Spades

🎯 Objective

Play in fixed partnerships - you and North vs East and West. Each round, bid how many tricks your team can win, then try to win exactly that many (or more, carefully). First team to 500 points wins.

🃏 Bidding

Each player bids 0-13 tricks based on their hand strength, or Nil (a bet you'll win zero tricks). Your team's combined bid is the target for you and your partner together.

🔄 Playing a Trick

♠ Spades are always trump. You must follow the led suit if you can. If you can't follow, you may play any card - including a spade to trump the trick. Spades cannot be led until they're broken (played earlier because someone couldn't follow suit), unless that's all you have left.

💰 Scoring

Make your team's bid: +10 per bid trick, plus +1 per bag (extra trick past the bid). Miss your bid: -10 per trick bid. Ten bags accumulated costs your team -100. A successful Nil earns +100; a failed Nil costs -100 (and its tricks still count toward the team total).

💡 Strategy Tips

• Count your high spades (A, K, Q, J) and off-suit aces - that's roughly your bid.
• Don't over-win once your bid is met - bags pile up and cost you.
• Support a partner's Nil bid by winning tricks they'd otherwise be stuck with.
• Save trump for when you're void in a suit and need to steal a trick.