"10 for 200," also called Board Spades, is Partnership Spades with one electrifying twist to the scoring: if your team bids ten or more tricks and makes it, you do not score the usual 100 points - You score a 200-point jackpot. Miss that same bid, though, and you crash for a full 200. The board is the ceiling every ambitious partnership eyes, and the cliff every reckless one falls off. That single rule reshapes the whole game. A hand that a cautious team would bid nine on becomes a tantalizing gamble at ten, because the reward doubles. Comebacks are explosive - A team down by a hundred can leap ahead in a single made board - And leads are never safe. The skill is entirely in judgment: reading when your two hands truly combine for ten tricks, and having the discipline to settle for a safe nine when they do not.
Goal
Play partnership Spades to 500, but with a jackpot rule: a combined bid of ten or more that you make is worth 200 points instead of 100. Team up and race to the target.
The 10-for-200 bid
Bid as usual, but if your two bids add up to ten or more and you make the contract, you score a 200-point jackpot. Fall short of a ten-plus bid and you lose 200 instead of the normal set penalty.
Playing the hand
Trick play is standard Spades: follow suit, spades are trump and must be broken before being led, and the highest spade or led-suit card wins each trick and leads the next.
Hitting the board
Reaching for the board means committing to ten or more tricks between you and your partner. Draw trumps, cash your winners, and count carefully - The jackpot only pays if you make the whole bid.
Scoring
Bids under ten score normally: ten per trick, plus bags, minus ten per trick when set. A made ten-plus bid scores 200; a failed ten-plus bid loses 200. Bags and the 100-point sandbag penalty still apply.
Blind Spades
4 players · 52 cards · High-variance and nerve-testing
Blind Spades flips the game's most careful step on its head: you commit your bid before you ever see your cards. Each player calls a number sight-unseen, the two partners' calls combine into a team contract, and only then do you pick up the thirteen cards you must now go make. It is Partnership Spades with the safety net of the bidding phase removed. That blind commitment injects a jolt of pure chance into an otherwise skill-heavy game, and it shifts all the skill into the play. Since you cannot tailor your bid to your hand, every point comes from wringing exactly your contract out of whatever you are dealt - Making a thin blind bid you would never have chosen, or throwing away tricks to avoid overshooting a low one. It is a fast, sociable, high-variance way to play that keeps even a lopsided table in the game.
Goal
Play partnership Spades where every bid is made before you look at your hand. Commit blind with your partner, then play out the contract you are stuck with, racing to the target score.
The blind bid
Before the cards are revealed, each player calls the number of tricks they think their side can win. Your call and your partner's combine into one team contract, all decided without seeing a single card.
Following suit
Once bids are locked, the hands are revealed and play begins. Follow the led suit if you can, spades are trump and must be broken before being led, and the highest spade or led-suit card wins each trick.
Spades are trump
As always, any spade beats any card of another suit, and a spade cannot be led to a new trick until spades are broken or a player holds nothing else. Managing trumps decides most blind hands.
Scoring
Score exactly as in Partnership Spades: ten per trick bid when the combined contract is made, one per overtrick bag, minus ten per trick when set, and 100 off for every ten bags.
Where to take the rules next
You now have everything you need to sit down and bid. Put it to work on today's daily deal, settle a score with a friend in multiplayer, or browse the full list of Spades games to find your favorite twist.
Frequently asked rules questions
How do you play Spades?
Spades is a trick-taking card game, most often for four players in two partnerships. The full 52-card deck is dealt out, thirteen cards to each player. Everyone bids how many of the thirteen tricks they expect to win, and partners add their two bids into one contract. Spades are permanent trump, so any spade beats any card of another suit, and you must follow the led suit whenever you can. Make your combined bid to score ten points per trick; fall short and your side is set.
What is the goal of a game of Spades?
The goal is to be the first side to reach the agreed target score - commonly 250 or 500 - by making your bids hand after hand. Each hand you promise a number of tricks and try to take exactly that many: overshoot and you collect penalty bags, fall short and you lose ten points per trick bid. Accurate bidding, not just winning tricks, is what carries you to the target.
Why are spades always the trump suit?
It is the rule that names the game. In every version, any spade outranks the highest heart, diamond or club, so a lone deuce of spades can capture an ace of another suit. Because trump is fixed rather than chosen each hand, a huge part of the skill is deciding when to spend your spades and when to hold them back.
Which Spades variant should a beginner start with?
Partnership Spades is the natural starting point, because a partner can cover your mistakes while you learn to bid. If bidding itself feels daunting, Mirror removes the decision entirely by setting your bid to your spade count, letting you focus purely on the play of the cards.
How do nil and blind nil scoring work?
A nil is a bid of zero tricks. Make it - win none - and your side earns a bonus, usually 100 points; take even one trick and you lose the same 100. A blind nil, declared before you look at your hand, doubles the stakes to plus or minus 200 and is normally reserved for a team that needs to gamble its way back into the game.
Want more answers? Read the full Spades FAQ or look up any term in the glossary.