Revised: Winter 2020
Players
4 players in two partnerships.
Deck
Standard 52-card deck. Ace is high; 2 is low.
Goal
To be the first partnership to reach 500 points.
Setup
Partners sit across the table from each other. Choose a dealer who will shuffle the deck and deal each player 13 cards.
Bidding
The player to the dealer's left bids first. Each player looks at his cards and bids, indicating a number of tricks. Partners' bids are added; the sum is the number of tricks that partnership must win to score points.
Any number from 0 ("Nil") to 13 is a legal bid for each player. Players may not be allowed to pass. Bids do not have to increase with each player. There's only one round of bidding.
Example: Alex bids 4. Then Beth bids 3, Charlie bids 2 and David bids 2. Alex and Charlie need to win at least 6 tricks; Beth and David need to win at least 5.
Bidding Nil
A player who bids Nil (zero) is claiming that they won't win any tricks during the hand. If they player is successful, their partnership earns a 100-point bonus. However, if the player wins one or more tricks, their partnership receives a 100-point penalty.
If a player bids Nil and their partner bids a number, then the partner must still try to win that number of tricks.
Example: Alex bids 4. Charlie, her partner, bids Nil. Charlie will play the hand trying not to win any tricks. However, Alex needs to win at least four tricks.
Note: It's legal for partners to both bid Nil. If both are successful, the partnership earns a 200-point bonus. However, if both partners fail, the partnership receives a 200-point penalty. If one partner succeeds and the other fails, the bonus and penalty wipe each other out; the net effect is 0 points.
Double Nil – OPTIONAL: Only allowed if agreed to by both teams prior to starting
Before looking at their cards, a player may bid Double Nil, also known as Blind Nil. If they are successful, their partnership earns a 200-point bonus. However, if they fail, their partnership receives a 200-point penalty.
NOTE: It's legal for partners to both bid Double Nil. If both are successful, the partnership earns a 400-point bonus. However, if both partners fail, the partnership receives a 400-point penalty. If one partner succeeds and the other fails, the bonus and penalty wipe each other out; the net effect is 0 points.
Gameplay
The player to the dealer's left plays first ("leads"). They may not lead with a spade unless their hand only includes spades. In fact, unless a player has no option, spades may never be led until the suit is "broken" (see "Breaking Spades" below).
Play continues clockwise. Each player must follow suit (i.e. play the same suit that was led) if possible.
Generally, each trick is won by the player who played the highest rank of the suit led. However, if one or more players played spades, the trick is won by the player who played the highest rank of spades.
When a trick is won, the winning player sets the trick in front of them self so that it's easy to tell how many tricks each player has won.
The player who won the trick then leads the next trick.
Breaking Spades
Spades are broken when a player cannot follow suit and chooses to play a spade. When a player cannot follow suit, they may choose to play spades, but are not required to.
Note: Spades are also broken if a player has no option and leads with spades.
Example: Alex leads with hearts. Beth and Charlie both play hearts as well. David has no hearts, so he could choose to play spades instead. But David could also choose to play clubs or diamonds.
Scoring
Each trick in a bid counts for 10 points if a partnership meets its bid. Tricks won above the bid are worth 1 point each.
Example: Beth and David bid 5 tricks and they won 7 tricks. They score 52 points (50 for the tricks bid, plus 2 for the extras, which are known as "bags.")
If a partnership does not meet its bid, it scores -10 points for each trick it bid.
Scoring for Nil and Double Nil bids take place as described above. When a player bidding Nil fails, tricks won by that player don't count toward making their partner's bid, nor do they count as bags for the partnership.
Sandbagging
A partnership should avoid winning too many tricks above its bid. Each time a partnership wins 10 bags (cumulative through a game), that partnership receives a 100-point penalty.
Example: Alex and Charlie bid 4 tricks and win 7, then they bid 3 and win 6, then they bid 4 and win 9. They now have 11 bags (3+3+5) and receive a 100-point penalty. The additional bag carries over. If Alex and Charlie win 9 more bags, they receive another penalty.
Continuing Play
After scoring a hand, if neither partnership has reached 500 points, the player to the dealer's left becomes the new dealer.
Winning
The first partnership to reach 500 points is the winner. If both partnerships reach 500 in the same hand, the partnership with the highest score is the winner. Regular season games may end in a tie if both teams end a hand with the exact same number of points of 500 or more. In the playoffs, if there is a tie, play another hand to determine the winner: The team with the higher score at the end of the next hand wins, whether or not it is 500 or above.
Table talk involving strategy is not permitted once a hand has been dealt.
Any deviations from these rules must be agreed to by both teams prior to the start of play.
