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CONTINUE TO THE GAME

Spades is a game of Tricks (or rounds). In each trick, every player will play one card. The player playing the highest card in the suit that lead, or the highest Spade if a Spade was played, wins the trick. Spades are considered trumps, meaning that they will beat any card in a different suit.

When it is your turn, you must play a card in the same suit that lead if you have one. If you do not have a card in the same suit, you may play any other card in your hand. Once someone plays a Spade in this manner, they are considered broken.

Spades may not be lead until they have been broken, or you have nothing else in your hand.

Before play begins for each hand, the players must bid on how many tricks they think they will win. Players also have the option of bidding Nil meaning they will win no tricks. If a team is losing by at least 100 points, then a player has the option to bid Blind Nil before they look at their cards.

Spades is a team game. Your partner sits across from you, and together you make (or don't make) your bid.

At the end of the hand, the team scores are determined. If a team has won at least the number of tricks they said they would, they get their bid * 10, plus 1 for every extra trick they took. If a team does not make their bid, they lost the amount of their bid * 10. If an individual bid nil, and they did not take any tricks, their team receives 100 points, and if they did take a trick, they lose 100 points. Blind nil scores in the same manner as nil, but is worth 200 points.

Finally, each trick taken over the amount bid by a team is called a bag. When a team accumulates 10 bags, they lose 100 points.

Example:

South bid 3

North bid 2

East bid Nil

West bid 5

At the end of the hand, the results were:

South took 4 tricks

North took 1 trick

East took 0 tricks

West took 8 tricks

South/North bid a total of 5, and took 5 tricks, so they receive 50 points.

East/West bid a total of 5, and they took 8, so they receive 53 points, and 3 bags. Additionally, East bid nil, and did not take any tricks so they get another 100 points for a total of 153.

Play continues until one team wins with 500 points, or loses with -300 points.

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