It is possible for a player to call a "misdeal" if a dealt hand does not contain any spades. This request leads to the same dealer dealing out another hand to each player. It is a type of plain-trick game in which spades are always used as trumps, which accounts for the game's name.
(to) Break Nil - Force an opponent who has bid nil or blind nil to win a trick, typically by leading a low card and forcing them to play a higher one due to lack of other cards in their hand.
You are only allowed to bid "No Trump" if you hold at least one spade in your hand. The value of the bid is double that of a normal bid for that number of tricks if won; the penalty is if you lose is double the penalty for a normal bid (some people play with only a single penalty but this is not recommended).
Blind bidding is not allowed, however bags are counted as usual. Related to Whiz, each player must bid the number of spades in their hand. Players do not have the option to go Nil unless they have no Spades and must bid Nil if this is the case.
The player to the dealer's left plays first ("leads"). He may not lead with a spade unless his hand only includes spades. In fact, unless a player has no option, spades may never be led until the suit is "broken" (see below).
The person who plays the highest card in the led suit or the highest spade collects up the four cards played and wins the trick. At every trick, the player who won the previous trick can lead anything she likes — with the exception of spades. You can't lead spades at any point in the game until the suit is broken.
Spades is a tried-and-true pastime in the black community, so much so that it can be hard for people to believe there are black Americans out there that don't know how to play.
To win at least the number of tricks bid. When the two jokers are used, they are the highest-ranking trump cards. The spade suit is comprised of 15 cards: the Big Joker (Full-Color Joker) outranks the Little Joker (One-Color Joker), which outranks the ace of spades.
In the game of Spades, the “trump suit” is always spades. So … the 2 of spades IS higher than the 2 of diamonds. In fact, the 2 of spades is higher than any card in Diamonds, Hearts, or Clubs. However, the 2 of spades is the lowest card in the spade suit.
You can throw out any card of any suit EXCEPT SPADES, remember, you can't throw out spades until someone CUTS.
Board - The minimum amount of books any team can bid each hand. Board is traditionally 4 books. Boston - The act of embarrassing your opponent by winning all 13 books in a hand. Most Spades games determine this an automatic win.
Shooting the moon is when you want to win all the hearts and the Queen of spades. If you succeed, you gain no points that round and every other player gains 26 points (in some circles, you have an option to instead take 26 points off your score).
Any overtricks you accrue count 1 point each. For example, bidding seven and collecting nine tricks scores 72 points — not all that much different, you may think, from bidding eight and scoring nine tricks for 81 points or actually hitting the nail on the head with a bid of nine for 90 points.
If a team collects 10 bags across hands, a penalty of 100 points is subtracted from their score. This penalty can be turned off in practice and join games (see Spades House Rules Options, below). If a team fails to achieve their bid, their score is not changed.
Any trick you win in excess of your total team bid is counted as a bag. Each bag brings 1 additional point to your score. But if you accumulate 10 bags, you lose 100 points and your bag count resets.
Spades is played with 4 players and uses a standard 52 card deck (with the Jokers removed). The deck is shuffled and then dealt out with each player receiving 13 cards.
