Large Print Spades Score Sheet: Free Printable PDF
This free large print spades score sheet has a block of columns for each partnership: bid, tricks made, bags, hand score and running total. Choose 18, 24 or 28 point and print. Bold rows leave room to write the score after every hand.
| Sides | 2 partnerships, one block each |
|---|---|
| Columns per hand | Bid, made, bags, hand score, running total |
| Type size | 18, 24 or 28 pt |
| Paper | US Letter, A4 or 11 x 17 in |
| Game ends | When a side reaches 500 points |
How is spades scored?
Spades is a trick-taking game, usually for two partnerships of two. Before play, each player bids how many tricks they expect to win, and the partners' bids are added. If the side wins at least its bid, it scores 10 points for each trick bid. If it falls short, it loses 10 points for each trick bid, however close it came.
Pagat.com gives an example. A side that bids 5 and takes 7 scores 50 points for the bid, plus 2 for the extra tricks. The first side to reach 500 points wins the game, according to the same source.
| Result | Score |
|---|---|
| Bid made | 10 per trick bid |
| Each extra trick (a bag) | 1 point |
| Bid missed | Minus 10 per trick bid |
| Game | First to 500 |
What are bags, and what is the bag penalty?
Every trick over the bid is called a bag, and it is worth 1 point. But bags add up across hands. Pagat.com says a side that collects ten or more bags has 100 points taken off its score. The same penalty applies again at 20 bags.
That is why the sheet has a separate bags column with a running count. Write the running bag count in the Bags column, so both sides can see how close they are to the penalty. The sheet fits about 6 or 7 hands on Letter and A4 and 12 on 11 x 17, so print a second sheet for a long game.
How do nil and blind nil score?
A player who bids nil is promising to win no tricks at all. A success earns a 100 point bonus and a failure costs 100. The partner's bid is still scored separately. A blind nil is bid before looking at your cards and counts double, plus or minus 200. Some groups drop blind nil or change the values, so write your table's rules at the top of the sheet.
How do you use the large print spades score sheet?
Choose one scorer and one pen. After each hand, write the bids and tricks made, work out the hand score, add any bag penalty, and update the running total. Say each number aloud as it is written so that a player with low vision can follow.
For a table that reads from a distance, print on 11 x 17 inch paper at 28 point. The layout follows APH guidance on type, described in what is large print. Hearts is another trick-taking game and has its own sheet, the large print hearts score sheet, while the large print rummy score sheet covers a different kind of card game. See all of them under large print games, or try the large print Yahtzee score sheet.
Every page you download may be copied freely for personal, family, church, library and activity-room use. Spades is a traditional game and the sheet is our own layout.