Spades scoring: contracts, nil and bags

This guide uses the scoring on our Spades rules page: a target of 500 and a 100-point penalty for ten bags.

Contracts

Add the two partners’ regular bids to get the team contract.

• Made: score 10 points per bid trick, plus 1 point per extra trick.
• Missed: lose 10 points per bid trick. Do not add points for the tricks you took.

Nil

• A successful nil scores +100.
• A failed nil costs −100.

Tricks taken by a failed nil bidder still count toward the team’s regular contract, and any tricks beyond that contract become bags.

Bags

Each extra trick is a bag. When your total reaches 10 bags, subtract 100 points and take 10 off the bag count. Extra bags stay on the count.

Worked examples

Contract made. A team bids 4 and 3 and takes 8 tricks. The contract is 7. Score 70 for the bid and 1 for the extra trick: 71 points and one bag.

Contract missed. A team bids 4 and 3 and takes 5 tricks. Lose 70 points. No bags.

Nil made. One partner bids nil, the other bids 5. The nil player takes no tricks and the other player takes 5. Score 50 for the contract plus 100 for the nil: 150 points.

Bag penalty. A team on 9 bags bids 4, takes 6 tricks. It scores 40 + 2 = 42 points and adds 2 bags, reaching 11. Subtract 100 and carry 1 bag. Net change: −58.

Ending the game

Finish the hand, then compare totals. If one team is at 500 or more, it wins. If both are, the higher total wins. If they tie, play another hand.

Variants

Blind nil (a nil bid before seeing cards, typically 200 points), shorter targets of 200 or 250, or no bag rule are all common. Agree on them before play.