Setup & dealing
Scopa is traditionally played with a 40-card Italian deck. We use a French-suited equivalent: ace through seven plus the jack, queen and king in every suit - the 8s, 9s and 10s never appear. Every card has a capture value: pip cards count their face value, and the court cards fill in for the missing numbers.
| Card | Capture value |
|---|---|
| Ace | 1 |
| 2 - 7 | Face value |
| Jack | 8 |
| Queen | 9 |
| King | 10 |
Diamonds play the role of the Italian coins (denari) suit - the suit that matters for scoring - and the 7♦ is the settebello, worth a point all by itself.
Each round, the dealer gives 3 cards to each player (non-dealer first) and lays 4 cards face up on the table. If the initial table shows three or four kings, the same dealer reshuffles and redeals the whole round - with three kings out, a sweep would be arithmetically impossible, so the deal is void. The non-dealer plays first, and the deal alternates every round.
When both hands are empty, the dealer deals 3 fresh cards to each player from the remaining deck - the table is never dealt to again after the opening four. With 40 cards, a round runs exactly six deals of three: the whole deck passes through both hands before the round is scored.
Capturing & trailing
On your turn you play exactly one card from your hand. What happens next is not up to you: if the card can capture anything on the table, it must capture - trailing (leaving your card on the table) is only legal when no capture exists.
- Equal card first. If the table holds a card of the same capture value as your card, you take that single card - and you MUST: single-card matches take absolute precedence, and sum captures are not even offered while one exists. With two or three equal cards out, you choose which one to take.
- Sums otherwise. With no equal card on the table, you capture any group of table cards whose capture values add up exactly to your card's value. A king (10) can take a 6 and a 4 together, or an ace, a 2, a 3 and a 4 - your choice when several groups work.
- Trailing. Only when your card matches nothing and sums to nothing may you play it to the table, where it becomes capturable by your opponent.
A worked turn: the table shows 7♣, 5♥, 2♦. You play a 7♠ - the 7♣ is an equal card, so you must take it alone; the tempting 5+2 sum is off limits. Play a queen (9) instead and the 7♣ + 2♦ sum is yours, taking the settebello-adjacent seven and a coin in one move. Play a 3 and you can only trail it.
Captured cards, together with the card you played, go face down into your capture pile. The choice between capture options is the whole strategy of Scopa: with equal cards you pick WHICH copy (the coin version, ideally), and with sums you pick the group that nets the most sevens, coins and card count.
Scopas & the end of the round
When a capture takes the last card(s) off the table - leaving it completely empty - that is a scopa ("sweep", after the broom), worth 1 point at the round's scoring. Your opponent must then trail their next card onto the bare table, which is exactly why sweeps are so strong: they convert directly into a point AND hand you the initiative.
When that last card has been played, any cards still lying on the table go to the last player who made a capture during the round - added to their pile without any scopa credit. If (very rarely) nobody captured anything all round, the leftovers go to no one.
Round scoring
After the leftovers are collected, both capture piles are counted. Five categories are scored, and in every comparison-based category a tie awards the point to nobody:
| Category | Points |
|---|---|
| Each scopa (sweep) | 1 per sweep |
| Most cards captured (of 40) | 1 (tie at 20-20: nobody) |
| Most coins (♦) captured (of 10) | 1 (tie at 5-5: nobody) |
| The settebello (7♦) | 1 - always awarded to whoever captured it |
| Best primiera | 1 (tie or shared ineligibility: nobody) |
The primiera is Scopa's signature category: each player picks their single best card in each of the four suits, values them on a special scale, and the higher four-card total takes the point. A player missing even one suit entirely is ineligible - if your opponent captured no clubs at all, you win the primiera with any complete set, however weak.
| Card | Primiera value |
|---|---|
| 7 | 21 |
| 6 | 18 |
| Ace | 16 |
| 5 | 15 |
| 4 | 14 |
| 3 | 13 |
| 2 | 12 |
| J, Q, K | 10 |
The scale is why sevens rule the game: four sevens make the perfect primiera of 84, and a single seven outguns any court card by 11. Between the settebello, the primiera and the coins point, the 7♦ influences three of the five categories - fight for it every round.
