Which Joker Is Higher in Spades?

In a regular game of Spades, a fifty-two-card deck is used, but there is a variation that incorporates Jokers into the play. In Spades with Jokers, the purpose of Joker cards is to expand the Spades suit.

The addition of the two Jokers, namely the Big Joker (Full-Color Joker) and the Little Joker (One-Color Joker) makes for a total of fifteen trump cards. Both Jokers become the highest-ranked cards in the game. The Big Joker, however, ranks higher than the Little Joker.

How to Play Spades

Spades is a fun game that combines both luck and strategy to win. Here’s a quick overview of how to play spades with two players or more:

Setup

Before a game of Spades starts, a dealer is chosen by a pick from the deck. The player who draws the highest card becomes the dealer, and the player who gets the second-highest card has the first turn (and sits to the left of the dealer).

In two- and four-player games, the dealer deals thirteen cards to each player. In a three-player game, everyone gets seventeen cards. In a five-player game, the dealer gives out ten cards per person. Spades is usually played in teams of two (pairs), but three- and five-player games may be modified to be played solo.

Gameplay

The first player declares a bid (the number of tricks they think they’ll play to win the round), followed by the rest of the players in a clockwise rotation. After bidding, the first player leads by playing a card. The other players follow suit, which means that they play a card from the same suit.

If any player can’t follow suit (meaning that they don’t have any cards in the same suit), they can play a trump card–a Spade. The trick is won by whoever plays the highest card in the suit led or, if trump cards were played, the highest trump Spade card.

Scoring and How to Win

Spades is won by accumulating a predetermined number of points set before the game. It’s usually 500 points, but shorter games may require only 200 to 250 points. A player gets points for ‘making a contract,’ which is making the exact amount of tricks bid at the start of the round.

Each trick bid is given ten points. ‘Overtricks’ or ‘bags,’ which refer to tricks made over the bid, are awarded one point each. So, if a player bids two tricks and makes five tricks, they get twenty-three points.

There may be limits to the number of bags that a player can be given points for in a game; in most cases, there are also penalties for too many overtricks. If a player makes fewer tricks than their declared bid, they receive zero points.

Spades with Jokers

Spades with Jokers is a variation of the game that introduces Jokers into the play. When playing this version, it’s important to know what cards to take out in Spades in order to accommodate the two Jokers.

In two- and four-player games, the two of Clubs and two of Diamonds are removed, so players can still play with thirteen cards in each round. In a three-player game, no cards are removed, and each player is dealt eighteen cards. In a five-player game, all four deuces are taken out of the deck, and players are given thirteen cards each.

Spades with Jokers follow the same rules as regular Spades, except the Spades suit welcomes two additions. The Big and Little Jokers become the highest-ranking cards in the game, with the Spades suit ranking following Big Joker, Little Joker, Ace, King, Queen, Jack, ten, nine, and so on.

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