Spades rules at a glance
Spades is a four-player partnership game. You sit South with North as your partner, against East and West. Every hand each player bids how many of the 13 tricks they expect to win, the two partners’ bids add up to a single team contract, and the team scores by making it. First to 500 points wins the match.
Spades are always trump. Cards rank ace high down to two, you must follow the suit that was led if you hold it, and the highest spade takes the trick — or the highest card of the led suit if no spade appears. The deal rotates one seat left each hand, and the player to the dealer’s left leads the first trick.
Bidding and scoring
- Each player bids 0 to 13 when their turn comes, starting to the dealer’s left. A bid is final the moment you submit it.
- Make your contract and you score 10 points per trick bid: a team bid of 7 that comes in is worth 70.
- Miss it and you lose the same amount. A failed bid of 7 costs −70.
- A bid of 0 is Nil, a promise to take no tricks at all. Made, it is +100 for your team; failed, −100, and the tricks you took become bags. Blind Nil, bid before you look at your hand, is a common house rule we do not use.
- Every trick above your contract is a bag, worth 1 point. Collect ten and you lose 100, with any remainder carried into the next hand.
- First team to 500 wins. If both cross in the same hand the higher score takes it, and a tie plays another hand.
The rules that catch people out
- You cannot lead a spade until spades are broken. They break the first time any spade reaches the table, normally when a player who cannot follow the led suit trumps in. The one exception is a hand holding nothing but spades.
- Bags are the quiet killer. Overshooting your bid feels safe and pays 1 point a time, but the tenth bag costs 100 — usually more than every bag that earned it.
- Taking all 13 tricks is a Boston. There is no separate bonus for it here: the hand scores as a made contract plus a pile of bags, unless your team bid close to 13. The round summary calls it out when it happens.
Playing your cards
- Bidding: tap a number from 0 to 13 when it is your turn. A bid is final the moment you submit it.
- Playing: tap a card in your hand to play it to the trick.
- Nothing is greyed out. If the card you tap cannot be played, the table tells you why and your turn carries on — either you still hold the suit that was led, or spades are not broken yet.
- The computer players bid and play by themselves after a short pause, so you can see what happened.
- No undo and no hints. A card played to a trick is committed, and Spades always leaves you a legal move — reading the table is the game.
Your table
- The scoreboard tracks both teams: your side and the opponents, each with a running score and a bag count. Watch the bags — the tenth one costs 100 points.
- Options: set your name and avatar, and slow the table down or speed it up. Both are remembered for your next visit.
- Your match auto-saves in this browser and comes back if you refresh or reopen the tab.
Playing with friends
- Tap Multiplayer to see the tables open right now and sit down at one, or create a private room and send the link. Your friend can also join by typing the six-digit code.
- Partners sit opposite each other. Whoever joins your room second becomes your partner, so inviting one friend gives you a pair against two computer opponents.
- Two players are enough to start. Computer players fill any seats still empty, so a table always deals four hands.
- No account and no email address — you pick a display name so the others know who they are playing with, and that is all.
- If someone drops, their hand is played automatically and their seat is waiting when they come back. Turn timers are generous at a private table and short at an open one, where nobody should wait long on a stranger.
More card games on Solitarium
If you like Spades, these play well next to it.
Sources and further reading
Spades has no governing body. We compared several rule references and established online games, then picked one ruling for each contested point above.