Playing Spades with 4 People: A Step-by-Step Tutorial

Spades has been around since the 1930s and remains highly popular. Part of the appeal lies in the fact that it’s accessible yet challenging, skilful yet luck-based.

The game is slightly more complex than other card games, but only slightly — most people find they can pick up within thirty minutes or so. And once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you’ll have a bonafide crowd-pleasing game to whip out during social gatherings. Spades can be played with a wide variation of players, from two all the way up to six.

However, playing the game with four players is standard. In this post, we’ll outline what you need to know about playing spades with four people, as well as provide some information about playing the game with other numbers of people.

How to Play Spades with 4 Players

When there are four players in a game of spades, the players are divided into two teams. You and your partner will sit opposite from each other; your opponents will be to your left and right.

The team that reaches a set number of points (usually 500, but sometimes 300) first is the winner. Teams earn points by correctly bidding on how many “tricks” they will win.

The gameplay is as follows:

• Each player is dealt thirteen cards.
• Each player bets how many tricks they will win. The “contract bid” is the collective number the team (both players) believes it will win.
• The player to the left plays a card.
• In a clockwise motion, players take turns to play their card.
• The player with the highest card wins.
• The winning player starts the next round.
• Once all thirteen tricks have been played, tally up the scores.
• Shuffle and repeat the process until there is a winner.

Playing Spades with 2 People

Only have one other person interested in playing spades with you? Don’t worry — while the standard game of spades is played with two teams of two players, you can absolutely play spades with two people.

The gameplay for spades with two people is largely the same as when playing with four players, but there are a few key differences.

For instance, since each player receives 13 cards, you’ll only need half a deck. There’s also a significant difference in how cards are allocated. When playing with four players, the dealer distributes 13 cards to each player in a clockwise motion.

When playing with two players, each player draws their own cards from the facedown deck, one by one. You’re allowed to discard the first card you pick up, but if you do, then you’ll be obliged to take the second. After going back and forth until each player has thirteen cards, you’ll be ready to start.

Put the discarded cards to one side; they won’t be used in the game. The starting card is determined by turning over the top card from the stockpile.

From there, the gameplay is the same as spades with four players. The player that first reaches the predetermined points tally (between 200 - 500) is the winner.

Tips for Spades with Partners

Playing with four players? Keep in mind that your playing partner is your teammate, and by working together, you can increase your chances of ending the game victorious.

You’ll need to work together in the right way, however. Spades has a “no talking” policy which prevents you from verbally communicating with your partner. Happily, there are plenty of non-verbal ways to communicate. Mostly, it just comes down to paying attention and making the right move. For instance, if your partner usually bids conservatively yet has made an aggressive bid, then that’ll be a pretty good sign that they have a good hand.

If you have a regular partner, then consider discussing non-verbal communication tactics away from the table. Having a few hand signals can give you a major advantage when playing, but keep in mind that those hand signals should be easy to remember — miscommunication during playing might just cost you the game!

Can You Play Spades with 3 People?

Yes, you can play spades with three people. In fact, there are two different ways to play with three players.

The first follows the “every player for themselves” principle that’s used in games of two players (i.e., there are no teams). Under this method, each player receives 17 cards (or 18 if playing with jokers).

Whoever has the two of clubs gets the game underway. After that, the game is the same as when playing with other configurations of people.

The other way to play spades with three people is to use a dummy player. This helps to create two teams, though in practice it’s really two players versus one. This method involves distributing 13 cards to all the players, including the dummy. Whoever bids the highest number of tricks plays alone.

How Many Cards in Spades?

Planning to play spades at home? Then you’ll need a deck of cards — though how many of those cards you end up using will depend on how people are playing.

If you’re playing with the standard “two teams of two players,” then you’ll need all 52 cards, plus the jokers if you’re playing that version. The same goes for three player games.

If you’re playing with two players, then you’ll only need half a deck of cards. Planning to play with six players? Then you’ll need two full 52-card decks. And talking of playing spades with six players, let’s take a look at how that works.

Spades with 6 Players

Playing with spades with six players is much more uncommon than playing with two or four players, but it is possible. As we just mentioned above, you’ll need two decks of cards to play with this number of people.

As with four players, 6-person games are also team-based, only it’s three teams of two. Remove two of the lowest ranking cards (two of diamonds/clubs) from the pack and deal each player seventeen cards.

After that, gameplay runs as usual, only with a key distinction: since two decks are used, it’s possible that a card may be played twice during a trick by different players. In that scenario, the player who played the card last would win the trick (if it’s a winning card). That’s not a hard and fast rule, however — in some cases, it’ll be the player who played the card first that won. If you’re playing spades with six players, make sure everyone agrees on this rule before you get started!

Basic Rules of Spades

Trying to get a quick game of spades going with your friends, but not sure of the basic rules? We’ve got you covered, in more ways than one. The best way to learn how to play spades is by playing here at 247spades.com — we’re confident you’ll understand how to play once you’ve enjoyed a few games against the computer!

You can also use the quick, to-the-point list of rules we’ve put together below if you need a bit of a refresh. Here are the basic rules for a standard four player game:

• Divide the four players into two teams of two.
• Each player is dealt 13 cards.
• Each player bets how many tricks they’ll win.
• The bets of both players on a team are combined.
• The player to the left of the dealer plays the starting card.
• The player with the highest card in the found wins the trick.
• Repeat the process until all thirteen cards have been played.
• Repeat the process until a team has the winning number of points.

How to Keep Score in Spades

You’ll need to keep score while you’re playing. After all, you’ll need to know when a team has reached the pre-agreed winning tally! So, how does the scoring system work? Let’s take a look.

Bidding

Players bid how many tricks they think they’ll win before the game starts. Teams will receive ten points if they guess correctly. For example, if a team bids that it’ll win seven tricks (one player bids three; the other bids four) and they end up winning seven, then they’ll receive 70 points.

Overbidding

It’s called “overbidding” when a team wins more tricks than it bid. Teams receive an extra point for every trick over the initial bid. For example, a team that bids 7 but wins 10 would receive 73 points; 70 for the 7 bids and 3 for the overbids.

Overbids are called “bags.” 100 points are deducted once 10 bags are collected.

Underbidding

If a team underbids, they’ll lose 10 times the number of points as their winning tricks. For example, if the bid was four but they won five, a 50 point deduction would occur.

Nil

You can also bet that you’ll win zero tricks. This is called a “Nil” bet, which is made by an individual. Successful nil bets are rewarded 100 points. However, unsuccessful nil bids result in 100 point deductions.

Winning

A team wins the game once they’ve reached the pre-agreed number of points, or if the other team reaches a pre-agreed negative points tally (for example, -250).

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