How to Play Spades: Rules, Bidding, Scoring and Team Strategy for Beginners

Spades is the card game of loud kitchen tables, college dorms and long family nights. It's a team game, so you win or lose with your partner, and half the fun is the trash talk when someone's bid goes horribly wrong.

This guide explains the rules of Spades step by step: the deal, bidding, how tricks work, scoring, bags and going nil, plus the partnership strategy that wins games. When you've got it, you can play Spades free online with a computer partner against two computer opponents.

Spades at a glance

• Players: 4, in two teams of two. Partners sit opposite each other.
• Deck: a standard 52-card deck, no jokers
• Cards per player: 13
• Trumps: spades always beat the other suits
• Goal: win the number of tricks your team bids
• Game ends: when a team reaches 300 points

Step 1: The deal

Shuffle and deal all 52 cards one at a time, so each player gets 13. Pick up your hand and sort it by suit. Count your spades and your high cards (aces and kings), because you'll need them for the next step.

Step 2: Bidding

Starting to the dealer's left, each player bids how many tricks they think they will win, from 1 to 13. Partners' bids are added together to make the team bid. If you bid 4 and your partner bids 3, your team needs to win at least 7 tricks.

A quick way for beginners to estimate a bid:

• Count 1 trick for each ace and most kings
• Count 1 trick for each spade beyond the third (long spades usually win tricks late in the hand)
• If you're void in a suit (no cards of it), you can probably trump in, so add a trick if you have spare spades

Going nil

You can also bid nil: a promise that you will win zero tricks. If you succeed, your team scores a bonus of 100 points. If you win even one trick, your team loses 100. Your partner's bid counts separately. It's a great bid when your hand is full of low cards.

Step 3: Playing tricks

• The player to the dealer's left leads the first trick. Play goes clockwise.
• You must follow suit if you can.
• If you can't follow suit, you can play any card, including a spade to "trump" the trick.
• The trick is won by the highest spade played, or if no spades were played, the highest card of the suit that was led.
• You can't lead spades until spades have been "broken", meaning someone has played a spade on another suit. The exception is if you have only spades left.

Step 4: Scoring

At the end of the hand, each team compares the tricks it won with its bid:

• Made your bid: score 10 points per trick bid, plus 1 point for each extra trick. Bid 7, take 9: that's 70 + 2 = 72 points.
• Missed your bid: lose 10 points per trick bid. Bid 7, take 6: minus 70.
• Nil made: +100. Nil failed: −100.

Bags: the hidden trap

Every extra trick you take over your bid is called a bag (or sandbag). Bags give you 1 point each, but they pile up across hands. When your team collects 10 bags, you lose 100 points. That's why good Spades players bid accurately instead of always taking as many tricks as possible.

The first team to reach 300 points wins the game.

7 Spades strategy tips for winning teams

1. Bid for the team, not just yourself. Listen to your partner's bid. If they bid high, you can bid a little lower and play to support them.
2. Don't overbid on kings. A king only wins if the ace has already gone or your partner holds it. Count a lone king as half a trick.
3. Lead your partner's strong suit. If your partner trumped diamonds early, they're probably out of diamonds. Leading diamonds lets them trump again.
4. Protect a nil bidder. If your partner bid nil, play high cards to win tricks for them and keep them from being forced to take one.
5. Attack the opponents' nil. Lead low cards in suits where the nil bidder might be forced to win.
6. Watch the bags. When your team has 7 or 8 bags, start ducking extra tricks, even if it feels strange.
7. Count the spades. There are 13. Knowing how many are left tells you when your high cards are safe.

Spades vs Hearts

Both are four-player trick-taking games, but they're opposites. In Spades you play with a partner and try to win the exact number of tricks you bid. In Hearts you play alone and try to avoid tricks containing hearts and the Queen of Spades. If you like Spades, read our guide on how to play Hearts next.

Play Spades online free

The MillionDollarJoke Card Room lets you play Spades in your browser with no sign-up:

• You and a computer partner against two computer opponents
• Bid from Nil up to 13, with your partner's bid shown if they've already bid
• Full scoring with bags, the 10-bag penalty and nil bonuses, first to 300
• Wins earn Hype Points for the global leaderboard and your Company Cup team

The Card Room also has Hearts, Solitaire, Crazy Eights, Go Fish and a no-betting game of 21.

Spades FAQ

How many points do you need to win Spades?

Most games are played to 300 points. Some groups play to 500 for a longer game.

What happens if you get 10 bags in Spades?

Your team loses 100 points, and your bag count drops by 10.

What does nil mean in Spades?

Bidding nil means you promise to win no tricks. Success scores +100 for your team, and failure costs 100.

Can you lead spades at any time?

No. You can't lead a spade until spades have been broken, unless your hand contains only spades.

Is Spades the same as Hearts?

No. Spades is a partnership bidding game where spades are trumps. Hearts is an every-player-for-themselves game where you avoid points.