In Spades, the bid is where most games are won or lost. You can play every card perfectly and still lose points if you promised too many tricks, or too few. This guide explains how bidding works, how to estimate the tricks in your hand, and when a nil bid makes sense.
How Spades works
Spades is played by four players in two partnerships, with partners sitting across from each other. Each player gets 13 cards. Spades are always trump. You must follow the suit that was led if you can. If you cannot, you may play any card, including a spade.
Spades cannot be led until they have been “broken”, which means someone has played a spade on another suit’s trick, or the leader has nothing but spades left.
Before play begins, every player bids the number of tricks they expect to win. Your bid and your partner’s bid are added together into one team contract.
The common scoring
Spades has many house rules, but the most common scoring is:
- Making your contract: 10 points per trick bid, plus 1 point for each extra trick.
- Failing your contract (being “set”): minus 10 points per trick bid.
- Bags: each extra trick above the contract is called a bag (or overtrick). When a team collects 10 bags, it loses 100 points and the bag count starts again.
- Nil: a player who bids nil promises to take zero tricks. Success is worth 100 points; failure costs 100.
- Blind nil: a nil bid made before looking at your cards, usually worth 200 points either way, and often allowed only when your team is far behind.
Variants are everywhere. Some tables value nil at 50, some do not use bags at all, and the target score might be 250, 300 or 500. Always check the table rules before your first bid.
Counting your tricks
A good bid starts with an honest count. Go through your hand suit by suit.
Side suits (hearts, diamonds, clubs)
- Aces are usually one trick each. An ace in a long suit (five or more cards) is a little less safe, because someone may be short and trump it.
- Kings are worth about half a trick to one trick. A king with at least one small card beside it (K-x) is better than a bare king, because you can play the small card first and wait for the ace to be used. A bare king is often lost to the ace.
- Queens count only when well supported, for example Q-J-x or K-Q together. A lone queen rarely wins.
As a rule, count less for high cards in suits where you hold six or more cards. The third and fourth round of a suit is often trumped.
Spades
Spades are where most of your tricks come from.
- The ace, king and queen of spades are strong, but the king needs at least one other spade with it and the queen needs at least two to be reliable.
- Length counts. If you hold five spades, the fourth and fifth are likely to win tricks late in the hand, after the other players run out. A common shortcut is to count one trick for every spade beyond the third.
Short suits
If you have a void (no cards in a suit) or a singleton (one card), you can trump that suit early. A void with three or more small spades can be worth one or two extra tricks. Do not count the same spade twice, though: a spade used for trumping cannot also win a trick later.
An example hand
Spades: A, J, 8, 4 · Hearts: K, 7 · Diamonds: A, Q, 10, 5, 2 · Clubs: 9, 6
- Ace of spades: 1 trick
- Spade length (four spades): about 1 more trick
- King of hearts with a small card: about half a trick
- Ace of diamonds: 1 trick
- Queen of diamonds behind the ace: maybe half a trick
That adds up to around 3 to 4 tricks. Most players would bid 3 here and see what partner says, or bid 4 if partner has already bid low.
Bidding with your partner
Your bid is part of a team contract, so listen to the bids before yours.
- If your partner bid high, avoid stretching. An overbid by both partners is the classic way to get set.
- If your partner bid low, your strong cards are more likely to be needed, and you can count your borderline tricks.
- If you are the last to bid and the four bids add up to 10 or 11, expect bags. If they add up to 13 or more, someone will be set, and careful play becomes critical.
When to bid nil
A nil bid is a big gamble that can swing a game. Consider it when your hand has:
- No aces and few high cards.
- Low spades only, ideally no spade higher than 8, and not too many of them.
- Plenty of low cards in every suit, so you can always duck under the cards played before you.
Avoid nil if you hold a long suit with a high card at the bottom of it, or many spades. A queen of spades with two small cards might feel safe, but you can be forced to play it late in the hand.
When your partner bids nil, your job changes. Win the tricks they might otherwise be stuck with, lead suits where they are likely to have low cards, and play high on tricks where they might be in danger. A nil bidder’s tricks usually do not count toward the partner’s contract.
Managing bags
Bags look harmless, one point each, but ten of them cost 100 points. A team that keeps underbidding gives the game away slowly.
- When your team is close to ten bags, bid a little more aggressively and try not to win tricks you do not need.
- When the opponents are close to ten bags, it can be worth deliberately giving them extra tricks.
- Late in a game, bags matter less than making your contract. Do not risk a set to avoid one bag.
Practice in Spades Offline
Spades Offline uses the common scoring described here by default: 10 points per trick bid, 1 point per overtrick, minus 10 per trick bid when set, and 100 points lost for every 10 bags. The table rules are yours to set, including points to win (250, 300 or 500), bags on or off, nil worth 50 or 100, and blind nil, which is offered only to a team at least 100 points behind. A nil bidder’s tricks do not help the partner’s contract and count as bags. After each hand you can see a clear breakdown of bids, tricks, bags and nils, and “Why did my partner bid that?” explains the computer partner’s reasoning, which is a good way to check your own counting.