Skat score sheet
A Skat score sheet only changes for the declarer. Win the game and you add its value; lose it and you subtract twice that. The defenders write nothing. Play an agreed number of full rounds, and the highest total wins.
- 3 players, or 4 with the dealer sitting out
- 32 cards, 7 to ace
- An agreed number of deals
- Highest total wins
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This is the real Scorepad, live: one row per deal, 0 for the defenders. The keypad cannot multiply, so 3 × 24 goes in as 24 + 24 + 24.
Skat
The German three-player game where the auction winner (the declarer) plays alone against the other two, and only the declarer's score moves each deal: plus the game value for a win, minus twice that for a loss, over an agreed number of deals.
Skat on BoardGameGeek.
How to play Skat, in brief
Each deal of Skat pits one player, the declarer, against the other two, and the highest total wins.
- Deal 10 each, 2 to the skatThe 32-card deck runs 7 to ace in each suit; the 2 left face down are the skat. With 4 players, the dealer sits out.
- Bid to declareBids start at 18, each the value of a game you could play. The winner may pick up the skat and put back any 2 cards, then names the game: a trump suit (one that beats the others), grand (only jacks are trump) or null (lose every trick).
- Play 10 tricksA trick is one card each. Follow suit if you can; the highest trump wins, or else the highest card of the suit led. Jacks are the top trumps.
- Count the card pointsThe declarer needs over half the card points, skat included.
A game is worth its base value times the multiplier.
The declarer needs 61 of the 120 card points, counting the two skat cards. The game’s value is worked out from the trump suit and the multiplier, and only the declarer’s score moves.
What each game is worth
| Game | Value |
|---|---|
| Diamonds ♦Suit games and grand: this base value times the multiplier | 9 |
| Hearts ♥ | 10 |
| Spades ♠ | 11 |
| Clubs ♣ | 12 |
| GrandOnly the four jacks are trump | 24 |
| NullFixed values: null hand 35, null ouvert 46, null ouvert hand 59 | 23 |
- Count the card pointsAces 11, tens 10, kings 4, queens 3, jacks 2, the rest 0. The declarer needs 61. A side with 30 or fewer is schneider; a side that takes no trick is schwarz.
- Find the multiplierCount matadors: the unbroken run of top trumps from the club jack that you hold (with) or lack (without). Add 1 for game, 1 for schneider, 1 for schwarz. A hand game also adds 1 for hand, and 1 each for announcing schneider, announcing schwarz and playing open.
- Work out the valueMultiply the base value by the multiplier. Clubs with 2, simply won, is 3 × 12 = 36. Null games use their fixed values.
- Write it under the declarerA won game adds its value. A lost game subtracts twice its value. The defenders’ scores do not change.
- Stop after a full roundThere is no target. Play the agreed number of deals, ending only when everyone has dealt the same number of times: 36 deals for three in a tournament, 48 for four.
Deal 12: Dev’s grand hand wins the list.
Going into the last deal: You 67, Mara 15, Dev 3. Dev holds the club jack but not the spade jack, plays grand without picking up the skat, and takes 75 card points. This is deal 12 on the Scorepad above.
| Player | The game, then its value | Deal |
|---|---|---|
| You | DefendingA defender’s score never moves | 0 |
| Mara | DefendingA defender’s score never moves | 0 |
| Dev | Grand hand with 1, won with 75 card pointsWith 1, game, hand: 3 × 24, typed 24 + 24 + 24 | 72 |
You work out the game. Tabletales keeps the list.
Tabletales is a scorepad and scrapbook for game night. In Skat you work out each game’s value at the table. Type it for the declarer every deal, and Tabletales keeps each player’s running total.
- The math stays at the tableThe keypad adds and subtracts but cannot multiply. Type the game’s value (3 × 24 is 72), or type 24 + 24 + 24 and Tabletales adds it up. If your table breaks ties on games won, count those on paper.
- One row per dealLeave it on Highest wins and switch to By hand. Type the declarer’s value and 0 for the two defenders, and the TOTAL line keeps each player’s running score.
- Lost games in redA lost grand without 1 is minus 96: tap - and type 96. Totals below zero show in red.
- 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
- Skat, with its scores
Common Skat scoring mistakes
- Counting matadors from the wrong cardThey run unbroken from the club jack. The club and spade jacks without the heart jack is with 2; no club jack means you play without as many top trumps as are missing.
- Forgetting the 1 for gameThe multiplier is always at least 2. That is why the smallest game, and the lowest bid, is 18.
- Subtracting a lost game onceA lost game costs twice its value, hand games included.
- Scoring an overbid on card pointsA game worth less than the bid is lost even with 61. It costs twice the smallest multiple of the base value that reaches the bid.
Skat scoring, answered
- How is Skat scored?
- Only the declarer scores. A won game adds its value (the base value times the multiplier) to the declarer’s total, and a lost game subtracts twice that value.
- How many deals is a game of Skat?
- There is no target score, so the table agrees a number of deals and finishes a full round. A tournament session is 36 deals at a table of three and 48 at a table of four.
- Do the defenders score in Skat?
- Not in the standard list. Under tournament scoring each defender gets 40 points for every game the declarer loses (30 at a table of four).
Skat score sheet
Print one for the table: four players and 36 deals, with the game’s value and a running total for each, and the base values at the bottom.
Score another game
Tournament scoring under the International Skat Order also adds 50 for each game won and takes 50 for each game lost, and settles a tie on games won, then games lost. Some tables play bock rounds, where the next round scores double, or play Ramsch when everyone passes. Rules checked on 19 October 2026 against the International Skat Order, 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.
