Spades Scoring — Points, Sandbags & Match Win

Making your team bid

When your team wins at least as many tricks as you bid combined, you score 10 points for each trick in the team bid (not for overtricks).

Team bid 7, team takes 7 tricks → 70 points (10 × bid).

Failing the bid

If the team wins fewer tricks than the combined bid, you lose 10 points per bid trick — the same number you would have gained.

Team bid 7, team takes 5 tricks → −70 points.

Sandbags (overtricks)

Each trick over your team bid is a sandbag (+1 point). Every 10 sandbags costs your team 100 points.

Team bid 7, team takes 9 tricks → 72 points (70 + 2 sandbags).

Sandbags encourage accurate bidding: winning 9 tricks on a 7 bid feels good in the short term but pushes you toward a 100-point penalty every 10 bags.

Nil on the score sheet

You bid Nil (0) and take 0 tricks → +100 bonus for your team. If you take any trick, Nil fails → −100 penalty.

Nil bonuses and penalties are separate from whether the rest of the team bid is made. Details and partnership tactics are in the Nil guide.

Winning and losing the match

First team to reach 500 points wins the match.

If either team’s score reaches -200 points or below, that team loses the match immediately. This sudden-loss line is a house rule used on Classic Deck Games — many home games only play to 500 without a −200 cut-off.

On Classic Deck Games the match ends as soon as either condition is met — you do not play extra hands after someone reaches 500 or −200.