Rules: The four players are in fixed partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other. Deal and play proceed clockwise. A standard deck of 52 cards is used. The cards in each suit rank from highest to lowest: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. In Spades, all four players bid a number of tricks. Each team combines the bids of its two partners, and the total is the number of tricks that team must try to win in order to achieve a positive score. A bid of 0 tricks is known as Nil. This is a declaration that the player who bids Nil will not win any tricks during the play. The player to the dealer's left leads any card except a spade to the first trick. Each player, in turn, clockwise, must follow suit if able; if unable to follow suit, the player may play any card. A trick containing a spade is won by the highest spade played; if no spade is played, the trick is won by the highest card of the suit led. The winner of each trick leads to the next. Spades may not be led until either some player has played a spade (on the lead of another suit, of course), or the leader has only spades left in hand. A side that takes at least as many tricks as its bid calls for receives a score equal to 10 times its bid. Additional tricks (overtricks) are worth an extra one point each. Overtricks are colloquially known as bags. A side that accumulates ten or more bags over several deals has 100 points deducted from its score. Any bags beyond ten are carried over to the next cycle. If a side does not make its bid, they lose 10 points for each trick they bid. If a bid of Nil is successful, the Nil bidder's side receives 100 points. If a bid of Nil fails - that is, the bidder takes at least one trick - the bidder's side loses 100 points. When a Nil bid fails, the tricks won by the Nil bidder do not count towards making the partner's bid, but do count as bags for the team.
