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:Bidding proceeds in a clockwise direction starting left of the dealer. Each person may mention how many tricks they think they might take but must also give a precise bid. (Round-the-table bidding). The final bid for the side is simply 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 -). 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.Minimum bid for a team is 4 tricks unless one player bids nil. 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 clubs.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) points. Nil bid counts 100, Blind Nil counts 200.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: 3 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 of ways 2 people can play. I give instructions for each 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.)