Spades
Partners bid tricks. Spades are always trump. 4 players, in partnerships.
How to play Spades
- 1Four players in two partnerships; partners sit across from each other. Everyone gets 13 cards.
- 2Starting left of the dealer, each player bids how many tricks they expect to take. A bid of Nil promises to take none. Partners add their bids together into the team's contract.
- 3The player left of the dealer leads. Follow suit if you can; otherwise play anything. Spades are always trump: the highest spade wins, otherwise the highest card of the suit led.
- 4Spades can't be led until one has been played on another suit, unless you hold nothing but spades.
- 5Make your contract and score 10 per trick bid, plus 1 for each extra trick (a bag). Fall short and lose 10 per trick bid. Every 10 bags costs 100 points.
- 6Nil scores 100 if the bidder takes no tricks and loses 100 otherwise; a nil bidder's tricks don't help the partner's bid and count as bags.
- 7The first team to 500 wins (a team that sinks to -200 loses). If both cross in the same hand, the higher score wins.
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