Use a standard 52-card deck
Play with 4 players in 2 partnerships
Partners sit opposite each other
Remove no cards from the deck
Deal all 52 cards evenly, 13 to each player
Each player looks at their hand
Each player makes a bid for how many tricks they expect to win
Partners’ bids are usually added together as a team goal
The player to the dealer’s left leads the first trick
Any card may be led on the first trick except a spade, unless spades have been broken
Players must follow the suit led if they can
If a player cannot follow suit, they may play any card
Spades are trump
A spade beats any card of another suit
If a spade is led, all players must play spades if possible
Spades cannot be led until they have been broken
Spades are broken when a spade is played on a trick because a player could not follow suit
The highest card of the suit led wins the trick unless a spade is played
If one or more spades are played, the highest spade wins the trick
The winner of a trick leads the next trick
Continue until all 13 tricks are played
Count each partnership’s tricks won
Compare tricks won to the team bid
If a team meets or exceeds its bid, it scores points
If a team fails to meet its bid, it loses points
A common scoring method gives 10 points per bid trick plus 1 point per extra trick
A common penalty is 10 points per bid trick if the team misses its bid
Bags are extra tricks over the bid
Too many bags may cause a penalty in some versions
Nil is a bid of zero tricks
A successful nil bid usually scores extra points
A failed nil bid usually causes a penalty
The game ends when a team reaches the agreed winning score
Common winning scores are 500 points or 250 points