Spades: two teams, one bid

About Spades

This is Spades the way it's played across the US: 52 cards, four players in two teams, partners sitting across, and 13 cards each. Before play, everyone bids how many tricks they'll take, from 1 to 13, or Nil, a promise to take none at all. Each team adds up its two bids, and that total is the contract. The player to the dealer's left leads the first trick, and play moves to the left. You have to follow suit if you can; if not, play anything. Spades are always trump and can't be led until they're broken. Make your bid and you score 10 points per trick bid, and every extra trick is worth 1 point and counts as a bag. Get set and you lose 10 per trick bid. Nil is worth 100 if that player takes no tricks, and costs 100 if they take any. Every 10 bags cost the team 100 points. The host picks the target, 500 or 250 points, and picks a partner; the first team to reach the target wins, and a team that falls to −200 loses. Everyone plays with the deck they prefer, from the four in the Kingdom's collection. The table lives on the site, so the four of you don't need to be online at once: the game tells you when it's your turn, and anyone who opens the link once the table is full can watch. Players can chat by text, and the rematch happens right there, with the same teams or new ones.

In Selminha's words

“Spades is the most popular partnership card game in the US, and the fun is in reading your partner without saying a word: you bid thinking about what they might be holding. I wanted our own table, with the Kingdom's deck, the Queen of Spades watching closely and a link to call three people, each on their own phone, chatting by text or out loud.”

How to play Spades and what counts in every hand

1. Tap OPEN A TABLE, pick the target (500 or 250 points), the revoke rule (allow or block) and your deck (each player picks the deck design they see), enter your name and COPY the link. Send it to three people: the first three to open it play, and everyone after that watches.
2. Once all four are seated, pick your partner (the other two make up the other team) and tap START THE MATCH. Everyone gets 13 cards.
3. When it's your turn to bid, tap the number of tricks you expect to take, or NIL, then BID. The middle of the table shows what your partner and your opponents have already bid.
4. On your turn to play, tap a card to pick it and tap it again to play it, or drag it onto the table; drag cards sideways to arrange your hand. Cards you can play have a gold outline: follow suit; spades can't be led until they're broken. Once the trick is complete, the four cards go to whoever took it, and each player's name card shows their bid and how many tricks they've taken.
5. End of the hand: the COUNTING THE POINTS box shows each team's contract, any Nil bids, bags and the bag penalty, if any; any player taps NEXT HAND. Chat sits in the right column (on a phone held upright, behind the chat button). P or Esc open the menu (the table keeps going); M turns the sound on and off. With revokes allowed, CALL A REVOKE asks the table to rule on the record: a real revoke loses the game for the revoking team; a false accusation loses it for the accuser's team.

The rules of the table

The deck

52 cards, 13 each. Aces are high in every suit.

The teams

Four players in two teams, partners sitting across. The host picks their partner.

The bid

Everyone bids how many tricks they'll take, from 1 to 13, or Nil (none). Each team adds up its two bids: that's the contract. The player to the dealer's left bids first.

Who leads

The player to the dealer's left leads the first trick, and play moves to the left. Every hand, the deal moves one seat to the left too.

Following suit

If you hold the suit led, you have to play it. With none, any card goes.

Trump

Spades are always trump: the highest spade takes the trick. With no spade played, the highest card of the suit led takes it.

Breaking spades

You can lead spades only after someone has played one, or when spades are all you have left.

How you score

Making the bid

10 points per trick the team bid.

Bags

Every trick taken beyond the contract is worth 1 point and counts as a bag. Every 10 bags cost the team 100 points.

Getting set

A team that takes fewer tricks than it bid loses 10 points per trick bid.

Nil

Worth 100 points if that player takes no tricks, and costs 100 if they take any. The tricks they do take count as the team's bags.

End of the game

The first team to reach the target (500 or 250) at the end of a hand wins. If both teams pass it on the same hand, the higher score wins; tied at the target, you play another hand. A team that falls to −200 loses on the spot.

Controls on phone and computer

Computer

Tap or click a card to pick it, then again to play it, or drag it onto the table, and tap a number to bid · drag sideways to arrange your hand · ← → browse your cards, Enter picks, then plays · P or Esc open the menu · M sound · F full screen · gamepad: d-pad browses the cards, A or X pick, then play, Start menu, Back sound.

Touch

On a phone you play it upright; on a tablet it follows the device, portrait or landscape, and never asks you to rotate. To bid, tap a number and then BID, right after the 13; to play, tap a card. CALL A REVOKE and RESIGN sit above your hand. Invite with the COPY button and paste the link wherever you like (a text, WhatsApp…).

The host's choices

500 points

The classic game, the long one.

250 points

A short game for when time is tight.

Your partner

The host picks who plays with them; for a rematch, they can keep the teams or swap.