What is Suicide?
In the standard game both partners bid freely, and most hands are played without a nil. In Suicide every partnership must have one nil bidder and one player who bids at least four tricks.
The first partner to bid chooses which role to take: nil, blind nil if that option is on, or any bid of four tricks or more. The second partner must take the other role. If the first partner bid nil or blind nil, the second must bid at least four; if the first bid four or more, the second must bid nil or blind nil.
Scoring is the standard scoring. A successful nil is worth 100 points (200 blind) and a failed one costs as much, and the tricks the nil bidder wins never count towards the partner's bid. So every hand both teams defend one nil and attack the other, while the partner of the nil bidder must make a bid of at least four on their own.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Spades | Suicide |
|---|---|---|
| Each partnership | Standard SpadesBoth partners bid freely: any number of tricks or nil. | SuicideOne partner must bid nil or blind nil, the other at least four tricks. |
| First partner to bid | Standard SpadesAny number from 1 to 13, nil or blind nil. | SuicideNil, blind nil if the option is on, or any bid of four or more. |
| Second partner to bid | Standard SpadesAny number from 1 to 13, nil or blind nil. | SuicideThe other role: four or more after a partner's nil, nil or blind nil after a partner's bid of tricks. |
| Tricks won by the nil bidder | Standard SpadesThey break the nil and don't count towards the partner's bid. | SuicideUnchanged, so the partner must make their bid of four or more alone. |
| Players | Standard SpadesFour players in two partnerships. | SuicideFour players in partnerships only. The setup offers Suicide only at four seats without cutthroat; any other table plays standard bidding. |
| Other options | Standard SpadesBlind nil, the bags penalty, the target score and jokers can be chosen. | SuicideSuicide works with all of them. The blind nil option decides whether the nil partner may bid blind nil. |
History
Suicide is one of the fixed-bid rule sets that online Spades rooms and apps offer next to the standard game, along with Mirror and Whiz. The descriptions agree that it is a partnership game in which one partner of each team bids nil and the other bids four or more. A looser version also exists, in which each player must bid nil or at least four and the second partner may match the first; no origin for either rule is recorded.
The classic reference descriptions of Spades do not list Suicide. The version played here is the one in which each team must have exactly one nil.