The four-player deal at a glance
| At the table | Cards |
|---|---|
| Whole deck | 52, without jokers in this version |
| Each player | 13 |
| Each partnership | 26 between two separate hands |
| Stock or draw pile | None |
How to deal at a real table
Seat partners opposite each other. Shuffle, then deal clockwise, one face-down card at a time, beginning to the dealer’s left. Continue until all four players have 13 cards. Each player looks only at their own hand before bidding.
If somebody has 12 cards and somebody else has 14, the deal is incorrect. Recount before anyone bids or plays. In the browser, the game deals and counts the hands automatically.
Why 13 cards means 13 tricks
A trick uses one card from each of the four hands. After the first trick, everybody has 12 cards left. After five tricks, everybody has eight left. When all 13 tricks are complete, all 52 cards have been played.
Your bid is the number of tricks you expect to win, not the number of cards you hold. A player who bids three still starts with 13 cards. Learn the next step in our bidding guide, then check how made and missed bids score.
What about two-player Spades?
Two-player Spades has no partner and uses a different setup. Our Spades 1v1 guide explains the version available here. Do not divide the deck into two 26-card hands and assume the four-player rules still apply.
Do jokers change the count?
Some house variants include jokers or remove other cards. Agree on that variant before dealing. The standard game offered here uses the regular 52 cards, with spades as trump.
For a compact reference, use the printable Spades cheat sheet. The basic deck and deal also appear in Bicycle’s Spades rules.