RoundfelloRoundfello

🃏 How to play

Spades rules

Bid it, make it — and keep an eye on those bags.

Players
4–4
Time
30–60 min
You need
Standard playing cards

The goal

Make your partnership's bid every hand. The first partnership to reach the target (usually 500) wins.

How a hand works

  1. 1

    Partners sit across

    Four players, two partnerships. Deal 13 cards each.

  2. 2

    Bid your tricks

    Each player bids how many tricks they expect to win. Partners' bids add up to the team's contract. Bidding 0 is Nil — you promise to take no tricks at all.

  3. 3

    Spades are trump

    Follow suit if you can. If you can't, you may play a spade, which beats any other suit. Spades can't be led until one has been played (unless you hold only spades).

  4. 4

    Count it up

    After all 13 tricks, check each team's tricks against its bid.

Scoring

  • Make your bid10 × bid
  • Each overtrick (bag)+1
  • Miss your bid−10 × bid
  • Nil made / failed+100 / −100
  • Every 10 bags−100

A Nil bidder's tricks don't help their partner's bid. Roundfello works out scores and bags from each player's bid and tricks.

One hand

  1. 1.Leo bids 4, Mia (his partner) bids 3 → contract 7.
  2. 2.They take 5 + 4 = 9 tricks → 70 + 2 bags = 72.
  3. 3.Their bag count was 8; now it's 10 → −100. Hand score: −28.

Winning tips

  • Bid carefully — bags add up fast.
  • Lead low to protect a partner's Nil.
  • Count the spades that have been played.

Popular house rules

  • Blind Nil (bid before looking) for ±200.
  • Some tables play to 300, or a team at −200 loses.
  • Some tables let the 2♦ or Jokers rank as the highest spades.

Let Roundfello keep score

Roundfello adds up every Spades hand for you, with live standings and a champion at the end.

Start keeping score