- Teams. Seats 0 + 2 vs 1 + 3. Partners sit across.
- Bid. Each player bids the number of tricks they expect. Team bid = sum of both partners' bids.
- Trump. Spades are always trump. You may NOT lead a spade until one has been played as a discard (broken).
- Score. Made bid → +10 × bid, +1 per overtrick ("bag"). Failed → -10 × bid.
- Nil. Bid 0 → +100 if you take ZERO tricks, -100 otherwise. Independent of partner's bid.