Pitch card game score sheet
A Pitch card game score sheet only ever gets small numbers: every hand puts four points in play, High, Low, Jack and Game. The side that wins the bid scores all it took if it makes the bid, and loses the bid if it doesn’t. The other side keeps whatever it won. Make a bid that takes you to 21 to win.
- 4 players, 2 partnerships
- 6 cards each, 6 tricks
- Make your bid to reach 21
- 4 points in play a hand
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This is the real app screen, live. Each side’s points go under one partner, a set as a minus; the teams bar adds them up.
Pitch
An American trick-taking game descended from All Fours where each hand awards just four points, High, Low, Jack and Game, and a side that wins the bid but falls short is set back by the amount it bid.
Pitch on BoardGameGeek.
How to play Pitch, in brief
A hand of Pitch has four points: High, Low, Jack and Game. Two partnerships bid to pick trump (the suit that beats the others), and a side wins at 21 on a hand where it made its bid.
- Deal 6 eachUse a standard deck, aces high, and deal 3 at a time.
- Bid once aroundEach player gets one chance to pass or bid higher: 2, 3, 4 or smudge (all six tricks and all four points). The dealer bids last, can take the bid by matching it, and must bid 2 if all pass.
- Pitch and play 6 tricksThe high bidder leads, and that suit is trump. A trick is one card from each player. Follow suit or play trump, or anything if you hold neither. Highest trump wins the trick, or the highest card of the suit led.
- Hand out the pointsAfter 6 tricks, award the four points.
Four points a hand, and the bid decides who keeps theirs.
After the six tricks, four single points are handed out: High, Low, Jack and Game. Both sides score what they won, with one exception. If the side that won the bid took fewer points than it bid, it is set back: it scores nothing that hand and the bid comes off its total.
What a hand is worth
| Point | Worth |
|---|---|
| HighTo the side that held the highest trump in play | 1 |
| LowTo the side whose tricks hold the lowest trump in play | 1 |
| JackTo the side that won the jack of trumps; no one if it wasn’t dealt | 1 |
| GameMost card points in your tricks: each 10 is 10, A 4, K 3, Q 2, J 1. A tie scores no one | 1 |
| Smudge madeA bid to take every trick and all four points | 5 |
| Bidders short of their bidA smudge that drops a trick costs 5 | Minus the bid |
- Bid once, then pitchEach player bids once: 2, 3, 4 or smudge. The dealer may take the bid by matching it, and must bid 2 if everyone else passes. The high bidder leads, and that card’s suit is trump.
- Hand out the four pointsAfter six tricks, award High, Low and Jack, then add up each side’s card points for Game.
- Did the bidders make it?If they won at least as many points as they bid, they score every point they won. If not, they score nothing and lose the bid.
- The defenders keep theirsThe other side always scores the points it won, made bid or not.
- Win on your own bidA side wins by reaching 21 on a hand where it made its bid, even if the other side has more. Points won on defense cannot end the game.
Hand 12: Mara makes 3 and takes the game.
You and Dev are Team A, Mara and Jonas Team B. Going into hand 12 it is 16 to 20. Mara wins the bid at 3 and leads a spade, so spades are trump. She holds the ace, her side wins the trick with the 2 of spades in it, and their tricks hold 27 card points to 19. Dev wins the jack. This is hand 12 on the Scorepad above.
| Team | Points won | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Mara and Jonas | Bid 3 · A♠ for High · won the 2♠ · 27 card points to 19High, Low and Game, enough for the bid: 1 + 1 + 1 | 3 |
| You and Dev | J♠ won in a trickJack. The defenders keep what they win | 1 |
Small numbers, a long game, kept straight.
Tabletales is a scorepad and scrapbook for game night. For Pitch, pick Teams and type each side’s points after every hand. The teams bar adds up each side’s total on the way to 21.
- Partners share a totalTap a letter to put each player on Team A or B, then type each side’s points under one partner. The teams bar adds them up.
- A setback is one tapBid 3 and took 2? Tap ± and type 3: it shows in red and comes off the side’s total.
- Watch 21 yourselfSet Play to a score at 21 and it sits in the header. The trophy goes to the higher total, so if the side that made its bid reaches 21 while the other side sits higher, the app crowns the wrong side: note who really won.
- And the night is keptSave it with who played and a photo from the table. Each game gets a history: how often you play it, who with, and who wins.
- Everyone who was there
- Photos from the table
- Pitch, with its scores
Common Pitch scoring mistakes
- Paying a set side for its pointsBidders who fall short score nothing that hand and lose the amount they bid.
- Ending the game on defenseA side that passes 21 while defending has not won yet. It has to take a bid and make it.
- Counting Game by face valueOnly tens, aces, kings, queens and jacks count, at 10, 4, 3, 2 and 1. A tie gives the point to no one.
- Arguing over Low mid-gamePagat gives Low to the side that wins the lowest trump in a trick; some tables give it to whoever was dealt it. Agree before the first deal.
Pitch scoring, answered
- How do you score the Pitch card game?
- Each hand awards four points: High, Low, Jack and Game. The side that won the bid scores everything it took if that covers its bid, or loses the bid if not, and the other side scores what it won.
- How many points is a game of Pitch?
- Partnership Pitch is usually played to 21, but 11 and 7 are common shorter games. A side wins by reaching the target on a hand where it made its bid.
- What does it mean to get set in Pitch?
- The bidding side took fewer points than it bid. It scores nothing for the hand and the bid comes off its total, which can go below zero.
Pitch score sheet
Print one for the table: Team A and Team B, twenty hands, a space for each bid, the points won and a running total, with the four points and card values at the bottom.
Score another game
Tables differ more in Pitch than in most games: targets of 7, 11, 15 and 21 are all common, some give High and Low to whoever was dealt them, Five Point Set Back adds the off-jack, and ten-point games add jokers too. Bicycle’s Auction Pitch is every player for themselves, to 7. Rules checked on 19 October 2026 against Pagat, Bicycle Cards and Wikipedia.
Keep score tonight. Keep the night for good.
Tabletales adds up every hand, then saves the whole night: the games, the scores, the photos and who was there.
