What is Cutthroat?
In the standard game four players play in two partnerships, partners sitting opposite, and each team adds its bids together and makes them together. In Cutthroat there are no partners. Every player bids for their own tricks, keeps their own score and their own bags, and a nil counts for that player alone.
The game ends after a hand in which someone reaches the target score. The player with the highest score wins; if two or more players share the highest score, another hand is played to decide it.
With four players, switch on Cutthroat in the setup. Tables of three or two players are always played this way. Three players get 17 cards each and the last card is set aside unseen; whoever holds the lowest club in play must lead it to the first trick. Two players build their hands from a face-down stock instead of a deal, as described in the table below.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Spades | Cutthroat |
|---|---|---|
| Partnerships | Standard SpadesTwo teams of two, partners sitting opposite. | CutthroatNone: every player plays for themselves. |
| Bids and scoring | Standard SpadesPartners' bids are added and made together; scores and bags are kept per team. | CutthroatEach player's bid is made with their own tricks; scores and bags are kept per player, with the same points as in the standard game. |
| Nil | Standard SpadesThe 100 points (200 for blind nil) are won or lost for the team. | CutthroatWon or lost by the nil bidder alone. |
| End of the game | Standard SpadesWhen a team reaches the target score, the team with more points wins. | CutthroatWhen a player reaches the target score, the highest score wins; a tie for the highest score means another hand is played. |
| Three players | Standard SpadesNot used: Spades is a four-player game. | CutthroatAlways without partners. 17 cards each and one card set aside unseen (18 each with jokers). The holder of the 2 of clubs, or the 3 of clubs if the 2 is out, leads it to the first trick. |
| Two players | Standard SpadesNot used: Spades is a four-player game. | CutthroatAlways without partners and without a deal. Starting with the non-dealer, each turn you see the top card of the stock and either keep it and discard the next, or discard it and keep the next. After 26 turns each player has 13 cards; the non-dealer bids first and leads. |
| Other options | Standard SpadesBlind nil, the bags penalty, the target score, jokers and the bidding rule can be chosen. | CutthroatAll of them work, except Suicide bidding, which needs partnerships: a cutthroat table plays standard bidding instead. |
History
Spades for three players is usually described as a game without partnerships in which each player is dealt 17 cards and the remaining card is removed from play, or 18 each with a 54-card pack, and the holder of the 2 of clubs (the 3 of clubs if the 2 is out of play) leads to the first trick. For four players there are traditional four-handed cutthroat games offered online, and cutthroat spades is also another name for solo spades, the game without the partnership.
Two-player Spades usually has no deal: the players take turns at a face-down stock, each time looking at the top card and either keeping it and discarding the next one face down, or discarding it and taking the next one, until each holds 13 cards. Bidding and play then follow the rules for three or four players.