Spades Score Sheet
Card Dedicated scorecardA free Spades score sheet. Bids, bags, and nil — the app keeps the math.
Page challenge
Bid & bag ledger
Set your team's bids and the tricks you each took. Nil is scored on its own. Carried bags roll over, and every 10 costs 100.
Score a hand where your team makes its bid for a gold star. Best: –
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Who goes first?
Settle it before the Spades argument starts. Pick how many players, add names if you like, and spin.
Keeping score too? Doodle Score remembers your players and tallies every round.
How to score
- Each hand, bid how many tricks your side will take, then play.
- Make the bid: 10 points per trick. Sandbags (overtricks) are 1 each.
- Nil: bid zero tricks. Make it +100, fail −100 (team).
How to play
- 4 players, 2 teams. Spades are always trump.
Questions
What happens at 10 bags? Ten sandbags cost −100, then the bag count resets. Watch the bag warning.
Who leads? Usually the player left of the dealer. You cannot lead spades until they are broken, unless you have only spades.
Set Up in Doodle Score
Spades has a dedicated scorecard in Doodle Score — everything is pre-configured including score tracking, validation, and special rules.
Download the app, tap New Scorecard, and choose Spades.
Game Identity
- Name: Spades
- Player Count: Exactly 4
- Teams: Yes (2 teams of 2 players each)
- Theme: Standard (Doodle Score Paper aesthetic)
- Dealer / Rotation: The dealer role rotates clockwise after each hand.
Scoring Mechanics
- Scoring Variant: Accumulative (Higher score is better)
- Target Score: 500 (standard) or 250 (short game)
- Unit of Scoring: Points and Tricks
- Lower vs. Higher: Higher scores are winning.
Rules & Validation
Per-Hand Logic
- Tricks per Hand: Exactly 13 tricks must be distributed.
- Bidding: Each player bids 0–13. A bid of 0 is called "Nil".
- Team Bid: Combined bid of both teammates (Nil bids are handled separately).
- Validation Rules:
- Every hand must have exactly 13 tricks total across all 4 players.
- Bid values must be between 0 and 13.
- Nil bids must be flagged explicitly (they score differently).
Scoring Formulas
- Contract Made: If Team Tricks >= Team Bid.
- Score:
(Team Bid * 10) + Overtricks (Bags).
- Score:
- Contract Failed: If Team Tricks < Team Bid (team is "set").
- Score:
-(Team Bid * 10).
- Score:
- Nil Bid:
- Success (0 tricks won): +100 bonus points.
- Failure (1+ tricks won): -100 penalty points.
- Note: Tricks won by a Nil bidder do NOT count toward the Team Bid, but they DO count as "bags" if the team makes their contract.
- Bags (Overtricks):
- Overtricks beyond the team bid are "bags".
- Every 10 bags result in a -100 point penalty.
- Bags roll over (e.g., 12 bags = -100 penalty and 2 bags carry forward).
Special Actions / Bonuses
- Blind Nil: Bidding Nil before looking at cards. Usually worth ±200 points.
- 10-for-200: Bidding exactly 10 tricks and succeeding. Worth 200 points instead of 100. Failure is -200 (or -100).
Win Conditions
- Condition: The first team to reach or exceed the target score (e.g., 500) wins.
- Tie-Breaker: If both teams cross the target in the same hand, the team with the higher total score wins. If still tied, play another hand.
Awards you can win in the app
When a Spades game ends, Doodle Score hands these out to your group automatically.
- Bag Collector Most sandbags accumulated
- Sharpshooter Most accurate bidding
Common Spades rules questions
The arguments that come up at the table, answered from the official rules. Where house rules differ, we say so.
Can you lead spades before they're broken?
No, unless your hand is nothing but spades. Spades are broken once someone plays a spade because they couldn't follow suit.
Do a Nil bidder's tricks count toward the partner's bid?
No. The Nil player's tricks never help the team bid. Nil scores +100 if they take no tricks and −100 if they take any, and the partner's bid is scored on its own.
How do bags work?
Every trick over your team's bid is a bag worth 1 point. When a team's bags reach 10, they lose 100 and the count starts over, so 12 bags is −100 with 2 carried forward.
What is Blind Nil?
Bidding Nil before you look at your cards. It's usually worth ±200. Many tables only allow it when a team is behind by 100 or more.
House rule Blind Nil is a variant, not part of every rule set.
What if both teams pass 500 on the same hand?
The higher total wins. If they're tied, play another hand.
Does the first trick have to be clubs?
Not in standard Spades, where the player left of the dealer leads any non-spade. Leading the 2 of clubs first is a common house rule.
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