Winning the game
Round points are added to the running totals, and the game ends when, at the end of a round, a player has 11 or more points AND strictly more than the opponent. Reaching 11 mid-round settles nothing - only the totals after a complete round count.
If both players stand level at 11 or more (say 12-12), nobody has the outright lead and another full round is played. There is no sudden death and no first-to-touch rule: the requirement is always a completed round plus a strict lead.
A typical round is worth 3 to 6 points between the two players (four fixed categories plus sweeps), so games usually run three to five rounds. A round where you take the cards, the coins, the settebello and the primiera - the sweep-less maximum of 4 - is called winning "the lot" and usually decides the game.
Edge cases & fine print
- Capturing is enforced, not advised. The game will refuse a trail while any capture exists, and refuse a sum capture while an equal single card is on the table.
- A capture takes exactly one group. You never combine an equal card with extra sum cards, and never take two separate sum groups in one turn.
- Your played card is part of your winnings. Both the capturing card and the captured cards land in your pile - a one-for-one equal capture already nets you two cards.
- The settebello point is always awarded. Every card ends up in one pile or the other, so exactly one player holds the 7♦ every round.
- Sweeps by your opponent's forced trail are real scopas - there is no protection for a player who simply had nothing to play.
- The three-king redeal only checks the opening table. Kings piling up on the table mid-round is normal play, not a redeal.
- The table is finite. After the opening four cards, the table only grows by trails and shrinks by captures - hands are refilled six times, the table never.
Variants
What we play is the classic two-player Scopa described on pagat.com: 3-card hands, 4-card table, equal-card precedence, the five-point round score and the race to 11. Notable variants not used here:
- Scopone scientifico - the four-player partnership version where all 40 cards are dealt at once, 10 to each player, with an empty table. A different (and deeper) game; not offered.
- Scopa d'assi (asso piglia tutto) - playing an ace captures the entire table. Here an ace is just a 1: it captures an equal ace or a sum of 1, nothing more.
- Re bello - an extra point for capturing the king of coins (K♦). Not counted; only the settebello carries a bonus.
- Napola / scopa a quindici and other regional scoring extensions - not counted.
Frequently asked questions
Why did my sweep not count as a scopa?
Because it was the final play of the round. Clearing the table with the very last card - after the deck is exhausted and all six deals are played out - never scores a scopa. Any other table-clearing capture, at any point in the round, is worth its point.
Can a king capture two cards that add up to 10?
Only when no king is on the table. A single card of equal value always takes precedence: if a king lies out, your king must take that king alone. With no king out, the king (value 10) may capture any group summing to 10 - a 6 and a 4, a 7 and a 3, or an ace, 2, 3 and 4.
What happens when the primiera is tied?
Nobody scores it. Ties award nothing in every comparison category - primiera, most cards and most coins alike. The same applies if neither player is eligible: a player missing a whole suit cannot win the primiera at all, and if both are missing one, the point simply is not given.
Who gets the cards left on the table at the end of a round?
The last player who made a capture during the round takes them all, added straight to their capture pile with no scopa credit. Those leftovers count for cards, coins, the settebello and the primiera like any other captured cards.
What happens if kings are dealt to the table at the start?
One or two kings are fine. If the opening four table cards contain three or four kings, the deal is void: with three kings out no combination can ever clear the table, so the same dealer reshuffles and deals the round again.
Can I choose which cards to capture?
Whenever more than one legal capture exists, yes. With two equal cards on the table you pick which one to take (take the diamond); with several sum groups you pick the group. What you cannot choose is whether to capture - that is mandatory - or to take a sum while an equal card is available.
Does the table get refilled during a round?
No. The table receives exactly four cards at the start of the round and after that only grows when someone trails. When both hands empty, the fresh 3-card deals go to the players only - which is why a swept table stays bare until the opponent is forced to trail.
What happens at 11-11?
Play continues. Winning requires 11 or more points AND a strictly higher total at the end of a round, so a tie at or above 11 always triggers another full round until someone ends one in front.
Related rulebooks
- Escoba rules - sum to 15, sweep the table clean
- Briscola rules - the italian trump duel - aces and threes rule
- Cribbage rules - peg the play, count the show, race to 121
- Rummy rules - meld to the table and go out first
Last reviewed 2026-08-10 · play Scopa online free