Bags are points that don't count toward a penalty
Set bag penalty at 5 or 7 bags
Bags don't count as points


~!~ POINTS VARIATION ~!~

~!~ Game Ending Points ~!~


Play to 300 points, 350 points, 400 points or 800 points
Play to a point spread
Add a negative point limit


~!~ Nil Values ~!~


Disallow Nil (minimum bid of one)
Disallow Blind Nil
Restrict the bid of Blind Nil to a team that is behind in points by at least the value of a Blind Nil
Reduce the Value of Nil to 50 points
Reduce the Value of Nil to 50 points and allow the passing of cards
Reduce the Value of Blind Nil and allow the passing of cards (either 1, 2 or 3 cards)
Bid of zero is not a Nil


~!~ Bid Values ~!~


Allow a Moon bid (all 13 tricks)
Allow a 10 for 200 bid
Allow a Bemo (Big or Little) bid


~!~ TIME VARIATION ~!~


Play for a time limit, usually a maximum of 60 minutes for a regular +500 point game.


~!~ HANDS VARIATION ~!~


Games normally have no hand limit, however standard tournament play uses 10 hand limit
Play to 6, 7, 8, 9 or 12 hands
To the Death - no hand limit
Roulette - only play one hand

  ~!~ FORMAT VARIATION ~!~


301 - team closest to 301 points without being over at end of 8th hand is the winner


Tag Team - players on a preassigned team switch seats during the game or tournament at designated intervals


Single Elimination Tournament - lose once and team is eliminated from tournament


Double Elimination Tournament - lose twice before being eliminated from tournament


Swiss Tournament - all teams play in each round, until one team remains undefeated and is declared the winner


Round Robin Tournament - play each team entered in the tournament, winners accumulate points and at end of tournament the team with the most points is the winner


Tournament of Champions (TOC) - Teams that win a qualifying event are invited to an exclusive tournament


League - same players on teams compete in a series of games, usually with the same settings, hosted over several days or weeks for a specified time, winners have the best win/loss record at the end of the series

  ~!~ FORCED BIDDING OR FORCED PLAY ~!~


A player who misbids or misplays will cause the game to end and their team loses. An option for misbids or misplays is for only the hand to end, but the game continues with players keeping score manually, and the team that misbid or misplayed will lose their bid and the other team still makes their bid. Some games allow each team one misbid or misplay on the first hand only, when there is no score, and allow the game to be restarted with no penalty. The Tournament Director (TD) has options on handling misbids and misplays, and should state the consequences in their posted rules. The rules may allow a misbid or misplay on the first hand with no score, or may allow unlimited misbids or misplays with stated consequences (losing their bid while their opponents make their bid, or suffering a stated point penalty), or may disqualify (DQ) after a preset number of misbids or misplays.

  ~!~ Suicides ~!~


Suicides- one player on each team must bid nil or blind nil, the other bids normally but may also bid nil or blind nil if they choose to do so


Blind- each player must bid Blind Nil every hand


BN- one on each team must bid Blind Nil every hand


Chicken- regular spades EXCEPT each player must bid Blind Nil at least once before end of game; play to +500 or -500 points, 10 bags, BN Pass 0, 8 hands


Cover Me Bot- two players per table and each pards a Bot. The players must both nil every hand, and the Bots bid and play however they are programmed to play


Crazy- one player on each team must bid either nil or blind nil, and the remaining team members must bid the same as each other


Insane- 1 pard must bid nil, the other must bid spades mirrors


Mass Suicide- each player must bid nil


Murder- suicide but everyone has to play lowest to highest all the way through


Nil/Blind Nil- one on each team bids nil and the other must bid Blind Nil


Nil Roulette- very fast one handed game. Each player must bid nil. Last player to get set wins that hand and game is over. Options: players don't play on teams - each person plays for themself. If two or more players make their nil, one more hand is played


Psycho- 1st and 2nd bidders bid nil (BN ok), regular for 3rd and 4th bidders


Regular Suicide- play to a 500 point spread, 10 bags, BN Pass 0, 10 hands


Sadistic- one pard must nil, the other pard must bid 1.


