spades game rules

Spades game rules

GameColony.com Java multiplayer spades game online is coming October 2000.

Dealing and bidding...

All 52 cards are dealt out. For each hand, each team bids the number of tricks they expect to take. Team partners cannot discuss their cards, but before bidding begins, the partners may discuss how many tricks they think they can take. Each online player in spades announces the bid.

The bid for a hand may be any number of tricks from 1 to 13. Any online player may also bid nil which is a 'promise' not to win any tricks during that particular hand. The total partnership bid for the hand is the sum of the bids of the two online partner players.

In online spades, a blind nil may also be played by a team that is at least 100 points behind. For blind nil, the online player bids nil before looking at the cards. After looking at the cards, the blind nil bidder may exchange just two cards with the online team partner by selecting two cards and
placing them face down. After the online partner picks up the two cards, he/she selects the other two cards to return, which are also placed face down.

Starting the game...

The spades game online is started off by the holder of the two of clubs, who leads with that card. After that the other online players follow in
clockwise order. Only on the very first trick, each online player must play his or her lowest club. An online player without clubs must discard a diamond or a heart. The highest club played on the trick wins it.

In online spades game, the player who won the previous trick starts the next trick. Spades suit may not be led until someone has played spades on a trick. Only if an online player has spades cards only, he/she may start with spades.

Spades suit is a trump suit. Therefore, the highest spade played on any trick wins the trick. Otherwise the highest card of the suit that started wins the trick.

How the online spades game is scored and game options

A team that took same number or more tricks than it bid, earns 10 points for each trick. For any trick beyond the bid, the team earns just 1 extra point. Taking extra tricks is usually quite bad: after a team accumulates 10 extra tricks--100 points are deducted from its
score.

A partnership that failing to make its 'promised' bid, loses 10 points for each trick bid.

If an online player succeeds in a nil bid, taking no tricks, his or her side earns a bonus of 100 points. Otherwise, for each trick taken on a blind nil the side loses 100 points. The rest of the hand is scored normally, and each side wins or loses points according to its bids and number of tricks taken.

The successful blind nil earns 200 points. If not successful, 200 points are deducted. if unsuccessful. If at GameColony.com a 'double nil with passing' option is selected at the start of the game, an online player on a team that is behind by at least 200 points may bid blind nil and then pass two cards to his or her partner face down. After that time, the partner will pass two cards back before play starts.

At the start of a spades game at GameColony.com, an online player may select several options: a standard game, a suicide - mandatory one nil bidder game, or double nil with passing described above.