Variants
Blind Nil in Spades: 200 Points, Rules & When to Bid It
Blind nil is a bid to take zero tricks, made before you look at your cards. It usually scores +200 if you take none and −200 if you take even one.
Blind nil is a bid to win zero tricks, declared before you look at your cards. The common scoring is +200 if you take no tricks and −200 if you take even one, twice a regular nil. It is a house rule: many tables, ours included, allow it only to a team trailing by 100 points or more.
Our tables offer blind nil whenever your team trails by 100 points or more: your cards stay face down until you choose Blind Nil or See my cards. Practice it against bots before you risk it with a partner.
Practice vs BotsHow many points is blind nil worth?
Most tables score blind nil at +200 for taking no tricks and −200 for taking one or more, double the ±100 of a regular nil. The blind nil is scored on its own; the partner’s numeric bid is scored separately.
Example: you bid blind nil and your partner bids 4. If you take no tricks and your partner takes exactly 4, the team scores 200 + 40 = 240. If you take a trick and your partner still makes 4, the team scores −200 + 40 = −160, before any point for the trick you took.
Tables differ on the tricks a failed blind nil takes. Some count them as bags; others let them help the partner’s bid. Ours count them as bags that never help the partner’s bid; agree which version you play before a home game starts.
What is the difference between nil and blind nil?
A regular nil is bid after you have seen your 13 cards, so you can check for dangerous high cards first. Blind nil commits you before you know whether you hold the ace of spades, which always wins a trick. That missing information is why it pays double.
Our tables offer both: regular nil (NIL on the bid panel, +100 or −100) and, for a team trailing by 100 points or more, blind nil (+200 or −200), chosen before your cards are turned up. The nil guide covers regular nil scoring and double nil.
When are you allowed to bid blind nil?
Blind nil is optional, and many tables do not use it at all. Where it is allowed, a common condition is that your team trails by at least 100 points; some tables use 200, and some allow it at any score. Agree this before the game, not during the bidding.
Also agree whether partners exchange cards after a blind nil. In some versions they swap one or two cards once the bid is made; in others there is no exchange. Neither is standard. On our tables, after all four bids the blind nil bidder passes two cards face down to their partner, who then passes two back.
When should you bid blind nil?
Bid it when the score makes the risk worth taking: well behind near the target, where an ordinary hand cannot close the gap. A 200-point swing does not close a 200-point deficit if the opponents also score, so count what both teams are likely to make.
Do not bid it to recover from one bad hand, and avoid it when a normal contract keeps you in the game. If the opponents are close to winning, a failed blind nil can end the match.
How does your partner cover a blind nil?
After any allowed exchange, the partner tries to win the tricks the blind bidder is in danger of taking, while still following suit. High cards cannot rescue every position, and a hand of low cards is not automatically safe.
There is no reliable success rate for blind nil: it depends on the deal, the exchange rule and both players’ choices. Treat a fixed percentage quoted without those details with suspicion.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many points is blind nil worth?
Usually +200 if the bidder takes no tricks and −200 if they take any. Some tables use other values, so confirm before playing.
Can you look at your cards before bidding blind nil?
No. The bid must be declared without inspecting the hand. Looking first makes it an ordinary nil decision.
Do partners always exchange cards?
Not at every table: whether, when and how many cards are passed depends on the agreed rules. On ours the blind nil bidder passes two cards to their partner, who passes two back before the first lead.
Can you bid blind nil on this site?
Yes, when your team trails by at least 100 points. At your bid turn your cards stay face down and you choose Blind Nil or See my cards; a failed blind nil’s tricks count as bags.
Sources
We check these rules against the standard references:
- Spades · Pagat, John McLeodBlind nil bid before looking at your cards, +200 or −200, usually allowed only to a side behind by at least 100, with a two-card exchange between partners.
- Spades (card game) · WikipediaBlind nil as a nil declared before seeing your hand, worth 200 either way, and variants that let the bidder pass cards to a partner.