Scoring in Thousand and the Score Sheet — How to Count Points

After every deal the declarer adds the whole contract to their score if they made it, or subtracts it if they did not. The defenders add their own points from cards and marriages, rounded to tens. From 800 points defending stops counting, and you can reach 1000 only from a contract you have made.

At a glance

• Declarer: made it → +contract, did not make it → −contract.
• Defenders: their own points (cards + marriages) rounded to tens.
• From 800 points defending does not count.
• You reach 1000 only from a contract you have made.

The declarer’s points

What counts are the cards in the declarer’s tricks and their marriages. The result is compared with the contract — any surplus is lost, and a shortfall costs the whole contract.

The defenders’ points

A defender counts the cards from their own tricks and their own marriages, and rounds the result to tens. The rounding rules differ: under house rules an ending of 5 or more goes up; under the tournament rules endings 1–5 go down and 6–9 go up.

The 800 threshold

From 800 points a player collects points only from a bidding they have won — they get nothing from defending any more.

• House rules: as long as a player has fewer than 800, defending counts in full, even over the threshold: 780 + 40 = 820. From 800, defending gives 0.
• Tournament rules: defending is capped at 800: 780 + 40 = 800.

This is how the lock (Polish blokada) works, the rule used in Poland. In the rules with the barrel, from 880 the score stops and you must make a contract within three deals — comparison: variants.

The bomb

The end of the game

The winner is the declarer who makes their contract and has 1000 or more after it. A defender cannot reach 1000 — they stop at 990.

A sample score sheet

Three deals under house rules. After the arrow — the standing after the deal.

In brackets — points before rounding. Cards in deal 1: 85 + 25 + 10 = 120, in deal 2: 70 + 34 + 16 = 120.