What are bags in Spades and why do they matter?

A bag is a trick you win beyond your bid. Each is worth +1 at the time, but every ten bags you accumulate costs 100 points — so taking tricks you never promised is a slow-building penalty.

Nil is a bid of zero: a promise to take no tricks at all. It pays +100 if you succeed and −100 if you take even one trick, and it applies to your team score, so it is a genuine gamble rather than a safe floor.

Why can I not lead a spade?

Spades must be broken first. Until someone plays a spade because they cannot follow the led suit, spades may not be led — it stops the trump suit being stripped out on the opening trick.

Learn Spades

Learn Spades: A Beginner's Guide

Spades is a four-player partnership trick-taking game. You and the player opposite you are a team, spades are always trump, and each of you predicts how many of the thirteen tricks you will win. The two predictions add together into one team contract — which is what makes Spades a different game from every other trick-taker: your bid is a promise your partner has to live with.

▶ Play Spades free — learn by doing

How a game works, step by step

Setup. Four players in two partnerships, sitting opposite each other, thirteen cards each. Spades are permanently trump — no one calls or chooses them.
Bidding. Every player states how many tricks they expect to win, from 0 to 13. Your bid and your partner’s are added together — bid 4 while your partner bids 3 and your team has contracted for 7.
Playing a trick. Follow the suit that was led if you hold it. If you are void you may play anything, including a spade — but you are never obliged to trump, and never obliged to beat the current winner.
Broken spades. You may not lead a spade until spades have been "broken" — that is, until someone has played one because they were void in the suit led. Spades played on a void break them for everyone.
Winning tricks. The highest card of the led suit takes the trick, unless a spade was played — then the highest spade wins. All thirteen tricks are played out; there is no early finish, because the overtricks matter.
Scoring. Make your team’s combined bid and you score 10 points per trick bid, plus 1 for each extra trick. Miss it and you lose 10 per trick bid. Each extra trick is also a bag, and every time your pile reaches another ten bags, −100. A bid of 0 is Nil: +100 if that player takes no tricks at all, −100 if they take even one. Highest score after five rounds wins.

A worked example

Your team bids 4 and 3, so the contract is 7. You take nine tricks. That is 70 for the contract plus 2 for the overtricks — 72 points, and two bags go onto your pile. Do that three rounds running and the sixth bag is fine, but the tenth costs you 100, wiping out most of a good round. Now the same hand ending in six tricks instead: you are set, and it is −70. This is why experienced players bid what they can actually take and then stop winning tricks — in Spades, greed is taxed at both ends.

Five mistakes every beginner makes

Bidding Nil on a hand that is merely weak. Nil is a contract to lose every trick; one stray king turns +100 into −100.
Winning tricks you did not need. Every overtrick is a bag, and ten bags is −100 — often worse than missing the bid by one.
Bidding as though you were playing alone. Your number is added to your partner’s, so a hopeful bid puts them on the hook too.
Trying to lead a spade early and finding it disallowed — spades must be broken first.
Never looking at the bag pile. At seven or eight bags, deliberately dumping a trick is the correct, and counter-intuitive, play.

Glossary

Trick: One card from each player; the highest card of the led suit, or the highest spade, wins it.
Contract: Your bid plus your partner's — the number of tricks your team must take.
Bag: An overtrick: a trick beyond the contract. Ten of them cost 100 points.
Nil: A bid of zero. Worth +100 if that player takes no tricks, −100 otherwise.
Broken: Spades become legal to lead once one has been played on a void.
Set: Failing the contract — the team loses 10 points per trick it bid.

Learning FAQ

What are bags in Spades and why do they matter?: A bag is a trick you win beyond your bid. Each is worth +1 at the time, but every ten bags you accumulate costs 100 points — so taking tricks you never promised is a slow-building penalty.
What is a Nil bid?: Nil is a bid of zero: a promise to take no tricks at all. It pays +100 if you succeed and −100 if you take even one trick, and it applies to your team score, so it is a genuine gamble rather than a safe floor.
Why can I not lead a spade?: Spades must be broken first. Until someone plays a spade because they cannot follow the led suit, spades may not be led — it stops the trump suit being stripped out on the opening trick.

Ready to try?

The fastest way to learn Spades is a real partnership game with the scoring done for you: play Spades free at TimeWellLost — bags, Nil and the sandbag penalty are all tracked on screen, and the first game includes a tutorial.