Gameplay Each game is played in rounds and each round consists of a dealing stage, a bidding stage, a trick taking stage, and a scoring stage.
Dealing When the game starts, each player is randomly dealt 13 cards. All cards are dealt to all players completely at random. No special dealing is used to handicap or improve the hands for the computer players. You are the first dealer and then the deal moves to the left after each round.
Bidding Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, each player bids on the minimum number of tricks that they expect to take for the round. A bid of zero is called a 'nil bid' and results in a score of 100 if succesful and a score of -100 if any tricks are taken.
Trick Taking The player on the dealer's left makes the opening lead by playing a single card of their choice. Players in clockwise fashion then play a card of their choice; they must follow suit if they can, otherwise they may play any card including a trump spade. A player may not lead spades until a spade has been played to trump another trick.
The trick is won or taken by the player who played the highest card of the led suit, or if trumps were played, the highest trump card wins. The player who wins any given trick leads next. Play continues until all players he exhausted their hands.
Scoring Once a round is completed, each player is assigned a score based on whether they achieved their bid. If the player took at least the number of tricks that they bid then they are awarded 10 points for each trick that they bid and 1 point for each trick over their bid. Tricks taken that are more than the bid are called 'bags'. If a player does not take at least the number of tricks that they bid then they score zero points. In the case where a user bid nil, if they take no tricks then they are assigned 100 points, but if they take at least one trick then they lose 100 points.
An optional 'bagging' rule is designed to penalize players for underestimating the number of tricks they will take. When this setting is turned on, players are assigned a 100 point penalty when they accumulate 10 bags.