The table and the deal
Partners sit opposite each other. A standard 52-card deck is dealt evenly, leaving every player with 13 cards. Spades are always trump: a spade beats a card from any other suit.
1. Bid your tricks
Each player bids the number of tricks they expect to win. Partners’ bids are added into one team contract. A bid should account for high cards, long suits, spade control and the likely support from your partner. A player may bid Nil, promising to take no tricks.
2. Play the hand
The player left of the dealer leads. Everyone must follow the led suit if possible. If you cannot follow suit, you may discard or play a spade. The highest card of the led suit wins unless one or more spades were played; then the highest spade wins. The winner leads the next trick.
You normally cannot lead a spade until somebody has used one to trump another suit. If your hand contains only spades, you may lead one.
3. Score the round
If your team makes its contract, it earns ten points per bid trick plus one point per extra trick. If it fails, it loses ten points per bid trick. Extra tricks are bags; ten bags usually cost 100 points. A successful Nil scores 100 and a failed Nil loses 100.
4. Win the match
The standard target is 500 points. Ranked Blitz in Spades Club uses a 200-point target and faster turns, while keeping a separate rating. The team at or above the target with the higher score wins when the round ends.
Your first good habit
Count spades and track which high cards have already been played. You do not need to memorize every card: start by remembering the ace, king and queen in each suit, then notice when a suit is exhausted.