Spades Cheat Sheet: Rules, Bidding and Scoring
Everything you need mid-game for four-player partnership Spades with 52 cards and no jokers, on one sheet you can print. House rules vary more than people expect, so agree your target score and optional rules before the first deal.
Cards and legal moves
Deal 13 cards each. Partners sit opposite. Rank: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. Spades are always trump.
Follow the led suit whenever possible. Otherwise, discard or play a spade. Highest spade wins; without a spade, highest card of the led suit wins. The winner leads next.
Do not lead spades before they are broken, unless you hold only spades. A spade played on another suit breaks spades.
Estimate your bid
Add the partners’ numeric bids to get the team contract. Count each likely winner once: the same spade cannot be both a high-card winner and an extra ruff.
Side-suit aces can be trumped. Kings need support; long spades may help but are not guaranteed tricks. Weigh your partner’s bid, nil, the score and existing bags. No bidding formula guarantees success.
Scoring at a glance
Make the contract: +10 per trick bid, plus +1 per overtrick (bag). Bid 7, take 9: +72 and 2 bags. Miss the contract: −10 per trick bid. Bid 7, take 6: −70.
Every 10 accumulated bags: −100 points; subtract 10 bags and carry the remainder. Start with 9 bags, bid 7 and take 9: +72 −100 = −28, with 1 bag left.
Nil and table options
Nil means taking no tricks: commonly +100 if successful, −100 if it fails. The partner’s numeric contract is scored separately. Low cards help but never guarantee a nil.
Blind nil is an optional bid made before seeing the cards, often worth ±200. Eligibility, card exchanges and failed-nil trick treatment depend on the table. Confirm these rules and the target score; 500 is a common target.
Before playing a card
Can you follow suit? Has your team made its contract? Do you need to protect a partner’s nil? Will another bag cross 10? A low card does not necessarily lose, and an extra trick can be worth taking if it sets the opponents.
A singleton king must be played the first time its suit is led. In this 52-card game, only the king and ace of spades outrank the queen of spades.
tricklora.com/spades/spades-cheat-sheet