Assessing your hand, predicting your opponents' moves, and bidding on the number of tricks you can win all contribute to the game's depth and challenge. The game requires strategic thinking, careful planning, and tactical decision-making. What makes the Spades cards game so popular? Firstly, it offers a perfect balance of skill and luck. Nil and Blind Nil bids are scored separately from normal scoring (EXAMPLE: If P1 bid 0 and P3 bid 5 and P1 ended up taking 0 tricks but P3 took 4, their team would score 100 points for P1's Nil bid and -50 for P3's bid of 5 for a total of 50 points for the round).With its unique blend of strategy, teamwork, and exciting gameplay, Spades has become a beloved pastime for both casual players and competitive enthusiasts.Because of Blind Nil, it's important to ask players if they are bidding Blind Nil before they look at their hand.If you click the QTY value of your hand, you have the option to flip the entire hand at the same time for convenience.

You must decide whether or not to bid Blind Nil before clicking them to be face-up. *For PlayingCards.io, your cards will be dealt to you face-down. If they score any tricks on a Blind Nil Bid, they score -200 points for their team. If a player wins 0 tricks on a Blind Nil bid, they score 200 points for their team. This works the same way as a Nil bid except they make this bid without looking at their hand of cards before bidding. Conversely, if they win any tricks on a Nil bid, they score -100 points for their team. If they do not win any tricks on a Nil bid, they score 100 points for their team. A player may bid Nil (0) during the Bidding phase if they think they will win 0 tricks.If a team does not reach their total bid amount in a round, they lose 10x their total bid amount (EXAMPLE: P2 and P4 each bid 3 for a total of 6, but they only won 5 tricks this past round. However, if a team's number of Bags reaches 10, their team's score is penalized -100 points. Bags are worth 1 point each as previously mentioned. They won 8 tricks this round and thus score 71 points - 10 points for the first 7 tricks and 1 point for the 8th trick).Įach trick won beyond the bid amount is known as a 'Bag' and each Bag a team gets is recorded. If a team reaches or exceeds their total bid amount (between both players on the team), they score 10 points for each trick up to their bid amount + 1 point for each trick beyond their bid amount (EXAMPLE: P1 bid 3 and P3 bid 4 for a total of 7. Once this happens in a round, a player may then start a trick with a Spades suited card. Spades are broken when a player cannot follow the suit of a trick and plays a Spade suited card onto the trick.

A Spade suited card cannot be the first card played in a trick unless the player has no other suits to play OR if Spades have been broken.

Tricks are counted and compared to their bids. The winner takes the trick and starts a new trick by playing a card.Īfter all 13 tricks have been played, the round is over. The winner of the trick is the player who played the highest ranking card (EXAMPLE: P2 started the trick with a K of Hearts, P3 followed with a 7 of Hearts, P3 does not have any Hearts so they play a 3 of Diamonds, P4 plays an A of Hearts. If they cannot follow suit, they may play any card. Starting with the player left of the dealer, each player must play one card into the middle.Įach player must follow suit of the first card played, if possible.

The bids are then recorded for each player.

This bid is the number of tricks they think they will win this round (EXAMPLE: P2 bids 4 tricks based on the cards in their hand.

Starting with the player left of the dealer, each player will say a bid.

The deck is shuffled and each player is dealt 13, one card at a time.Įach round of Spades has a Bidding phase and a Play phase.

Players divide themselves into two teams and sit so that they are opposite of their teammate (EXAMPLE: Team 1 - Player 1, Team 2 - Player 2, Team 1 - Player 3, Team 2 - Player 4).

Spades is played using a standard 52 card deck.

The cards are ranked A - 2 (high to low) and Spades suit is always trump, beating cards of any other suit.

In Spades, the goal is to accurately predict how many tricks you will win per round.

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