Printable Bridge (Basics) Score Sheet

Basic rubber bridge scoring is built around a split that trips up almost every new player: some points count toward winning the current game, and some don't, even though both get written on the same sheet. Understanding which is which — "above the line" versus "below the line" — is really the whole job of a bridge score sheet, so that's where this page starts before the printable layout.

Above the line and below the line, explained

Only points scored by actually making the bid contract go below the line, and only below-the-line points count toward winning a game (100 points wins it). Everything else — overtricks beyond the contract, bonuses for holding certain high cards ("honors"), and penalty points for defeating an opponent's contract — goes above the line, where it adds to a player's final total but never helps finish a game. A sheet with only one running number per player loses this distinction entirely, which is why the printable layout below keeps two separate columns per side rather than one.

How a contract turns into a below-the-line score

Making a bid contract scores points based on the trump suit: 20 points per trick bid and made in clubs or diamonds ("minor" suits), 30 points per trick in hearts or spades ("major" suits), and for no-trump contracts, 40 for the first trick bid and made plus 30 for each one after that. Only the tricks actually bid for count below the line — extra tricks won beyond the contract ("overtricks") score above the line instead, which is the single most common place a new scorer writes a number in the wrong column.

Games and the rubber

Once a side reaches 100 points below the line — which can take more than one hand — they've won a "game," and both sides' below-the-line totals reset to zero for the next game, while everything above the line keeps accumulating. Win two games and you've won the "rubber," which adds a bonus (500 points if the opponents hadn't won a game yet, 700 if they had) and ends the session. A sheet needs a visible line or marker between games precisely because the below-the-line reset is the thing easiest to forget mid-session.

What happens when a contract fails

If the declaring side doesn't make its contract, the defenders score penalty points above the line — more per trick if the declarer was "vulnerable" (already having won one game in the rubber) than if not, and more again if the contract was doubled or redoubled. None of this touches the below-the-line running total at all, since a failed contract never counts toward a game.

Reading the sheet mid-rubber

At any point, the sheet should let you answer three separate questions at a glance: who's ahead on total points (add both lines together), who's closer to winning the current game (below the line only), and how many games each side has already banked toward the rubber. Keeping the below-the-line figures reset per game, with a running above-the-line tally that never resets, is what makes all three readable from the same page without recalculating.

This page covers rubber bridge basics only — bidding conventions, the auction itself, and full trick-play rules are covered on the full bridge basics rules, with worked scoring examples on the scoring deep-dive and common table disputes on the dispute page.

Why do overtricks go above the line instead of just adding to the contract score? Because only the exact contract bid is meant to count toward winning a game — otherwise a side could win games faster just by overbidding cautiously and picking up extra tricks, which defeats the purpose of bidding accurately in the first place.

Does a doubled contract change how the sheet is marked, not just the score? Yes — mark the "D" (or "XX" for redoubled) next to the contract in the bid column before play even starts, since it changes both the below-the-line score if made and the above-the-line penalty if it fails, and a sheet that only records the final number loses the reason the score is what it is.

Bridge shares the Card Games category hub with every other deck-based game covered on this site, and the Universal Scorekeeper can hold the above-the-line and below-the-line running totals separately if that's easier than a paper rubber sheet.