Scopa score sheet
Scopa is scored at the end of each hand: 1 point for every sweep, then 1 each for most cards, most coins, the seven of coins and the best prime. Keep a running total to 11. Keep it on the free Scopa score sheet below, or let the Scorepad add it up.
- 2, 3, 4 or 6 players
- A 40-card Italian deck
- To 11
- Highest total wins
Tabletales is free on iPhone and iPad.
This is the real Scorepad, live: a hand typed a point at a time. Tap any hand to change it.
Scopa
An Italian fishing game for a 40-card deck where you capture table cards that match or add up to the card you play, then score for sweeps, most cards, most coins, the seven of coins and the best prime, hand after hand until someone reaches 11.
Scopa on BoardGameGeek.
How to play Scopa, in brief
This Italian card game is about capturing: play a card to take table cards that match it or add up to it. Points come after each hand, and the first to 11 wins.
- Use a 40-card deckThe four suits (coins, cups, swords, batons) each run ace to 7, then jack, knight and king, counting 8, 9 and 10.
- Deal 3 each, 4 face upIf 3 or 4 kings land on the table, deal again.
- Capture if you canPlay one card. It takes a table card of equal value if there is one, or else cards that add up to it; if neither, it stays on the table. Clearing the table is a scopa.
- Deal 3 moreWhen hands are empty, deal 3 more each. When the deck is gone, leftover table cards go to whoever captured last.
Sweeps as you play, four points when the deck runs out.
You score sweeps during the hand and everything else once the last card is played. With four or six players in two teams, partners sit alternately with the other side and share one pile and one score.
What scores a point
| What you took | Points |
|---|---|
| Each sweep (scopa)A capture that clears the table, but not the last play of the hand | 1 |
| Most cardsA tie scores nothing | 1 |
| Most coinsA tie scores nothing | 1 |
| The seven of coins (settebello) | 1 |
| Best prime (primiera)Your best card in each suit, added on the prime scale | 1 |
- Mark your sweepsEach time a capture clears the table, turn the capturing card face up in your pile so it can be counted: 1 point each. Clearing the table with the very last play of the hand is not a sweep.
- Hand out the last cardsWhen the deck is played out, any cards left on the table go to whoever made the last capture.
- Count cards, coins and the settebello1 point each for most cards, most coins and the seven of coins. If cards or coins are tied, nobody scores that point.
- Work out the primeTake your best card in each suit and add them: 7 is 21, 6 is 18, ace 16, 5 is 15, 4 is 14, 3 is 13, 2 is 12, face cards 10. The highest sum takes the point. Missing a suit means you cannot win it, and a tie scores nothing.
- Play to 11Add the hand to your total and deal again. The game ends after the hand in which someone reaches 11. If two pass it, the higher total wins; a tie for the lead plays another hand.
Hand 4: both pass 11, and You win.
Two players, playing to 11. Going in, Mara leads 9 to 8. You take most cards, the seven of coins and the prime; Mara takes most coins; you each make one sweep. This is hand 4 on the Scorepad above.
| Player | A point for each | Hand |
|---|---|---|
| You | 1 sweep 路 23 of the 40 cards 路 the seven of coins 路 prime 81 (three sevens and a six)Sweep, cards, settebello, prime: 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 | 4 |
| Mara | 1 sweep 路 6 of the 10 coins 路 prime 73 (a seven, two sixes and an ace)Sweep and coins: 1 + 1 | 2 |
Small numbers, kept straight.
Tabletales is a scorepad and scrapbook for game night. Scopa hands give out only a few points each. Type each player鈥檚 points for every hand on the Scorepad, and it keeps the running totals.
- One row a handSwitch to By hand and type each player鈥檚 points for the hand, or type them a point at a time as you count them (1 + 1 + 1 + 1) and Tabletales adds them up.
- 11 is on the padKeep Highest wins and set Play to a score to 11, or 16 or 21 if that is your table鈥檚 game. A total that gets there turns gold.
- Ties share the trophyIn Scopa a tie for the lead plays one more hand, so tap Add hand and play on.
- 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 holds the high score.
- Everyone who was there
- Photos from the table
- Scopa, with its scores
Common Scopa scoring mistakes
- Scoring the last play as a sweepTaking the final table cards at the very end of the hand never counts as a sweep.
- Handing out a tied pointIf the cards split 20 and 20, or the coins 5 and 5, nobody scores that point.
- Using capture values for the primeThe prime has its own scale, so a seven (21) beats a king (10), and a player missing a suit cannot win it.
- Stopping as soon as someone reaches 11Finish scoring the hand. If two players pass 11, the higher total wins.
Scopa scoring, answered
- How do you score Scopa?
- At the end of each hand you score 1 point for every sweep, plus 1 each for most cards, most coins, the seven of coins and the best prime. The game ends after the hand in which someone reaches 11.
- How does the prime (primiera) work in Scopa?
- Each player takes their best card in each suit and adds them on the prime scale: 7 is 21, 6 is 18, ace 16, 5 is 15, 4 is 14, 3 is 13, 2 is 12 and face cards 10. The highest sum scores 1 point.
- What is a scopa?
- A sweep: a capture that takes every card on the table. It is worth 1 point, except on the very last play of the hand.
Scopa score sheet
Print one for the table: 4 players and 12 hands, with a running total beside every hand, and the points and the prime scale at the bottom.
Score another game
Tables often play to 16 or 21 instead of 11, and some add Re Bello (the king of coins, 1 more) or the Napola run of coins. With four players in pairs, pick Teams in Tabletales and type each side鈥檚 hand under one partner. Rules checked on 19 October 2026 against Pagat 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.
