Game Rules

Spades is a trick-taking game played with a 52 card deck. A trick is a segment of the game at which time each player plays his card out of the ones in his or her hand. The player who plays the most valuable card will win the round and collect the cards in the center of the table. In other words, the trick will be claimed by the winner.
The spades suit is considered a trump suit. When there is a spade on the table, it will win the trick. If there are more spades on the table, the highest value spade will win the trick. The cards values range from 2 (lowest) to 10 followed by the Jack, Queen, King and Ace (highest). Prior to the game-play itself, the cards are dealt evenly – 13 cards to each player. Before each match commences, the bid takes place. Each player decides, based on the cards dealt, how many tricks they intends to win in the match. Each trick claimed in the game is worth 10 points until the player reaches a number of tricks equal to the bid made.
Any trick claimed beyond the bid is referred to as a Bag, and is worth 1 point. When 10 bags are accumulated a penalty of 100 points is deducted from the player's score. In partnership games the score is mutual so the penalty is for the team's combined score. If the bid was missed ("breaking contract" in Spades lingo) then the bid times minus ten points (-10) is added to the score. In partnership games, each player makes his own individual bid, but the match bid is their combined estimate. If the team's bid is not met while a player has achieved his personal bid, any excess trick he wins is not considered a bag until the team bid is achieved.
For complete rules on how to play spades, check out   Wikipedia.

Fun Facts

• An American Game
  Spades is a trick-taking card game, played with a 52 card deck, born and raised in the USA in the beginning of the 20th century. In a way, the game is similar to other card trick games like Hearts, but probably owes its ancestry to Bridge more than any other game. According to noted Bridge author George Coffin, the game of Spades was introduced in Cincinnati, Ohio (USA) sometime between 1937 and 1939.