Tag Team Suicide- 4 players per team play suicide (once one team of 2 is set, they stand at end of hand so the other team of 2 may play next hand and continue until set, when they must stand, and so on)

  ~!~ Mirrors ~!~


Mirrors- each player's bid is determined by the number of cards in a particular suit that are dealt to them each hand


Chaos- 1st player bids clubs mirrors, 2nd player diamonds mirrors, 3rd hearts mirrors, 4th is spades mirrors


Clubs Mirrors- bid the number of clubs dealt to you every hand


Diamonds Mirrors or Reverse Mirrors- bid the number of diamonds dealt to you each hand


Dirty Mirrors or Naughty Mirrors- lead off bidder each hand calls the suit for mirrors that hand


Fire- 2nd and 3rd bid diamonds mirrors, 1st and 4th hearts mirrors


Insane- 1 pard must bid nil, the other must bid spades mirrors


Kismet or Rainbow- each hand the players bid a different mirrors suit. 1st and 5th hand all players bid their diamonds, 2nd & 6th hand all bid clubs, 3rd & 7th hand all bid hearts, 4th & 8th hand all bid spades


Laughter- player with the one eyed jack (hearts or spades) must bid nil, others bid regular spades mirrors


Regular Mirrors- each player bids the spades dealt to them each hand; total table bid must = 13; play to a 500 point spread, 10 bags, NoBN, 10 hands


Suits Me- each hand the first bidder gets to choose the mirrors suit for his bid that hand, the 2nd bidder gets to choose any suit but what the first bidder chose, the third bidder chooses one of the remaining suits and the 4th player is stuck with the suit not chosen by anyone else.


Spastic- 1st and 4th playes bid hearts mirrors, 2nd and 3rd players bid clubs mirrors


Strip Mirrors- each player bids the spades dealt to them, but cannot play a spade until that is all that is left in their hand.


Suicide Mirrors- one player on each team must bid nil and the remaining teammate must bid their spades.


Tag Team Mirrors- 4 players per team play mirrors (once one team of 2 is set, they stand at end of hand so the other team of 2 may play next hand and continue until set, when they must stand, and so on)


Wacky Mirrors- each round the players bid a different mirrors suit - best set as a 4 or more round Swiss format. Round 1, everyone bids their diamonds. Round 2, everyone bids their clubs. Round 3, everyone bids their hearts. Round 4, regular spades mirrors. If more than 4 rounds are necessary, start the rotation over again with diamonds.

  ~!~ Triggers ~!~


Triggers- the bids or play during the hand are determined by the variation stated


301- play 8 hands - team closest to 301 points without being over at end of 8th hand is winner; set game to 400 points, 5 bags, NoBN, 8 hands; you can go over 301 during game as long as under by 8th hand, however if you go over 400 points you lose.


49er- person with 9 of spades, must bid 9, the rest bid nil


7 'n 7 or No Bids/Score/Bags- bid anything because the actual score means nothing and the game is over at the end of the 7th hand. The hand ends when one of the teams takes their 7th trick. The team that gets 7 tricks total wins that hand and gets 1 point. Each hand is a new table set by the next player in bidding order (with players in the same seating order) unless the game site allows the score to be cleared after each hand, or players keep track of who wins each hand on paper. Option: end the hand after the 5th trick instead of the 7th trick. Or end the game as soon as one of the teams has accumulated 7 wins (7 points).


Accident or Crazy- player with A spades, bids 9, everyone else goes nil


Aces Up- bid 3 for A of hearts, clubs and diamonds...bid 4 for the Ace of spades


Acey Deucey- bid 2 for each A and each 2 in hand


Agony- everyones bid is equal to the number of the hand up to hand 4, then start the progression over with 1 on hand 5. Hand 1, everyone bids 1; hand 2 everyone bids 2; hand 3, bid 3; hand 4, bid 4; hand 5, bid 1; hand 6 bid 2, etc.


