Section 2: The Deck
- One standard 52-card deck, no jokers in the base game.
- Cards rank ace (high) down to two.
- Spades are permanently trump — there is no trump selection.
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Section 2: The Deck
Spades
🌱Community
What is the deck in Spades?
Verdict
One standard 52-card deck, no jokers in the base game.; Cards rank ace (high) down to two.; Spades are permanently trump — there is no trump selection.
Why people argue about this
People often assume that since Spades is always trump, they can discard all non-club cards at once if they have a strong hand of spades. But actually, you must follow suit unless you cannot, in which case you play a card from another suit, including spades, to avoid losing the trick. This rule prevents players from exploiting what they perceive as an advantage by discarding irrelevant cards early.
Send this to your friend — argument over.
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Rules sourced from Traditional public-domain game — standard partnership rules · Last verified: Aug 2026