Tarneeb Scoring
You score what you take. Fall short and you lose what you promised.
Play Tarneeb free
In Tarneeb scoring, a side that makes its bid scores the tricks it actually took: bid 8, take 9, score 9, and the other side scores nothing. A side that misses loses the number it bid, and the defenders score their own tricks. Take all thirteen and it pays 16, or 26 if you bid 13. The first side to 41 wins.
A sample score sheet
Six hands between two teams, Us and Them, scored the way our game scores them:
| # | What happened | Us | Them |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Us bid 8, took 9 | 9 | 0 |
| 2 | Them bid 7, took 8 | 9 | 8 |
| 3 | Us bid 9, took 8 (set) | 0 | 13 |
| 4 | Them bid 8, took 10 | 0 | 23 |
| 5 | Us bid 7, took all 13 (kaboot) | 16 | 23 |
| 6 | Them bid 9, took 7 (set) | 22 | 14 |
Hand 3 is the one to look at. Us missed by a single trick, lost 9, and Them picked up the 5 tricks they took: a 14-point swing. Hand 6 cuts the other way: Them missed by two, lost 9, and Us scored their 6. Two failed bids, and the lead has changed sides twice in six hands.
The rules behind the sheet
| Result | Bidding team | Defenders |
|---|---|---|
| Bid made (tricks ≥ bid) | + tricks actually won | 0 |
| Bid failed | − the bid | + their tricks |
| Kaboot: all 13 taken, on a bid under 13 | +16 | 0 |
| Bid 13, made | +26 | 0 |
| Bid 13, failed | −16 | double their tricks |
Two things follow. Overtricks count in full, so bidding 7 and taking 10 scores 10. Spades charges you for overtricks and Call Break barely pays for them; Tarneeb pays every one. And a failure costs the bid, not the shortfall: a bid of 7 that takes 6 loses exactly 7.
Tarneeb score calculator
Keeping score at a real table? Enter each hand below and the calculator applies the scoring above: pick the side that won the bid, the bid, and how many tricks that side took. It keeps a running total and calls the winner at your target. Print gives you a paper score sheet, with blank rows for the hands still to come.
| # | Bid | Us | Them |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 0 | 0 | |
Your sheet stays in this browser only; nothing is sent anywhere.
The 13 bid
Bidding all thirteen pays +26 when it works. When it fails, by even one trick, you lose 16 and the defenders score double their tricks: bid 13, take 12, and it is −16 to you and +2 to them. Kaboot on a smaller bid is the safer road to a sweep. Bid 7, take all thirteen, and you still collect 16.
The 13 is worth calling when the hand really can win every trick (long trump with the top cards, and no side suit the defenders can cash), or when you are so far behind that ordinary bids won't close the gap.
Getting to 41
The first side to 41 points wins. A made bid is worth at least 7, so a side making 8 or 9 a hand gets there in five or six made hands. Scores can go below zero and there is no floor: two failed 8s and a side sits at −16. Our web tables play to 41, and the app also offers a shorter game to 31. The calculator above also offers 31 and 61 for games at a real table.
Some rule sets use other targets. Pagat gives 31 as the standard, with 41, 51 or 61 agreed before play; see Tarneeb 41 vs 61 for how the target changes the game.
What the scoring tells you to do
- Bid the tricks you are sure of, then play for all of them. You get the overtricks anyway, so there is no reason to bid them. This is the opposite of Spades.
- Don't stretch to win the auction. One extra trick in the bid is worth nothing if you make it, and costs the whole bid if you don't.
- Defenders score only on a set. Tricks taken against a made bid are worth nothing, so defend to break the contract.
- Near 41, count the finish. A safe 8 that ends the game beats a greedy 10 that fails.
Keep reading
- Play Tarneeb Online: free in the browser, with the rules on the page.
- How to Play Tarneeb: one hand walked through, from the deal to the count.
- قواعد الطرنيب: the rules in Arabic.
- Tarneeb Strategy: bidding and partnership play.
- Tarnib, Tarneeb or طرنيب: one game, three spellings.
- Tarneeb 41 vs 61: a target score, or a different game?