Backseat or Reflection- bid same as partner


Bag or Set- bidding requirement changes according to the hand number. On odd numbered hands all players must bid 1. On even numbered hands all players must bid 3


Baggers Beware- regular spades but if a team bags out they lose automatically


Bags- all must bid 1


Board- minimum bid per team is 4. If player 1 bids nil, their partner must bid at least 4. If player 1 bids less than 4, their partner may not nil and must bid enough to make the team total at least 4.


Bully Spades- each hand (not round) is a different variation as set by the TD.


Burned- player dealt the 2 of spades bids 2, everyone else bids nil


Chance- a player with 5 or more spades has to bid 8, otherwise everyone bids 3. The player with 5 or more spades must state in chat that they are bidding 8, but does not state the exact number of spades in their hand


Copycat- all players bid the same as 1st bidder


Crazy 8s- must bid 3 for every 8 in hand, if no 8's must bid Nil.


Deuce- player with 2 of spades must bid 2, everyone else bids regular


Dirty Dozen or Bid 3- each player must bid 3 every hand, total table bid each hand must equal 12


Ditto- second bidder must bid the same as the first bidder, then fourth bidder must bid the same as the third bidder


Double Homocide or 7Up- each team's total bid must equal 7 every hand


Double Trouble- regular spades but the second player on each team to bid must bid double what their pard bid that hand - no nils or BN allowed.


Face Off or Honors or Royalty- all bid only the number of J Q K of all suits in hands, (not including Aces) if no face cards must bid Nil, total bid must be 12


Hang 'em- first and second bidder bid 2, third bidder bids anything but 1, and the fourth player's bid must make total bid equal 14


Hang 'em High- bid 3 for the J Q K spades in your hand and 4 for the Ace, if not dealt any of these, player must bid nil


Headache- the player dealt the Q of spades must bid nil, others bid regular

  Homicide- last bidder must make tricks equal 13 (or 14), option: first and third bidder, must each bid at least 2


Jacked- player dealt the Jack of Spades must bid nil, others bid regular


Kiss of Death- player dealt the 9 of spades must bid nil, all others must bid 4


La_BOT_n_Me- each team has 1 robot and plays against another team with one person and one robot


Make My Bid- each player is told by the player to their right what the bid must be. BN is not allowed. The last player in the bidding order tells the first bidder what the first bidder must bid, the first bidder tells the second bidder, etc. The twist is that the team with the losing score advances.


Misery- play 10 hands: on hands 5 and 10 each player must bid nil; all other hands bid regular


Niner- the player dealt the 9 of spades bids nil, everyone else bids regular


Progression or Plus One- each hand, first bidder picks any number and the rest of the players must bid one higher than the bidder before them


Regicide- 4 KINGS to be killed. Each time a KING (opponents' OR partner's) is killed by ANY card, the team that took the KING gets 25 points on top of the final score. Once the king is taken, EITHER team member MUST say in chat at the table "We killed the king" in order to get the points. One of the team members that killed the king must state "We killed the king" before the last card is played to the next trick. If you can't click on "last trick" to verify it and it's NOT been said, NO bonus points will be awarded. Not all attempted assignations on the king will work If the king wins a trick, NO bonus is given Keep track of the extra points at the table & add them in at the END of 6 hands, OR when the game is over.


Repeat- on even numbered hands each player must make the same bid as what they bid the previous hand. On hand 1 if you bid 2, then you also must bid 2 on the second hand. On hand 4 you must bid the same as you bid on hand 3. You can change the bids on uneven numbered hands.


Revenge- first hand is regular spades. The player last to bid on each hand calls the game for the next hand - any variation that does not require different table settings. Blind nils are not allowed and if a hand limit is imposed in a tournament it should be either 5, 9 or 13 hands so each player has the opportunity to call the next game, or add an extra hand at the end to be regular spades again (6, 10 or 14 hands).


