Gambling terms, explained straight

Card Games

Bridge rules and scoring

Bridge scoring is the system of point values and bonuses used to record contract bridge results, covering trick points, overtricks, bonuses, and penalties.

Trick points (minor suits)
20 points per odd trick in clubs or diamonds2
Trick points (major suits)
30 points per odd trick in hearts or spades2
Notrump trick points
40 points for the first odd trick, then 30 for each additional2

Key points

  • A side in rubber bridge reaches game after 100 contract points below the line23.
  • Contract points are doubled if the contract is doubled and quadrupled if redoubled2.
  • Scoring consists of six to eight elements depending on the variant, including trick points, bonuses for game and slam, and penalties for failure1.

Where this term is used

Card games Cribbage scoring rules Explains the pegging and hand-counting system used in cribbage. Card games Bridge Covers the rules and play of the card game contract bridge. Card games Rummy rules Describes the melding and discarding rules of rummy. Card games Cribbage rules Details the full rules of cribbage, including dealing and play. Card games Euchre rules Explains the trick-taking rules and trump selection in euchre. Card games Contract bridge rules pdf Provides a downloadable PDF of official contract bridge rules.

Sources

  1. Bridge scoring en.wikipedia.org Used for the definition, the number of scoring elements, and the general description of how scoring works.
  2. Contract bridge en.wikipedia.org Used for trick point values, game threshold, and doubling rules.
  3. Rubber bridge en.wikipedia.org Used for the game threshold in rubber bridge.

Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.

Written and maintained by Ellis Warrender, writer and maintainer.

Last updated 28 July 2026. Spotted an error? Tell me and it gets fixed and logged on the corrections page.