How to Score Hand and Foot: Points, Books and a Worked Example

Adding up a round of Hand and Foot is the part most tables dread. There are books, loose cards, red threes and the cards people got stuck holding. The good news: if you go in the same order every time, it only takes a couple of minutes.

This guide uses the most common scoring. Many clubs change a number or two, so check your house rules first.

Want a sheet to write on? Print our free Hand and Foot score sheet. It has a box for every step below.

Card values

Every card on the table counts for your team. Every card still in someone’s hand or foot counts against them.

Card	Points
Joker	50
2 (wild)	20
Ace	20
King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8	10
7, 6, 5, 4	5
Black 3	5

The bonuses

Bonus	Points
Clean book (7 cards, no wild cards)	500
Dirty book (7 cards, at least one wild card)	300
Red 3 laid down	100
Red 3 still in hand or foot	minus 100
Going out	100

Score a round in 5 steps

When someone goes out, each team works through these steps. Partners count together.

1. Count your books. Clean books × 500, dirty books × 300.
2. Add red threes. Plus 100 for each red three on the table. Minus 100 for each one still in a hand or foot.
3. Add the going-out bonus. Plus 100 for the team that went out.
4. Count the cards you played. Add up the card values of everything in your books and melds on the table.
5. Subtract the cards left over. Add up every card still in both partners’ hands and feet, and take that away.

Add the five numbers for the round score, then add it to your running total from earlier rounds.

A tip for counting cards fast

Don’t add card by card. Sort the cards into piles first: jokers, 2s and aces, the 10-point cards, then the 5-point cards. Count how many are in each pile and multiply. Ten 10-point cards is 100, much easier than adding ten times.

A worked example

Here’s one round, scored the way you would at the table.

We went out. We have:

• 2 clean books (one of 8s, one of 5s)
• 1 dirty book of kings (5 kings, a joker and a 2)
• 4 aces still on the table, not yet a book
• 1 red three laid down
• My partner still holds a queen, a 4 and a black 3

They have:

• 1 clean book and 1 dirty book, with cards on the table worth 260
• A red three stuck in a foot they never picked up
• Cards left in hand and foot worth 145

Step	We	They
Clean books	2 × 500 = 1,000	1 × 500 = 500
Dirty books	1 × 300 = 300	1 × 300 = 300
Red threes	+100	−100
Went out	+100	0
Cards played	305	260
Cards left over	−20	−145
Round score	1,785	815

Where did our 305 card points come from?

• Book of 8s: 7 × 10 = 70
• Book of 5s: 7 × 5 = 35
• Book of kings: 5 × 10 + joker 50 + 2 at 20 = 120
• Four aces: 4 × 20 = 80

And our 20 left over: queen 10 + 4 at 5 + black 3 at 5 = 20.

Common scoring house rules

These are the numbers tables change most often:

• Red threes are sometimes worth 300 or even 500, or count only against you.
• Going out is worth 200 at some clubs.
• Wild card books (seven jokers and 2s) are often worth 1,500.
• Some tables give no points for loose melds that never became books.

Whatever your table decides, write it at the top of your score sheet so nobody argues in round four.

Let the app do the math

Our Hand and Foot app has a free score pad for games you play in person. Type in the books and card counts for each team, and it adds everything up using your house rules.