How to Bid in Spades: Count Your Sure Tricks

How bidding works in Spades

Spades is played by four players in two teams of partners. After the deal, each player bids how many of the 13 tricks they expect to win. The two partners' bids add up to the team contract.

• Make the contract: 10 points for every trick bid, plus 1 point for each extra trick (a bag).
• Miss the contract: minus 10 points for every trick bid.
• Nil: a bid of zero. +100 if that player takes no tricks, -100 if they take any.
• Bags: every 10 bags a team collects cost 100 points.

On NitroPlayer the first team to 300 points wins, and a team at minus 200 or lower loses. That is why a good bid is an honest bid: too low and the bags pile up, too high and you get set.

Step 1: count your side Aces

An Ace in hearts, diamonds or clubs is the most reliable trick in the deck: count one trick for each. The only exception is an Ace in a very long side suit (six cards or more), because opponents run out of that suit early and may trump it. In that case count it as half.

Step 2: count your high spades

Spades are trump, so high spades are worth more than any side card.

• Ace of spades: always one trick.
• King of spades: one trick if you hold at least one more spade, because the small spade protects it from the Ace.
• Queen of spades: one trick if you hold at least two more spades.

A bare King or Queen of spades, with no small spades beside it, is a gamble: count it as half at most.

Step 3: count long spades

Once the other players run out of spades, every spade left in your hand wins a trick. A simple rule works well: count one trick for every spade after your third, even small ones. Five spades give you two extra tricks, six spades give three.

Do not count the same spade twice. If your high spades already made up most of your count in step 2, add only the length beyond them.

Step 4: adjust for voids, Kings and your partner

• Voids and singletons. No cards in a side suit lets you trump the first time it is led. Add one trick for a void (or a singleton) only if you have spare spades you did not count in steps 2 and 3.
• Side Kings. A King with one or two small cards in the suit wins about half the time. Count one trick for every two such Kings.
• Queens and Jacks in side suits rarely win. Leave them out.
• Your partner. If your partner bid high, they hold strong cards: do not stretch your bid as well. If your partner bid Nil, add one trick to your bid, because you will play high cards to protect them.

Worked example: the hand from the video

The hand from the video holds six spades (Ace, King, 9, 7, 3, 2), the Ace of hearts, the Ace of diamonds and small cards in the other suits.

The four sure tricks make 4 a safe bid, and that is what the video bids. With six spades, a bid of 5 is also reasonable: the long spades usually win at least one more trick once the other players run out of trump. Bid 4 when your partner already bid high, 5 when they bid low. Then lead an Ace: a trick you were always going to win is a safe start, and it shows your partner where your strength is.

When to bid Nil

Bid Nil when your hand has no Aces, no King or Queen of spades, three spades or fewer, and low cards in every suit. Low cards let you play under the cards that are led, and short spades mean you will rarely be forced to win with a trump.

Avoid Nil with a long side suit headed by high cards, or with a singleton King or Queen anywhere: those cards tend to win a trick you did not want. If your partner is the one bidding Nil, play your high cards early to win the tricks they would otherwise be forced to take.

Common bidding mistakes

1. Counting every King. Side Kings lose to Aces about half the time. Count them in pairs.
2. Forgetting spade length. Five or six small spades are worth more than they look.
3. Bidding low to be safe. Underbidding piles up bags, and the tenth bag costs 100 points.
4. Ignoring the table. If the four bids add up to 10 or less, expect bags; if they add up to 13 or more, someone will be set, so play to make your own contract first.