The usual three-player game is every player for themselves: deal 17 cards each and set the last card aside, bid for your own tricks, and play with spades as trumps. The 2 of clubs leads the first trick. You score 10 a trick for making your bid and lose 10 a trick for failing; each overtrick costs 10. Another way, Dan Corkill's dummy-hand game, deals a fourth hand that the highest bidder plays as a partner.
There are two good ways to play spades with three people. The first, recorded by Pagat (the standard reference for card game rules), is every player for themselves with bigger hands. The second, dummy-hand spades by Dan Corkill, keeps the feel of the partnership game by adding a fourth hand.
Every player for themselves (Pagat)
Cards and deal
Use one standard 52-card deck. Deal 17 cards to each player. The last card is set aside face down and isn’t used that hand.
With jokers: add the big and little jokers as the two highest trumps (54 cards) and deal 18 each, with nothing set aside. Bicycle’s rules for spades with jokers use the same 18-card deal for three.
Bidding
Starting with the player to the dealer’s left, each player bids the number of tricks they’ll win. Some players add a rule that the three bids may not add up to 17, so that not everyone can make their bid exactly.
Play
- The player holding the 2 of clubs leads it to the first trick. If the 2 of clubs is the card set aside, the 3 of clubs leads instead.
- To that first trick, the others must play a club if they have one. A player with no club may take the trick with any spade, or throw any other card.
- After that, the winner of each trick leads the next. You must follow suit if you can; if you can’t, you may trump with a spade or throw a card of another suit. The highest spade wins a trumped trick.
- Spades can’t be led until a spade has been used to win a trick led in another suit, unless a player holds nothing but spades.
Scoring
Each player scores alone:
| Result | Score |
|---|---|
| Make your bid | +10 for each trick you bid |
| Each overtrick (sandbag) | −10 from what you score for the hand |
| Fail your bid (a “cut”) | −10 for each trick you bid |
For example, bid 4 and take 5, and you score 30 instead of 40. Bid 3 and take 7, and you lose 10 overall (30 minus 40).
Counting sandbags instead. Some players don’t deduct 10 for each overtrick. Instead they keep a running count, and every time a player reaches 10 sandbags (over several hands) they lose 100 points, as in the four-player game.
The game is played to an agreed total, usually 300, 400 or 500. When one or more players pass it, the highest score wins.
Optional bonuses
Pagat also records a set of bonus scores from one player, Szu Kay Wong, for tables that want them: extra points for making a bid of 7 or more exactly, for making a small bid (2, 1 or none) exactly, for winning the last tricks with high spades, and a “blind” bid that doubles everything. They aren’t standard, so agree them first.
Dummy-hand spades (Dan Corkill)
Dan Corkill’s three-player game keeps much of the play of the four-player partnership game.
- Deal four hands of 13, one to each player and one to an empty seat: the dummy. The dummy’s hand stays face down for now.
- Bid. Each real player bids the number of tricks they expect their team to win this hand. The dummy doesn’t bid.
- The highest bidder becomes the declarer and partners the dummy for this hand. (A tie goes to whoever bid it first.) The other two players are partners for this hand, the defenders.
- Play. The first bidder leads. The dummy’s cards are then turned face up opposite the declarer, and the declarer plays both their own hand and the dummy’s, as in bridge.
- Score as individuals. The declarer scores the tricks taken by their hand and the dummy together against their bid. Each defender scores the tricks the two defenders took together against their own bid. Nil can be bid for your own hand, and the declarer can even bid it for the dummy.
Because each defender scores against their own bid, the two defenders don’t always want the same thing. A defender can deliberately lose a trick to set the other defender while giving the declarer bags. Corkill’s rules include worked examples and bidding advice.
Which one to play
- Every player for themselves is simpler and needs no explanation beyond the standard rules. Hands are long (17 tricks), and bidding is harder because two-thirds of the deck is against you.
- Dummy-hand feels more like the four-player game, with partnerships and a hand to read, but it takes a few hands to learn.
The score sheet has a page for three players scoring individually. For the four-player game, play spades online against the computer or with friends.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many cards do you deal in three-player spades?
Seventeen each from a standard 52-card deck, with the last card set aside unseen. With the two jokers added (54 cards), you deal 18 each and none is set aside.
Who leads first in three-player spades?
The player holding the 2 of clubs leads it to the first trick. If the 2 of clubs is the card set aside, the 3 of clubs leads instead.
How do you score three-player spades?
Each player scores alone. Make your bid and you get 10 points for each trick you bid, less 10 for each overtrick; fail and you lose 10 for each trick you bid. Some players count sandbags instead: no deduction per overtrick, but minus 100 points for every 10 collected. The game is usually played to 300, 400 or 500.