Tableza Spades Review: Free Spades Against the Computer or Your Crew

Our verdict: the best free place to learn and play partnership Spades online. Tableza plays the classic four-handed game to 500, with Nil and a 10-bag penalty. You get a computer at three levels, a hint button that suggests your bid and your card on easy, and private tables for your regular crew. It’s free, with nothing to download.

Best for: new players learning to bid, and groups who want a free private table.

What is Tableza?

Tableza is a free website for classic card and tile games: Spades, Hearts, Euchre, Cribbage, Canasta, Dominoes, Mahjong and more, 12 games in all. It runs in your browser on a computer, tablet or phone, so there’s nothing to install.

Spades on Tableza is the game most of us grew up with: four players, two partnerships, partners sitting across from each other.

Spades rules on Tableza

Here’s how Tableza plays the game, so you can check it against your house rules:

• Bidding: each player bids from Nil (0) up to 13. Your team’s contract is the total of the two bids, not counting a Nil.
• Spades are always trump, and the table tracks whether spades have been broken. A banner shows “Spades not broken yet” until they are.
• Making your contract: 10 points per trick bid, plus 1 point for each extra trick.
• Going set: you lose 10 points per trick bid.
• Nil: +100 if you take no tricks, −100 if you take any. Tricks taken by a failed Nil count as bags.
• Bags: every 10 bags costs your team 100 points, and the extra bags carry over.
• Winning: the first team to 500 wins. If both teams pass 500 on the same hand, the higher score wins.

That’s standard partnership Spades, the same scoring we cover in our Spades Scoring guide. Blind Nil isn’t offered, and there’s no −200 losing score.

Playing against the computer

You can play the computer at three levels:

• Easy bids simply and tends to play its lowest card. Good for learning the flow of a hand.
• Medium uses proper bidding and playing strategy.
• Hard plays like medium, but it also protects its partner’s Nil by taking the lead above them.

After each hand, a summary shows each team’s bid and tricks, any Nil made or failed, the bags you added and any sandbag penalty. It’s a good way to understand why the score moved.

Hints for beginners

On easy, a hint button helps you while you learn. During bidding it shows a suggested bid. During play it highlights the card it would play.

When you choose Nil, the game reminds you what you’re promising: zero tricks, for +100 if you make it and −100 if you don’t. If bidding is the part you find hardest, read our Spades Bidding Explained guide alongside a few easy games.

Playing with your crew or other players

When you’re ready for people, you have two options:

• Private table: invite your partner and friends to a private game.
• Public game: join a game with other players on Tableza.

The table shows each team’s contract, tricks won, Nil bids and bag count in plain text, so nobody has to keep score on paper.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Free, with nothing to download
• Standard partnership Spades to 500, with Nil and a 10-bag penalty
• Computer at three levels; hard protects its partner’s Nil
• Hint on easy, with a suggested bid and a suggested card
• Private tables for your partner and friends
• Clear on-screen tracking of contracts, Nil bids, bags and broken spades

Cons

• No Blind Nil
• Four-player partnership games only (no 2-player, Cutthroat or Suicide)
• Target score fixed at 500, with no −200 losing score
• Bag penalty can’t be turned off

Who should play Spades on Tableza?

It’s the best pick if you’re learning Spades, teaching someone else, or want a free private table for your regular four. The hints take the guesswork out of your first bids, and you can move up to hard when you’re ready.

If your table plays Blind Nil, or you play Cutthroat or Suicide Spades, look at the alternatives below.

Alternatives to Tableza

• World of Card Games: free partnership Spades to 500, with no signup, and you can turn the bag penalty off at private tables. Read our World of Card Games Spades review.
• Trickster Cards: private games with video chat and custom house rules, including Blind Nil. Read our Trickster Cards review.
• VIP Spades: the pick for Cutthroat, Suicide, Whiz and Mirror Spades. Read our VIP Spades review.

See every option compared in our Top 3 Best Online Spades Sites.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Tableza Spades free?
Yes. You can play free in your browser on desktop or mobile, with nothing to download.

Can I play Spades against the computer on Tableza?
Yes, at three levels: easy, medium and hard. On easy, a hint button suggests your bid and your card.

Does Tableza have Nil and Blind Nil?
It has Nil (+100 or −100), but not Blind Nil.

How do bags work on Tableza?
Each trick over your team’s bid is a bag and scores 1 point. Every 10 bags costs your team 100 points, and the extra bags carry over. Our Bags & Sandbagging guide explains the strategy.

What score do you play to?
500 points. See How Many Points to Win for other common targets.

Can I play Spades with friends on Tableza?
Yes. Invite your partner and friends to a private table.