Setter's Choice- in a tournament, the top seed in each bracket chooses the game variation for that round. TD may set a hand limit and restrict table settings or allow the top seed to also choose the table settings.


Shopping- no penalty for bags


Shovels- person with 2 or more spades, must bid 2, if less than 2, bid regular


Sirens- everyone bids 3, but you have to trump if out of the suit played, no matter what


Succession or 1-2-3-4- each hand the first bidder bids 1, second bids 2, third bids 3, fourth bids 4


Vice- played like Homicide

, except spades cannot be broken until a player is trump tight


Ups and Downs- everyone bids the same each hand depending on the hand, which is 1 less than the hand number until hand 5, when you reverse the progression. Start with nil on hand 1, then bid 1 on hand 2, bid 2 on hand 3, bid 3 on hand 4, bid 4 on hand 5, bid 4 again on hand 6, bid 3 on hand 7, bid 2 on hand 8, bid 1 on hand 9 and everyone bids nil again on hand 10.


Winner Takes All- lead off bidder must bid 13, everyone else bids Blind Nil

  ~!~ Forced Play ~!~


Forced Play- An option for misplays is to keep score manually and if a team misplays, they lose their bid and the other team still makes their bid. The TD may allow unlimited misplays or DQ after a preset number of misplays.


Board- each team must have a minimum bid, usually 4. If first pard nils, remaining pard must bid the minimum. If the first pard does not bid the minimum, then the remaining pard must bid to make the team bid equal the minimum and may not nil.


Boss- must play the highest card or trump in to take every trick that you can, even if you bid Nil or if it is your partner's trick. Misplays result in DQ.


Low Ball- have to play low to high, but bidding regular. Misplays = DQ


Pressure- must trump if out of suit, even if partner's trick. Misplays = DQ


Screamers or Strip- bid regular, but you can't play spades until you have nothing left but spades. Misplay of a spade (plays a spade while still having other suits in hand except when following suit) means the game ends and the team that misplayed loses.

  Tournament Structure Variations ~!~


"To the Death" Option- Change the finals round to be no hand limit.


Cats and Dogs- team names must be either cat related or dog related and players must change their screen icons to be a cat or a dog. Both team members must be the same icon in relation to the team name. Set the pairings method to be random. After the pairings are assigned, the top seed makes the table settings depending on the following:
If Host team (top seed) are cats:- Game is Mirrors, +500 points or -500 points/10 bags/NoBN/10 Hands
OR if Host team are dogs- Game is Suicide, +500 points or -500 points/10 bags/BN Pass 0/10 Hands


Masquerade Ball- players sign up individually using a screen name different than their regular name and to be kept a secret until after the tournament. Anyone who reveals their true identity during tourney is automatically disqualified. Players must join the league/ladder after creating a new screen name and must withdraw that name after the tournament is over. TD assigns partners at random each round. Players in the final round should reveal who they are to the TD after the final game is over and before leaving the table.


Pandora's Box- tourney format is Swiss, with each round a different game up to 6 rounds. Table settings can be the same or different - whichever the TD chooses to set. For example:

Round 1: Suicide
Round 2: Mirrors
Round 3: Jacked
Round 4: 301
Round 5: Copycat
Round 6: Board


Who's Your Partner?- players sign up as teams of 1. Set the tournament to be 1 player per team and against 2 teams (1 v 1), and the random pairings method. After the brackets are generated the players must sit in order of the pairings brackets and partner the person seated across (player 1 pards player 1 in the bracket immediately below them, player 2 pards player 2). Table settings are for partners, and the two individuals that win as pards advance to the next round. For finals, the players must stay for 2 out of 3 matches to determine a single winner.


