Two free sheets for the card table: the rules of four-player partnership spades on one page, with tick boxes for the house rules your table plays, and a one-page cheat sheet with the bidding, card order and scoring at a glance. Press Print on the sheet you want, or choose Save as PDF in the print window.
Print the sheet you need with its Print button. To keep a copy on your computer, choose Save as PDF in the print window. The rules match the game on this site; the full explanations, with worked hands, are on how to play spades, and each house rule is explained on spades house rules.
Spades rules: four players, two partnerships
Players and cards. Four players; partners sit across from each other. A standard 52-card deck, no jokers. Cards rank A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. Spades are always trump.
Deal. Deal all 52 cards one at a time, starting left of the dealer: 13 each. The deal passes to the left after every hand.
Bidding. Starting left of the dealer, each player bids once: the number of tricks they expect to win, 1 to 13, or nil (no tricks). Nobody may pass and there’s no table talk. Partners add their bids together: that’s the team’s contract. A nil is scored on its own.
Play. The player left of the dealer leads any card except a spade. Follow suit if you can. If you can’t, play any card, a spade or not. The highest spade wins the trick; with no spade in it, the highest card of the suit led wins. The winner leads next. Nobody may lead a spade until a spade has been played on another suit, or the leader holds only spades.
Scoring.
- Contract made: +10 a trick bid, plus +1 a bag (each extra trick).
- Contract missed (set): −10 a trick bid.
- Every 10 bags a team collects: −100. Bags past 10 carry over.
- Nil: +100 if the nil bidder takes no tricks, −100 if they take any. A failed nil’s tricks don’t count toward the partner’s bid, but they do count as bags.
- Blind nil (bid before looking at your cards): +200 / −200. Then trade two cards face down with your partner.
Winning. First team to 500. If both pass 500 on the same hand, the higher score wins. An exact tie: play another hand.
Our table’s house rules
- Lose floor ☐ −200 ☐ −500 ☐ none
- Game to ☐ 500 ☐ 300 ☐ 250 ☐ ______
- Board: each team bids at least 4 (a nil bidder's partner bids at least 4)
- Blind nil allowed ☐ only when 100+ behind ☐ any hand ☐ never
- A failed nil's tricks count ☐ as bags only ☐ for the partner ☐ for nothing
- Nil worth 50 instead of 100
- A set scores 0 instead of −10 a trick bid
- Bag penalty ☐ −100 per 10 ☐ −50 per 5 ☐ none
- 10 for 2: a team that bids 10 and makes it scores 200 (fails: −200)
- Boston: taking all 13 tricks ☐ scores 200 ☐ wins the game
- No spades at all on the first trick
- Redeal if a player has no spades
- Jokers: ☐ Joker-Joker-Ace ☐ Joker-Joker-Deuce ☐ Joker-Joker-Deuce-Deuce
- ______________________________________________
Spades cheat sheet
Card order (every suit) A · K · Q · J · 10 · 9 · 8 · 7 · 6 · 5 · 4 · 3 · 2
Trump: spades, always. Any spade beats any other card. The A♠ beats everything.
Bidding
- Once each, from the dealer’s left
- 1 to 13 tricks, or nil
- No passing, no table talk
- Partners’ bids add up
Play
- First lead: dealer’s left, no spade
- Follow suit if you can
- Can’t follow: play anything
- Highest spade wins; else highest of the suit led
- No spade leads until spades are broken
Scoring
| Result | Points |
|---|---|
| Contract made | +10 a trick bid |
| Each bag (extra trick) | +1 |
| Set (contract missed) | −10 a trick bid |
| Every 10 bags | −100 |
| Nil made / failed | +100 / −100 |
| Blind nil made / failed | +200 / −200 |
Winning: first to 500. Both past 500 on one hand: higher score wins. Tie: play another hand.
Bag count: many tables read it from the last digit of the team’s score.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I save these spades rules as a PDF?
Press the Print button on the sheet you want, then choose Save as PDF (or Microsoft Print to PDF) as the printer in the print window.
Which spades rules do these sheets use?
The standard four-player partnership game, the same rules as the game on this site and the rules page: bids from 1 to 13 or nil, 10 points a trick bid, minus 10 a trick bid when set, 10 bags cost 100, and the first team to 500 wins. The tick boxes cover the house rules tables most often play differently.
Is there a spades cheat sheet?
Yes. The second sheet on this page fits the bidding, the card order, breaking spades and the scoring table on one page, for keeping beside the score sheet.