How Many Points to Win in Spades?
Spades is a card game that is played with teams of two people. It is a game in which there is a winner and a loser. The winner of a spades game is determined by points. While the number of points that it takes to win in spades can be arbitrary, one thing never changes. The first spades team to earn the required number of points in spades is declared the winner.
How Points Are Earned in Spades
A new game of spades is made of up several hands. Each hand is scored according to the bid made by a team. The game continues until one team reaches the agreed upon threshold of points.
There are a total of 13 books available in a hand of spades. On average, teams bid around 6-7 books per hand. There are exceptions when a team has a very good hand. In these rare cases the team may bid a specialty bid like 10 for 200 or a Boston of all 13 books. These special bids have their own scoring.
For standard bids, a team is reward with ten times the number of the bid plus one point for every book that exceeds the bid. For example, if a team bids 6 and catches 7 books they will receive a score of 61. That is 10 points for each book and 1 for the additional book. The additional book is sometimes referred to as a sandbag.
The points earned from each hand are maintained in a running total on the score sheet. The points from the current hand are added to the running total. This continues until one team passes the total number of points needed to win the game.
How Many Points Are Required to Win in Spades?
Before the game begins the teams will discuss and agree upon the number of points needed to win the game. This can be any number of points. It is an arbitrary number that is agreeable to both teams. With that being said, there are some point totals which are commonly used.
500 points is often the standard for a game of spades. That is usually the most popular choice among players because it gives each team a fair chance to win. Too few points can favor a team that gets off to a strong start. Too many is apt to make the game a boring, drawn-out affair. 500 is typically a good median for a game.
Other less-common point totals are 350 and 1,000. A 1,000-point game is usually reserved for friends who want to play for a long period of time. These games are typically more recreational than competitive. A 350-point game is often used in a tournament format where time may be a consideration for those who are playing.
Negative Scoring in Spades
On occasion, negative scoring must be used in spades. A negative score happens when a team is punished for not making the books that they have bid. The negative score is deducted from the running total.
An example would be a team that bid 6 books and only caught 5. This team would be given a negative score of -60 for their bid. The 60 points would be deducted from the team's running total. If they had a total of 300 and received a negative bid of -60, the new running total would be 240.
In some spades games there are rules about how many negative scores a team can receive in a single game. Most of these include a rule which prohibits three sets in a row. A set is the name given to a hand in which a team is penalized with a negative score.
Scoring Specialty Bids in Spades
Some bids in the game of spades are not scored in the normal way. Points in spades my be earned with a 10-for-200 hand or a nil hand. The game can be won with a single Boston hand. These are all special circumstances that are scored according to special rules.
A 10-for-200 hand receives 200 points if it is successful. There is no addition to the total if a team catches more than ten books. A Boston bid receives an automatic win, no matter the number of points that a team held prior to making the bid. A nil bid earns 100 points if it succeeds.
There may be other specialty bids according to the specific house rules that are used when the game is played.
