Spades is a card game in which the goal is to win "tricks" to earn up to 500 points. Players win tricks by laying down the highest-valued card from a deck of four cards dealt each round. Because spades are the highest-valued cards, the highest spade in play will win regardless of the value of the other cards in play. The players are divided into teams, and the team with the most points wins the game.
How to play Spades for Beginners
Bidding and Dealing
Divide the players into teams and place teammates across from one another. Choose a dealer from among the players.
Allow the dealer to deal out an entire 52-card deck counter-clockwise, with each player receiving 13 cards.
Allow the player to the dealer's left to make the first bid, indicating how many tricks he believes he will win. If you have a few high cards, bid high; if you believe you can win six of the 13 tricks, bid six. After each person has placed a bid, the bids of teammates are added together. This number is referred to as the "contract."
Scoring and Playing
Allow the player to the dealer's left to place the first card. Unless the player has an entire hand of spades, the first card should not be a spade.
Allow players to continue laying down cards in a counter-clockwise fashion. Unless they don't have any cards from that suit, the other players should lay down cards from that suit. After each player has placed one card, the highest-valued card wins the trick. Spades are regarded as "trump" cards. If a spade is played, the highest spade wins the trick regardless of the other cards' values. In the next round, the person who won the trick will be the one to play the first card.
Play spades online game until all of the cards have been played. Count how many tricks each player has won. Compare these figures to the contract figures. Members score ten times the contract plus one point per additional trick, or "sandbag," if a team takes all of the tricks in its contract or more. You will be penalized 100 points if your sandbags total ten or more points. If you did not complete all of the tricks in your contract, you will be penalized ten points per trick. If a player bids zero and wins tricks, he receives 100 points. The game is won by the team with the highest score up to 500 points.
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