Spades

Players and Cards
The four players are in fixed partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other. 

The Deal
The first dealer is chosen at random, and the turn to deal rotates clockwise. The cards are shuffled and then dealt singly, in clockwise order beginning with the player on dealer's left, until 52 cards have been dealt and everyone has 13.  Place 2 last cards in the box.

​The Bidding
In Spades, all four players bid a number of books. Each team adds together the bids of the two partners, and the total is the number of tricks that team must try to win in order to get a positive score. The bidding begins with the player to dealer's left and continues clockwise around the table. Everyone must bid a number, and in theory any number from 0 to 13 is allowed. Unlike other games with bidding, there is no requirement for each bid to be higher than the last one, and players are not allowed to pass. There is no second round of bidding - bids once made cannot be altered. 

The Play of the Hand
The player to the dealer’s left leads.  Each player, in turn, clockwise, selects a card from their hand that reflects a higher level of blackness and places their card down.  As a group, players must come to a consensus on which card is blacker.  ​Whoever played the winning card, wins the book. The team with the most books wins the game.

Wild Card
Got a wild card? Well lucky you. This card holds great power. Use this card in a clutch.  When this card is thrown, the player can choose ANY person they’d like to represent the card. Good Luck!

Scoring
A side that takes at least as many books as its bid calls for receives a score equal to 10 times its bid. Additional books (overbooks) are worth an extra one point each.