Teams Tournament- two sets of players on a 4 person team play each round against two sets of players on their opponents teams. At the end of each hand the scores from both tables are added together to determine the winner. The players within each set are rotated for each round. Rnd 1, Player 1 pards Player 2 for the first set and Player 3 pards Player 4 for the second set. Rnd 2, Player 1 pards Player 3. Rnd 3, Player 1 pards Player 4, and so forth.


No Pards- players sign up 2 per team but table settings are for individual play. The player that has highest score at end of game wins for the team.


Cutthroat- players sign up as individuals and table settings are not for partners. Three or four players may compete in cutthroat, and only one winner advances. If uneven number of players register, the TD may have to recruit volunteers to play the first round games as Robots, or if the site features robots they are used for the first round only.

  ~!~ OTHER VARIATIONS IN THE GAME ~!~


~!~ Variations in the Deck ~!~


2 non-identical jokers are substituted for the red 2's.


2 non-identical jokers are added to the deck. (In this case, the dealer receives 15 cards and discards 2 of them before bidding starts.)


~!~ Variations in the Rank of Cards ~!~


Rank of trumps is "Big" Joker, "Little" Joker, Ace, then normal.


Rank of trumps is "Big" Joker, "Little" Joker, 2 of Spades, Ace of Spades, then normal.


Rank of trumps is 2 of Spades, Ace of Spades, then normal (no jokers).


One or more 2's of the other suits may be used as high trumps. A ranking of these two's needs to be decided on before play begins.


In any of the above cases, the special cards are considered spades for purposes of following suit.


~!~ Variations in Bidding ~!~


Regular Bidding proceeds in a clockwise direction starting left of the dealer. Each person states how many tricks they intend to take. The final bid for the team is the sum of the two partners bids. It does not matter who actually takes the tricks.


Bidding proceeds round-the-table as above, but players may only name a number of tricks they bid. Nothing else may be said.


A bid of zero and a bid of nil may or may not be considered different.


After first player has bid, the final total bid for the team must be equal to the first player's bid or at least 2 more than the first players bid (used only in round-the-table bidding).


The final total of all bids may not be equal to the number of tricks in the game (13 in 4-hand game). The last bidder is required to bid an amount that keeps this from happening.


A second round of bidding may be allowed in which teams may increase their bid if desired.


Blind nil bidding may not be allowed.


Blind 6 (or Blind 7) bidding may be allowed. This is a bid to take exactly 6 or 7 (or at least 6 or 7) tricks made before the partnership has looked at their cards and before any bidding has begun. It is then worth double the normal contract (either positive or negative). 6 or 7 is the minimum blind bid allowed. Higher blind bids are allowed.


A 10-for-200 bid is allowed. This is a bid to take exactly 10 tricks (or at least 10 tricks) for 200 points (+ or -). If a team bids more than 10 the bonus does not apply.


Tricks taken over the 10 that were bid count as bags.


Any bid of 10 can be considered a 10-for-200 bid.


Moon bidding may be allowed. This is a bid to take all 13 tricks. It is worth 200 points (+ or -).


Blind Moon bidding may be allowed. This is bid to take all 13 tricks made before the partnership has looked at their cards and before any bidding has taken place. This bid is worth 400 points (+ or -).


Blind bidding is only allowed when a team is 100 or more points behind.


There is no pass of cards on a blind nil bid.


Board- minimum bid for a team is 4 tricks.


~!~ Variations regarding Misdeals ~!~


A player may call a misdeal if they have no spades.


A player may call a misdeal if they have 0 or 1 spades.


A player may call a misdeal if they have 7 or more cards in one suit.


A player may call a misdeal if they have no face cards.


A player may ask partner "Should I call a misdeal?" (if hand qualifies for a misdeal).


The partner replies "yes" or "no". The reply is not binding.


Note- In all of the above cases, the misdeal should be called before bidding has begun.


There is then a new deal by the same dealer.





~!~ Variations in the play of the hand ~!~


A spade may be played on the first trick if player has no cards in the suit led.


Player left of dealer makes opening lead. May lead any card except a spade.


Dealer leads to first trick. May lead any card except a spade.


