Spades rules

Spades scoring, made simple

Your partnership’s bid is a contract. Make it to earn points; miss it and the full contract counts against you.

Made contracts

Multiply the team bid by ten, then add one point for every trick above the contract. A team bidding 6 and winning 8 tricks scores 62 points: 60 for the contract and two bags.

Getting set

If the team takes fewer tricks than it bid, it loses ten times the contract. A bid of 7 that wins only 6 tricks scores −70. Extra tricks held from earlier rounds do not rescue a failed contract.

Bags and the 100-point penalty

Every overtrick is a bag. Bags accumulate across rounds. Reaching ten bags removes 100 points and carries the remainder forward. Bags create useful tension: an overtrick can secure a contract now, but careless extras can be expensive later.

Example

Your team has eight bags, bids 5 and takes 7. The round is worth 52, but the two new bags trigger a −100 penalty. Net result: −48, and the bag counter resets to zero.

Nil scoring

A player bidding Nil must take zero tricks. Success adds 100 points; taking even one trick loses 100. The partner’s normal bid is still scored, and any tricks taken by the Nil bidder count toward the partnership contract and bags.

When the game ends

Classic Spades usually ends when a team reaches 500 points after a completed round. If both teams cross the target, the higher score wins. Spades Club Ranked Blitz ends at 200, using the same contract, bag and Nil logic in a shorter match.