Common Spades mistakes

This guide lists the errors that cost the most points in Spades, following the four-player game on our Spades rules page. For bidding advice see the Spades bidding strategy guide.

Bidding mistakes

• Overbidding. A missed contract loses 10 points per trick bid, so a bid of 7 that takes 6 loses 70.
• Counting every high card as a trick. A king without cover in its suit can be captured.
• Ignoring your partner’s bid. Both bids form one team contract.
• Bidding nil with a high spade or a long suit. These are the cards that win tricks.
• Discussing cards. Partners must not talk about specific cards during the bidding or play.

Play mistakes

• Leading spades before they are broken. You can’t lead a spade until spades have been played, unless you hold only spades.
• Forgetting to follow suit. Being trump does not let you ignore the suit led.
• Overtaking your partner. If your partner is winning, don’t waste a high card.
• Fighting for tricks after the contract is made. Extra tricks are bags.
• Not covering a nil. Your partner’s nil bid needs you to take tricks it might otherwise win.

Scoring mistakes

• Adding four independent bids. Partners combine their regular bids into one contract.
• Forgetting the bag penalty. The tenth bag costs 100 points.
• Dropping a failed nil bidder’s tricks. Those tricks still count towards the team contract.
• Scoring nil as a regular bid. A successful nil is +100 and a failed nil is −100.
• Ending the game early. Finish the hand before checking whether a team has reached 500.

Habits to build

1. Write down the contract and the bag count before each hand.
2. Count spades as they fall.
3. Ask before bidding: how many tricks am I sure of?

Published accounts do not settle what happens to a failed nil bidder’s tricks. This site’s house rule counts them toward the partner’s contract; other tables count them only as bags. Agree this before bidding.