NSPA General Tournament Rules – (Most Points-Wins Format)

All NSPA Spades Tournaments are open to the public for adults 21 years of age or older. Each team must consist of two (2) players. The team who registers the most points is the first-place winner of the tournament.

THE DECK

- 52-card standard deck containing no Jokers.

- Ace will be the high card in each suit, and will follow accordingly: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten, etc.

THE DEAL

- Cards will be dealt clockwise with a cut to the right. (No French Cutting Allowed)

- All 52 cards will be dealt to players with no kitty.

- There will be no surrendering of your hand because of the lack of spades, face cards, etc., a player must play each hand dealt.

BIDDING & PLAY

- Each individual will bid their own hand, starting with the dealer, and moving clockwise. The sum of your team player’s individual bids will be the bid for your team for that dealt hand.

- Minimum team bid of four (4) per hand. The first hand does not bid itself. (No nil bidding.)

- Once the bids are recorded play will start with the first person on the left of the dealer.

- A player may lead with any suit they choose, but a player may not “cut” or “trump” a book unless they do not possess any cards of the lead suit.

- If a team catches another team “reneging”, then upon producing the exact book or trick that the infraction occurred, the team will be awarded three (3) of the other team’s books.

SCORING (Scoring will be based on multiples of 10 and -10.)

Example: Team XYZ bids 6 books

· If team XYZ gets 6 books or tricks, then their score for that hand would be 60.

· If team XYZ makes over their bid, let’s say in this case eight (8) books, then the teams score would be sixty (60) points for making their bid plus two (2) points for going two (2) over their bid for a total of sixty-two (62) points.

· If a team gets any amount under their bid (set), in this case 1,2,3,4, or 5 books, then the team gets -10 times their bid, or in this case -60. (A TEAM DOES NOT LOSE THE GAME BY GETTING SET TWICE.)

· If a bid of ten (10) is reached, then the team will get a bonus of 100 points added to their score at that point.

Registering Your Points and Wins

This Tournament features a most points format. A team must beat their opponent in their game to 300 points in order to register a win. At the conclusion of each round, both teams sign the score sheet and a representative of the winning team brings the sheet up to the registration table so that the points of the winning team and losing team can be recorded. If neither team has reached 300 points by the end of the round, the team with the most points will be declared the winner of that game. The winning team will have an additional 100 points added to their score. The winning team remains at their table and the losing team moves to another table to face another winning team in the next round. The team who registers the most points-wins at the end of all rounds is the first-place winner of the tournament. If there is a tie in the number of points, the two teams tied will play a 1-hand playoff to determine the winner and finishing place. The team who registers the second most points-wins is the second-place winner, third most points is the third-place winner, etc.

*Note: Talking across the table, passing cards, hand signals, or any other activity that constitutes cheating is grounds for immediate disqualification.

Hold Harmless Agreement

When registering and/or participating, you agree to protect, defend, indemnify and hold the National Spades Players Association (NSPA), its parent company, officers, employees, and agents free and harmless from any and all losses, penalties, damages, settlements, costs, charges, professional fees, or other expenses or liabilities of every kind and character arising out of or relating to any and all claims, liens, demands, obligations, actions, proceedings, or causes of action of every kind and character in connection with or arising directly or indirectly out of this agreement and/or respond to, provide defense for and defend any such claims, etc., at his/her sole expense and agrees to bear all other costs and expenses related there to, even if it (claims, etc.) is groundless, false, or fraudulent.

The NSPA and Charlotte Spades Club present Thursday Spades Game Night!

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