Objective
Win at least as many tricks as your team bids, without piling up too many extra tricks. Spades are always trumps, and in this version the two jokers are spades too, ranked above the ace. Everything else follows standard Spades: bids, nil, bags and the race to 500.
Setup
Take out the two of hearts and the two of diamonds, then add both jokers. Partners sit across from each other. Deal the 52 cards one at a time, so each player has 13. The deal passes to the left after each hand.
Before the first deal, agree which joker is big and which is little. On most decks the full-color joker is big and the plain one is little.
| Order | Trump |
|---|---|
| 1 (highest) | Big joker |
| 2 | Little joker |
| 3 | Ace of spades |
| 4 | King of spades |
| 5 and down | Queen of spades down to the two of spades |
That makes 15 trumps instead of the usual 13. The other three suits rank ace high, as normal.
How to play
Starting left of the dealer, each player bids the number of tricks they expect to win. Partners add their bids together for the team contract. A player may instead bid nil, a promise to take no tricks at all.
The player left of the dealer leads first. You must follow suit if you can. If you cannot, play any card, including a spade or a joker. A trick goes to the highest trump played in it, or if there is none, to the highest card of the suit led. The winner leads next.
The jokers count as spades for every purpose. When a spade is led, a joker is a legal way to follow. When you are out of the suit led, a joker trumps like any spade. Leading a joker counts as leading a spade, so you cannot lead one until spades are broken: a spade or joker has to have been played on an earlier trick, unless you have nothing but trumps left.
- 1Bid your tricks; partners combine their bids
- 2Follow suit if you can, otherwise trump or discard
- 3The big joker and little joker are the top two spades
- 4Do not lead spades or jokers until spades are broken
Scoring
Score each team at the end of every hand. Tricks over the bid are called bags. They are worth a point each, but they add up.
| Result | Points |
|---|---|
| Team makes its bid | 10 per trick bid |
| Each trick over the bid (a bag) | 1 |
| Team falls short | Minus 10 per trick bid |
| Every 10 bags collected | Minus 100 |
| Nil made | Plus 100 |
| Nil failed | Minus 100 |
| Blind nil made (if allowed) | Plus 200 |
| Blind nil failed | Minus 200 |
The first team to 500 wins. If both teams pass 500 on the same hand, the higher score wins. Many tables also end the game when a team falls to minus 200.
Variations
Deuces high: the trumps run big joker, little joker, two of diamonds, two of spades, then the ace of spades down. The two of diamonds counts as a spade. To keep 52 cards, remove the two of clubs and the two of hearts instead.
Two of spades third: the trumps run big joker, little joker, two of spades, then the ace of spades down to the three.
No nil: some joker tables drop nil bids entirely, since a joker in your hand makes nil very hard to play.
Tips from the table
Bid the big joker as a sure trick. The little joker is nearly as safe, but it can lose to the big joker, so be a touch more careful with it.
With 15 trumps in the deck, side suits run out sooner. A king in a side suit is less likely to win than in regular Spades, so bid it more cautiously.
Never bid nil holding the big joker. Nothing can beat it, so it is sure to take a trick.
Once spades are broken, leading a joker early can pull two or three trumps from the other players and clear the way for your partner’s side-suit winners.
Video Guides Are on the Way
We’re filming Game Guides that walk through full hands at the table, from the deal to the score.
Frequently asked
Which joker is higher?
The big joker, usually the full-color one. Decks differ, so agree before the first deal.
Do the jokers count as spades?
Yes. They follow spade leads, they can trump other suits, and leading one counts as leading a spade.
Why take two cards out?
To keep the deck at 52 so everyone still gets 13 cards. Low twos are the usual choice because they almost never win a trick.
How is this different from regular Spades?
Only at the top of the trump suit. The ace of spades drops to third, there are 15 trumps instead of 13, and two low cards are gone. Bidding and scoring stay the same.
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