How to Bid in Spades: Count Your Books

Bidding is where spades is won. Play matters, but a team that bids 7 and takes 7 beats a team that plays beautifully and bids 9. This guide gives you a counting method that works on any hand, then shows it on six real deals. The bidding rules themselves are on the spades rules page.

A quick reminder of the stakes. Your bid plus your partner's is the team contract. Make it and you score 10 per book bid, plus 1 per extra book (a bag). Miss it and you lose 10 per book bid. That imbalance shapes everything below.

The counting method

Go suit by suit. Count only tricks you expect to win, not tricks you hope to win.

Side suits (hearts, diamonds, clubs):

• Ace: 1 book. Aces get trumped sometimes, but count them anyway.
• King with at least one other card (K-x): about 1/2 to 1. Count it as 1 if the ace is likely to go early, 1/2 if you're holding only K and one small card. With A-K together, count 2.
• Queen with two others (Q-x-x): usually 0. Count it as 1/2 at most.
• Anything in a long suit (five or more): count 0 beyond the aces and kings. Somebody will trump the third round.

Trump (spades):

• Top trump: count the cards nobody can beat. In House Rules that is the Big Joker, then the Little Joker, 2♦ and 2♠. In Classic it is the A♠, then K♠.
• Length: with four or more spades, count one book for each spade past the third. Four spades = +1, five = +2, six = +3. Those long spades win after everyone else runs out.
• Don't double-count. If you already counted the Big Joker as a top trick, it's still one of your spades for length. That's fine: length tricks come from the small spades, not the big ones.

Add it up and round down if you land on a half.

Adjust for voids and singletons

A void (no cards in a suit) or singleton (one card) lets you trump early. That's worth a book, but only if you have trump to spare.

• Void + three or more spades: add 1.
• Singleton + three or more spades: add 1/2.
• Void with only one or two spades: add nothing. You will run out of trump before you can use it.

The trap is counting the void twice: once as "I'll ruff" and once as "my small spades are long". Your spades can only do one job each.

Reading your partner's bid

With the default Spades Night bidding, all four players bid at once in secret, so you don't see your partner's number first. You bid your own hand honestly and trust them to do the same. That's a good habit anywhere.

With sequential bidding (a table option, and the norm on paper), you do see earlier bids. Use them:

• Partner bid high (5+): they hold top cards. Your kings and queens are worth less, because the suits will already be won by partner. Trim half a book.
• Partner bid nil: your job now includes covering them. Bid a little higher if you hold high cards in the suits where partner is weak, since you will be winning tricks to protect them. See nil strategy.
• Opponents bid high: tricks are scarce. Don't stretch.
• Total bids reach 12 or 13: every book will be fought for. Expect someone to be set.

Board: why the team minimum is 4

At many tables, and at Spades Night by default, the team contract can't be less than 4. If you bid 1 and partner bids 2, you are on the hook for 4. This is called going board.

It matters for weak hands. Two players with 1 book each can bid 1 and 1, but the game raises the contract to 4. So when your hand is weak, don't shade your bid down to protect against a set, since board will lift the contract anyway. Bid what you have and let board do its thing.

One exception: if one partner bids nil, the other partner carries the whole contract. Bid nil next to a partner holding 2 books, and that partner is now playing for 4 by themselves. If both partners bid nil, there is no team contract and board doesn't apply.

Bags vs sets: bidding under pressure

Every bag is +1 point now, and every tenth bag costs 100 (at Spades Night the counter keeps the remainder: 12 bags costs 100 and leaves 2). A set costs 10 points per book in your contract.

So when you're torn between two numbers:

• Early in the game, no bags on the board: bid the lower number. A bag or two is cheap.
• Sitting on 7 to 9 bags: bid the higher number. A single overtrick could cost 100.
• Well ahead: bid conservatively. You win by not getting set.
• Well behind: stretch, or consider nil. Safe bids won't catch up.

For how bags add up, see bags.

