Object of Spades with Jokers

The objective of the spades with jokers card game is to win at least an equal number of tricks as bid at the start of the game. 

Game Rules

Learning the rules of spades with jokers will be a no-brainer if you know how to play spades game. Here are some of the key rules to play spades with jokers game with 2-players, 3-players, 4-players, and 5-players.

• The spades suit comprises 15 cards, including the two jokers.

• The big joker and little joker are the highest trump cards that can even beat the ace of spades in the game. 

• In both 2-player and 4-player games, the two of clubs and two of diamonds cards are removed from the deck.

• In 3-player games, no cards are removed, and each player is dealt 18 cards to make 18 tricks.

• A 5-player spades with jokers game after taking out all the four deuces from the deck.

• Apart from 3-player games, each player is dealt 13 cards in all other games, and there are 13 tricks.

• A player cannot lead with spades unless the suit has been played previously or the player has no other suit than spades in hand.

• If there is a tie in players’ final scores, all the players must play one more round.

Dealing

To deal the cards to each player, a dealer is chosen. Each player randomly draws a card from the closed deck, and the player who draws the highest card becomes the first dealer. After that, each player gets the turn to deal in a clockwise direction. 

The dealer begins from their left and deals the entire deck, face down, to every player, one at a time. After the cards are dealt, the players pick the cards and arrange them in the order of suits.

Bidding

Once the cards have been dealt to each player, the player at the dealer’s left bids the number of tricks they will be able to win. The other players follow in a clockwise direction and make a bid. Each player must make a minimum bid of one trick, and no player can pass or bid zero. The bidding takes place only in one round. Moreover, no player names a suit in the bid as the spades are the default.

Gameplay

Before the game begins, the players decide the number of points that the winner must score, and the game is scored based on hands. Like the basic spades game, the spades with jokers game is usually played for 500 points and 200 points if the players want to play a short game.

The player sitting at the left of the dealer leads by playing a card. The other players follow suit. If any player cannot follow suit, the players can play a trump card or discard. The player who plays the highest value card will win the trick if no trump card is played. If one or more players play a trump, the player with the highest value trump card wins the trick.

The player who wins the trick leads next, and the others follow suit. The game continues in a similar fashion until the players have no cards left in hand. Therefore, in total, each hand is worth 13 tricks. 

Also Read: Top 6 Trick-Taking Card Games Similar to Spades

Scoring

When a player makes a contract (wins an equal number of tricks as they bid initially), the player earns 10 points per trick. Moreover, if the player wins more tricks than the bid, they score one point for each trick. 

For instance, a player bid 6 tricks and actually won 6 tricks during the round, the score will be 60 points. But if the player bid 6 tricks and won 8 tricks, the score will increase to 62 (60+2) points. 

If a player breaks contract (fails to win at least an equal number of tricks as the bid), the player’s score is 0. For instance, if a player bids 5 tricks and wins only 4 tricks in the game, no points are awarded. 

In some games, making too many overtricks or bags in some games results in a penalty score. If a player accumulates 10 bags in a game, the player receives 100 penalty points.

FAQs

When to play Joker in spades?

The Little Joker, being the second-highest card in spades, should be played when a player leads by playing the Big Joker. When a player leads with the Little Joker as the first card in the trick, the other players should play the lowest spade card in hand.

Also Read: Two-Player Card Games For Beginner to Expert Level Players

Are jokers used in spades?

Jokers are used in one of the variations of spades – Spades with Jokers. Two jokers, namely, Big Joker and Little Joker, are added to a standard deck of 52 cards. The jokers are also called Full-Color Joker and One-Color-Joker, respectively.

What is Joker Joker Deuce deuce in spades?

Joker Joker Deuce Deuce in spades implies that the cards are ranked in the order Big Joker, Little Joker, deuce of Diamonds, deuce of Spades, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. Therefore, while playing spades with jokers, you must never forget that the deuce of Diamonds ranks higher than the Ace of Spades.

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HOUSE Rules

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Score

Score is set to 350

The 1st team to reach 350 points wins the round 

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The jokers will take the place of the 2 of CLUBS & 2 of Heart

depending on the deck the black and white joker trumps the color joker

if the jokers are the same some one must write the word "BIG" on one.

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Card Order 

Big Joker Little Joker 2 Of Spades 2 of Diamonds A,K,Q,J.10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1   

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The 2 Of SPADES Trump The 2 of Diamond

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Shuffling

At the start of the game and each hand the deck must be shuffled before dealing  

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Dealing 

All Player have to start the round with 13 cards each.

All 4 players has to choose a card from the deck at the Start of the 1st round only the person with the highest card start dealing- passing the deck to the next player at the start of the next round in a clock wise motion.(player to your left)

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The player to your right Must cut the deck before the cards are dealt.

If there is a player is is not good at dealing or shuffling the players partner can shuffle and deal the cards but still must give the 1st card to the player to the left hand side of the partner who can deal. cutting but still be done buy the player on the right.

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Misdeals 

If a deal is done and each player does not get 13 cards each. it is up to the table to play the hand or not. If you decide to play the hand the person with the lease amount of cards get to choose a face down card from the player with the most cards . 

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if more than one player don't have 13 cards the hand must be redealt by the next person in line to deal.

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Books

By the end of each round there should be a total of 13 books . books are a set of 4 cards total.

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Each book is worth 10 points apiece.

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Bidding 

1St hand bids its self . Meaning in the 1st round of the game no bidding is allowed 

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When bidding the table together but have no less than 10 book on the scoring sheet 

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Nil (no books)

Nil is when you bid not getting Any Books. if you get even one your stuck 

If your successful you get 100 points 

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Board  

Min bidding is 4 books 

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Blinds 

Blinds start at 5 books and up 

Blinds are bids that is done before the cards are dealt. If you don't make the number you bid you lose that amount being 10 points each.& you get stuck

But if you get it you will get double the points 

You can only bid a blind when your 100 points behind the opposite team .

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Bubble 

bubble is when you bid 10 books and get them . It reward you an extra 100 points 

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• Boston - The act of embarrassing your opponent by winning all 13 books in a hand.  Most Spades games determine this an automatic win. 

• Breaking Spades - Playing the first Spade of a hand as a cut card.  Spades cannot be used as the lead suit in any hand until this occurs.

• Cross-boarding - Any form of verbal and/or non-verbal communication during a hand which directly or indirectly reveals the contents of a players hand or game strategy.  This is considered cheating and highly frowned upon.   

• Cut or Cutting - When the lead (non-spade) suit being played gets beat by a Spade from a player who does not have any cards from the lead suit remaining. Cutting also occurs when one partner beats their partners winning card.  

• Following Suit -  Playing a card from the same suit as the first card played. 

• Hand - The process of dealing, bidding and playing all cards until 13 books are won.  Each game is made up of several hands during which teams will either add or subtract points. 

• Stuck - If any team is unable to win the number of books bid during any hand they are considered stuck and will lose points to their total score. 2 stucks in a row you lose automatically 3 stucks in a game you lose 

• Under Bidding -when you intentionally dont bid your hand correctly . 3 books under your bid this will lead into a stuck

• Over Bidding - having 3 more books than your bid . this will lead to a stuck.   

•   Reneging is considered cheating and penalized if proven occurred. If a team challenges reneging has occurred they must identify which book on the table the player did not follow suit. The losing team of the renege challenge is typically penalized 3 books. 

• ACE Check- when a team win all 4 books won by aces - books that's won with aces you get 100 extra points only if you dont get stuck. book that won by aces . aces must be face up in the book 

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