Are spades always trump?

Yes. Any spade beats any card from another suit in a trick, provided the player was legally unable to follow the led suit.

What is a bag in Spades?

A bag is a trick taken beyond your team’s contract. Bags score a point each, but accumulating 10 causes a 100-point penalty in this version.

How do you win Spades?

In the Made Simple Games version, the first team to reach at least 500 points while holding the higher score wins.

How to Play Spades: Bidding, Tricks, Scoring, and Strategy

The goal of Spades

Spades is a four-player partnership trick-taking game. Partners sit across from one another, and spades are always trump. Your team tries to win at least as many tricks as the two partners bid together.

Made Simple Games plays to 500 points. A successful contract earns 10 points for every trick bid, plus 1 point for each extra trick. Missing the contract costs 10 points per trick bid.

How bidding works

After looking at a 13-card hand, every player bids the number of tricks they expect to take. The two partners’ bids are added into one team contract. A bid of 3 and a partner’s bid of 4 create a contract of 7.

A useful beginner estimate starts with high spades, aces in side suits, and protected kings. Then adjust for suit length. A short side suit can become valuable because you may be able to trump it after you run out.

Playing tricks

The player left of the dealer leads. Everyone must follow the led suit when able. If you cannot follow suit, you may play any card, including a spade. The highest card in the led suit wins unless one or more spades are played; then the highest spade wins.

Spades generally cannot be led until they are broken by being played on another suit. A player holding only spades may lead one even if the suit has not yet been broken.

Contracts, overtricks, and bags

If your team bids 6 and takes 8 tricks, it scores 62 points: 60 for the contract and 2 for the overtricks. Those two extras are also bags. In this version, collecting 10 bags costs the team 100 points, and the bag count rolls forward after the penalty.

This creates a useful tension. Early in the hand you may fight for every needed trick. Once your contract is safe, you may deliberately avoid unnecessary tricks so the other team takes the bags.

Beginner bidding strategy

Count the ace of each side suit as a likely trick, but be cautious with an unprotected king.
Count strong spades, especially the ace, king, and queen, while remembering that lower spades may become winners later.
Give extra value to a singleton or void when you also hold enough spades to trump.
Reduce your estimate when several honors are bunched in one long side suit; opponents may run out and trump.
Bid what your hand can support. Your partner’s unknown hand is not a reason to inflate your own number.

Partnership play

Your bid communicates the general strength of your hand, and your card play supplies more information. Avoid overtaking a partner who is already winning a trick unless you need control for a reason. Lead back a suit your partner appears able to trump, and watch which opponents have run out of each suit.

Keep a running total of tricks taken versus tricks needed. When your team still needs two, protect likely winners. When the contract is made, change priorities and shed medium cards that might accidentally win bags.