Spades

Setup:
Spades is a four player card game with fixed partners sitting opposite each other. Cards rank in each suit from highest to lowest: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. A dealer is chosen at random, and then passes on clockwise in subsequent hands. The cards are shuffled, and every player is dealt 13 cards.

Bidding:
Each hand begins by clockwise bidding starting to the left of the dealer. Players take turns bidding on how many tricks they believe they can take during the hand, with the second teammate bidding for the team at least what his/her teammate bid previously. Bids must be whole numbers, and a minimum team bid of 4 tricks is required.

Special Bids

Play:
Play begins with every player discarding their lowest club. If a player is void in clubs, then they must discard either a diamond or a heart. The player with the highest club wins the trick.

Play proceeds with the winner of the first trick leading the second with any card except a spade. Players take turns playing cards clockwise from the leader following suit if able. If a player is void in the suit led, then he/she may play any card desired. A trick containing a spade is won by the highest spade; otherwise, the highest card of the suit led wins the trick.

Play continues with the winner of each trick leading the next. A player can not lead a spade until either:

Scoring:
Once play for a hand has finished, each team that makes at least their bid receives 10 times their bid plus 1 point for each overtrick. A team that falls short of its bid loses ten times the amount of the bid. It is important to note that the singles digit of the score exists only to record the number of sandbags, or overtricks. Once 10 sandbags are accumulated, the team is penalized 100 points, and any extra sandbags are recorded again in the singles digit. Notice that ten sandbags do not equate to ten points; likewise, when a team goes negative, the sandbags digit does not change.

Special Bids:

Other Spades links: