Spades strategy: how to bid and play better

Most Spades games are won in the bidding, not the play. A team that bids what it can take, makes it, and avoids piling up bags will beat a team of better card players who overbid. These tips go from the bid to the last trick. Try each one against the computer in a free game of Spades.

Bidding

1. Count sure tricks, not hopes

An ace is a trick. A king with one or two small cards beside it is usually a trick. A queen needs company. In spades, count the ace, king and queen, then one trick for every spade beyond your third: with six spades, the last three are likely winners once the others run out.

2. Short suits are worth tricks, but only with spare spades

A void or a singleton lets you trump early. That is only worth something if you have spades left over after your high ones. A void with two spades, both of which you need for their own tricks, adds nothing.

3. Adjust to your partner’s bid

If your partner bid 5 and you hold a borderline 3, bid 3, not 4: their strength will cover some of your doubtful cards, and the combined contract is what you must make. If your partner bid nil, bid a little higher than your count, because you will be playing high cards to protect them instead of saving them.

4. Watch the score

Close to 500, bid what you need to win and nothing more. With 8 or 9 bags already, bid your full count so extra tricks don’t tip you over 10. Far behind late in the game is the time for a risky nil.

Nil

5. When to bid nil

Three or fewer spades, none higher than the 10, and low cards in every side suit. An unprotected ace or king is what sinks most nil bids. Making ten out of every thirteen nil bids is a great trade: +100 each time is worth far more than bidding 1 or 2.

6. Protecting your partner’s nil

• Win tricks your partner would otherwise take: when they have played a high card, beat it.
• Lead your winners and high cards in suits where your partner may still hold high cards.
• Lead a suit your partner is void in, so they can throw away their dangerous cards.

7. Breaking the opponents’ nil

• Lead low cards in suits the nil bidder still holds, and keep playing under them.
• Don’t trump in when the nil bidder is winning a trick: let them have it.
• Save your low cards for late in the hand, when the nil bidder runs out of safe cards.

Playing the hand

8. Second hand low, third hand high

Playing second, keep your high cards unless you are sure they win; your partner plays last and can win the trick more cheaply. Playing third, play high enough to beat the card that is winning, so your partner’s lead isn’t wasted.

9. Don’t take your partner’s trick

If your partner is winning and the last player can’t beat them, throw your lowest card. Overtaking your partner wastes a high card and often costs a trick later.

10. Lead your short suits early

Getting rid of a short suit sets up a void, and a void turns your small spades into winners. Lead from long suits when you want to drive out the opponents’ high cards for your partner.

11. Cash side winners before they get trumped

An ace in a suit someone is void in is just a discard waiting to happen. Play your side-suit aces and kings while everyone can still follow.

12. Count the spades

There are 13 spades. Count them as they fall and you will know when your queen is the highest one left, or when an opponent is out of trumps and your side winners are safe.

Bags and sets

13. Stop when the contracts are decided

Once your team has made its bid and the opponents have either made theirs or can no longer make it, every extra trick is a bag. Play low, duck tricks and let the opponents take them.

14. Set the opponents when it’s cheap

If your team has made its contract and the opponents still need tricks, keep winning. A set costs them 10 points per trick bid, which is worth far more than the few bags it costs you.

15. Underbidding isn’t free

A team that keeps bidding low and taking two or three extra tricks will hit 10 bags every few hands. That 100-point penalty is the same as being set on a bid of 10. Bid what you expect to take.

New to the game? Start with how to play Spades, and use theSpades scoring calculator to see what a hand is worth.

Questions

What is the best strategy in Spades?

Bid accurately and play for your team's contract first. Count sure tricks when bidding, help your partner make their bid, stop taking tricks once both contracts are decided, and keep track of how many spades are left.

Should you lead spades in Spades?

Lead spades when your team holds most of the high ones and you want to pull the opponents' trumps, or when you are protecting a partner who bid nil. Otherwise leading spades usually helps the opponents.

When should you bid nil?

With three or fewer spades, no spade above the 10, and low cards in every side suit. An ace or king in a short suit is the usual reason a nil fails.

How do you avoid bags?

Bid what you can actually take rather than a safe low number, and once your team has made its contract and the opponents' contract is decided, play your lowest cards and let tricks go.