You can play Spades as individuals, meaning, each player has to bid a number of tricks from 0 - 13, or how many plays they will win, and each player is responsible for making their own tricks without the help of a partner. Single players are also allowed to bid nil and blind nil.
Once everyone has placed their bids, the player to the dealer's left will begin with any card except a spade for the first trick. Continuing clockwise, each player in turn must follow suit. If they are unable to follow suit, the player may play any card.
If a player breaks spades that trick is won by the highest spade played. If no spade is played, the trick is won by the highest card of the suit led and the winner of each trick will lead or begin the next one. Spades Card may not be led until either a player has played a spade or the leader has nothing but spades Cards left in hand.
Scoring
Once the round is over, each player will tally their score. As we mentioned before, Spades is usually played until a score of 200 or 500 is won, but here at Spadester.com, when you open a room, you get to choose how many points you want to play until and the time limit that is good for you.
If a player won as many tricks as their original bid, they will receive 10 points for every trick and if they happen to have any bags (a bag is a trick that is won in addition to the intial bid. Example: If a player bids 4 tricks and makes 5, the additional trick is called a "bag"), they will receive 1 point for each bag. Please read the examples below for further clarification:
Example 1) If a player bid and won 4 trick, his score would be 40 points.
Example 2) If the same player who bid 4 tricks also won 2 over tricks, 40 points from their original bid + 2 points for the bags will bring their total score for the round to 42 points.
Bags can be a great source of points, however, if you accumulate 10 or more over a period of hands, you will lose 100 points from your total score. Any bags beyond ten are carried over to the next cycle, meaning that if you reach twenty bags you would lose an additional 100 points.
If a player doesn’t make their bid, that player loses 10 points for each trick they originally bid.
Example: If your score was 100 at the begining of the game, and you bid 5 tricks but only won 3, you will lose 50 points and your new score will be 50: 100 points - 50 points for the incomplete bid of 5 tricks
If a you have a score of 400 points and had a successful bid of nil, your score will now be 500, however you should fail to win your bid of nil, your score will now 300 be and any tricks you won will count as bags.
A bid of blind nil scores twice as much as an ordinary nil so you will have the opportunity to gain 200 points, but be careful, you can lose 200 points should you fail.
Example: If you start with 300 points and successfully win a blind nil hand, your new score will be 400 points, however, should you lose the blind nil, your score will be 200 points.
*It should be noted that a player may bid blind nil only if he is behind by at least 100 points.
The player that reaches the set point limit first (usually between 200 and 500 points) wins the game. If all players reach the set point limit in a single deal, the player with the higher score wins.