When to bid nil

A nil hand has no card you can't get rid of. Look for:

• No jokers, no 2♦ or 2♠, no A♠ or K♠.
• Three or fewer spades, all low (3♠ to 7♠).
• Short suits with low cards: 2s, 3s, 4s.
• No long suit with a single high card you'll be stuck playing.

If your team is behind by 100 or more at Spades Night, you'll also get a blind nil offer before you see your cards: +200 or −200. That's a gamble on your partner's strength, not your hand. More in blind nil.

Six hands and the right bid

All examples use House Rules (jokers and deuces). Cards listed by suit.

Hand 1

Little Joker, A♠, 8♠, 4♠ · A♥, K♥, 6♥ · 9♦, 5♦ · 10♣, 7♣, 4♣, 3♣

Little Joker 1. A♠ probably 1, but three cards can still beat it. Four spades: +1 length. A♥ and K♥ together: 2. That's 5 on paper, with a soft A♠. Bid 4.

Hand 2

5♠, 3♠ · J♥, 8♥, 4♥, 3♥ · 10♦, 7♦, 4♦ · 9♣, 6♣, 5♣, 3♣

No aces, no kings, two tiny spades. The highest card is the J♥, and every suit has low cards to duck with. Bid nil. If your table plays without nil, bid 1 and let board carry the rest.

Hand 3

Big Joker, 2♦, K♠, Q♠, 9♠, 6♠ · A♣ · K♦, 8♦ · 7♥, 6♥, 5♥, 4♥

Big Joker 1, 2♦ 1. Six trump gives +3 for length, and the K♠ and Q♠ make those length tricks likely. A♣ 1. K♦ with one guard 1/2. Total 6.5. Bid 6. Once the A♣ is gone you can ruff clubs too, which is your cushion.

Hand 4

A♠, 7♠ · A♥, Q♥, J♥, 10♥, 9♥, 3♥ · A♦ · K♣, 8♣, 6♣, 4♣

A♠ probably 1. A♥ 1, A♦ 1, K♣ with length 1/2. The long hearts behind the ace won't cash: someone trumps the second or third round. Total 3.5. Bid 3. Three aces feel like more, but two spades can't protect them.

Hand 5

2♠, J♠, 10♠, 8♠, 5♠ · (no hearts) · A♦, Q♦, 7♦, 3♦ · K♣, J♣, 9♣, 5♣

2♠ 1, since only three cards beat it. Five spades: +2 length. Void in hearts with five trump: +1. A♦ 1, K♣ 1/2. That adds to 5.5, but the heart ruffs and the length tricks come from the same small spades, and each spade can only win one trick. Call it 4 or 5. Bid 4 if you're carrying bags, 5 if you're behind.

Hand 6

K♠, 4♠ · K♥, 5♥ · K♦, 9♦, 6♦ · A♣, K♣, 10♣, 7♣, 6♣, 3♣

A♣ and K♣ together: 2, though the king could get trumped with six clubs out. K♥ with one guard 1/2, K♦ with two guards 1/2, K♠ with one small spade 1/2 at best. Around 3 to 3.5. Bid 3.

One sanity check on any House Rules hand: if you count a 2♣ or 2♥, you're dealing from the wrong deck. Those two cards leave when the jokers come in.

Simultaneous vs sequential bidding

Spades Night bids in secret by default. Everyone has 30 seconds, all four bids lock, then flip together. If your clock runs out you get the bot's suggested bid, never a random number.

Secret bidding rewards honest counting. You can't wait to hear what partner has, so you bid your own cards. Sequential bidding, which you can turn on at a private table, lets later bidders adjust, and gives the dealer's team the last word. Both are fair. Pick one before the game and stick with it.

Quick checklist

1. Count aces and protected kings.
2. Count your top trump.
3. Add length: one per spade past the third.
4. Add a book for a void if you hold spare trump.
5. Round down.
6. Adjust for bags, score, and partner.

Then go play a hand and see how close you land. Counting gets fast after a dozen deals.