Any card may be led at any time.


~!~ Variations in scoring ~!~


Game may be played to 300 (or 400 or 800) points.


Nil bid counts 50, Blind Nil counts 100.


A blind nil made is +100 but not made is -50.


If team fails to take number of tricks bid, their score is reduced by 10 times the number of tricks bid regardless of how many tricks they took. (e.g. A team bids 8, but takes only 7. Their score is reduced by 80 points.)


Tricks taken over the amount of the bid count as -1 instead of +1. (100 point penalty for accumulating 10 extra tricks does not apply.)


Tricks taken over the amount of the bid count as -10 instead of +1. (100 point penalty for accumulating 10 extra tricks does not apply.)


Taking all 13 tricks wins the game.


A successful moon bid (or blind moon) bid wins the game.


An unsuccessful blind bid is only penalized the same as a normal bid.


If the last trick of the hand is taken with high spade (9 or above) and results in making a bid exactly there is a 10 point bonus.


If there is an unbroken sequence of tricks taken at the end of a hand with high spades (9 or above) that results in making a bid exactly there is a bonus of 10 points for each trick in the sequence.


There is no penalty for accumulating extra tricks.


~!~ Variations in the number of players ~!~


Three people may play Spades by either discarding a small card from the deck (such as the 2 of Clubs) and dealing each person 17 cards, or by adding the 2 Jokers to the regular deck and dealing each person 18 cards. Each player bids and plays for themself. Otherwise any of the above variations may be used.


There are a couple ways two people can play. Instructions for each are below.


1st way- Three hands are dealt with the additional hand always being dealt left of the dealer (or always right of the dealer). Bidding and play is as in the 3-hand game with a card from the face down extra hand (the "dummy hand") being played at the appropriate time during the trick. If the dummy wins the trick, set the trick aside and lead the next card from the dummy. Obviously, there is no way to make the dummy play the proper suit on the tricks.


2nd way- The deck is not dealt out. It is placed face down between the two players. One player then draws the top card of the deck and looks at it. If they wish to have this card in their hand they keep it, look at the next card in the deck and discard this second card. If they do not wish to keep the first card in their hand, they discard it and draw the second card which they must keep in their hand. The second player then follows the same procedure. The players take turns following this procedure until their are no cards left in the deck. Each player will now have 13 cards in their hand. Bidding and play take place as above.


~!~ Solo Spades ~!~


Solo Spades is played like above, with the following exceptions:


Each player bids and plays for themself. There are no partnerships.


Each player must play a card that beats the highest card so far played to a trick, if able. This includes playing a trump if you have no cards of the suit led. (Players must still play a card of the suit led, if able.)

  ~!~ Special Notes for Tournament Directors ~!~


If your game site allows rated tables, it's not a good idea to require rated tables when using a hand limit or a time limit.


If you are hosting a variation with bidding requirements or one hand games, keep the entry fee low and donate your own bux or tokens to the prize pool to encourage more players to enter.


In suicide games, both players on the team may bid nil if they choose unless you specify otherwise.


In suicide games, traditionally Blind Nil is allowed with no passing of cards. You may vary this in your rules by allowing the passing of cards or not allowing Blind Nil bids.


If your game site allows BN passing, make sure you address the bid requirement for this option, i.e. does a team have to be losing by a minimum numbers of points before bidding BN? Does your game site have a point spread or negative point limit?


Suicide and mirrors games can last a very long time. To help minimize long delays in between tournament rounds, it is best to put a hand limit on the game. If your game site does not display the hand number, assign responsibility for keeping track of the hand number to the table host (player who makes the table). For a variation, allow the players in the final round to play without a hand limit (also known as "to the death") or to a higher limit.


In mirrors games using suits other than spades, trump is still spades - just the bidding requirement is different.


In mirrors games, passing cards on a nil or BN will corrupt the previous bid so is not allowed.


Clearly state in your rules what penalties will be assessed for misbids or misplays.