3-Hand Spades & Other Variants

Cutthroat, Whiz, Suicide, jokers wild — the Spades family, and what this table plays.

Classic Spades is a four-player partnership game, and that is what you will find on this site: bid your tricks, spades always trump, nil for ±100, bags at ten cost 100, first side to 500. But the game travels under many house rules — here are the ones players ask about most.

3-hand Spades (Cutthroat)

With three players there are no partners — every player bids and scores alone. The usual deal gives 17 cards each with one card removed (commonly the 2 of clubs, or the last card set aside face down). Everything else keeps its shape: spades are trump, contracts pay 10× the bid, bags punish greed. Strategically it is a sharper game — there is no partner to cover a thin bid, and the two trailing players naturally gang up on the leader. If you learn one thing from cutthroat, it is honest bidding: nobody is coming to save you.

The variant family

Variant	The twist
Blind nil	Nil declared before looking at your cards, usually ±200. Traditionally only allowed when trailing by 100+.
Whiz	You must bid exactly your number of spades, or nil. Bidding skill becomes hand-reading skill.
Mirror	Everyone must bid their spade count — no choice at all.
Suicide	One partner on each side must bid nil every hand.
Jokers / Deuces high	Big and little jokers (and sometimes the 2♠ or both black deuces) rank above the ace of spades.
Ace-high partnership	The classic game — the one played here.

What this table plays

Four players, two partnerships — partners sit opposite.
Bids 1–13 or nil (±100). Blind nil is not offered.
Contract = the partners' bids added together, judged on their combined tricks: made pays 10× the bid, set costs the same.
Overtricks are bags at +1 each; the tenth bag costs −100 and the counter keeps the remainder.
First side to 500 wins; falling to −200 loses immediately.
Spades may not be led until broken — unless spades are all you hold.

Small glossary

Bag (sandbag): An overtrick beyond the contract. Ten of them cost 100 points.
Nil: A bid to win zero tricks, scored ±100 on its own, independent of the partner's contract.
Breaking spades: The first spade played on a non-spade lead — from then on spades may be led.
Cutting (ruffing): Playing a spade when void in the suit led.
Set: Failing the contract — the side loses 10× its bid.
Cutthroat: Spades without partners, usually three-handed.

Keep reading

How to Play Spades — the complete rules.
Spades Strategy — bidding, nil play and bag management.
Spades Bidding Guide — how to count a hand before you bid.
Spades vs Hearts — how the two classics differ.
Nil in Spades — bidding it, making it, breaking it.
Spades for Beginners — the five rules that matter.
Spades for 2 Players — two-hand rules and the draw deal.

Play Spades free