Spades

Description

In Spades the four players are in fixed partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other. Deal and play are clockwise.

A standard Spades pack of 52 cards is used. The cards, in each suit, rank from highest to lowest: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

The first Spades dealer is chosen at random, and the turn to deal rotates clockwise. The cards are shuffled and then dealt singly, in clockwise order beginning with the player on dealer's left, until all 52 cards have been dealt and everyone has 13.

In Spades, all four players bid a number of tricks. Each team of Spades adds together the bids of the two partners, and the total is the number of tricks that team must try to win in order to get a positive score. The bidding begins with the player to dealer's left and continues clockwise around the table. Everyone in Spades must bid a number, and in theory any number from 0 to 13 is allowed. Unlike other games with bidding, there is no requirement for each bid to be higher than the last one, and players are not allowed to pass. There is no second round of bidding - bids once made cannot be altered.

A side that takes at least as many tricks as its bid calls for receives a score equal to 10 times its bid. Additional tricks (overtricks) are worth an extra one point each.

If a side in Spades does not make its bid, they lose 10 points for each trick they bid.

The side in Spades which reaches 500 points first wins the game. If both sides reach 500 points in a single deal, the side with the higher score wins Spades.