Scopa card game rules.
A small capture. A clean sweep.

How do you set up Scopa?

Scopa normally uses an Italian 40-card pack. For our French-suit table, take a regular pack and remove all eights, nines, tens and jokers. Keep ace through seven, jack, queen and king in every suit. Aces have capture value one, numbered cards keep their values, jacks count eight, queens nine and kings ten.

Diamonds represent the Italian coins suit. This matters for the most-coins point and settebello, the seven of coins: here it is the seven of diamonds. Hearts, clubs and spades stand for the remaining suits; their colours do not affect captures.

Deal three cards to each player and four face up to the table. The remaining thirty cards form the stock. If the initial four table cards include three or four kings, reshuffle and deal again. In this practice hand Robin is the dealer and you play first. Players alternate, one card per turn.

When both three-card hands are empty, deal another three to each player without replacing the table cards. Repeat until the stock is exhausted: there are six three-card deals per player and thirty-six plays in a full hand.

How do captures work in Scopa?

Choose one card from your hand. If the table has a card with that exact capture value, you must take one such card together with your played card. When several single matches exist, choose one; do not take all of them. A matching single has priority over a group with the same total.

If no single match exists, take any one group of table cards whose values add exactly to your played card. Choose among valid groups. For example, a seven can take a three and four, or a two and five. If a table seven is also present, it must take the single seven instead.

A capture available for the card you play is compulsory. You may choose a different hand card that has no capture: that card is left face up on the table. You cannot discard a card that itself has a legal capture, and you cannot combine two cards from your hand in one play.

In the browser, select your hand card, select its table capture, then choose Play selected card. If it has no capture, play with no table cards selected. Suggest a capture selects one legal option for that card; it does not calculate a winning strategy.

What counts as a scopa?

If your capture removes every table card, score one scopa, meaning sweep. Your played card goes into your capture pile with the cards it takes. It does not remain on the table.

For example, if the table contains only a three and four, a seven captures them both and earns one sweep point. The next player must leave a card on the empty table because there is nothing to capture.

The final play of the entire hand is an exception: clearing the table with that play earns no sweep. Clearing on the last play of an earlier three-card deal can still earn one, because the stock has more cards to deal.

How do you score Scopa?

After all forty cards have been collected, award one point for each category: most captured cards, most diamonds, possession of the seven of diamonds, and the better primiera. Add one point for each sweep earned during play. A tie for most cards, diamonds or primiera awards neither player that category point.

Primiera uses different values from capture play. Choose your highest primiera card in each suit and add those four values. You must have at least one captured card in every suit to qualify. Seven counts 21, six 18, ace 16, five 15, four 14, three 13, two 12, and each court card 10. A seven is therefore better than a king for primiera, even though a king captures ten.

If only one player qualifies for primiera, that player takes its point. If both qualify, the higher total wins; equal totals give no point. If neither has all four suits, neither receives the point. Seven-of-diamonds ownership is a separate point, even if its owner loses the other categories.

The score panel shows both capture counts, diamond counts, primiera totals or ineligibility, each awarded category and sweep points. Total score is points, not the sum of printed card ranks.

When does a Scopa hand end?

Once the stock and both hands are empty, the player who made the last capture takes any cards still on the table. Collecting these leftovers is not a sweep and earns no extra sweep point. Score the complete capture piles only after this collection.

The browser compares the scores for this single hand; higher wins and equal points tie. Traditional matches add successive hand scores towards eleven points. With physical cards, agree a target, alternate the dealer between hands and compare totals at the end of a hand. This browser does not save a match total.

The first three teaching positions are short examples. The fourth prepares complete capture piles to demonstrate a final play and its score. Free play always deals the full forty-card pack. Switching tabs pauses play; Resume game continues. New hand asks before replacing a deal. Reloading or leaving clears it.

Which Scopa rules does this table use?

This is basic two-player Scopa, without special ace-taking rules, napola bonuses, extra sweep variants or Scopone partnership play. Italian regional pack designs vary; the French card values and diamond-to-coins mapping above keep this practice version explicit.

Robin is a simple opponent that prefers captures and valuable visible cards. Its decisions use its own hand and the face-up table, not your hidden ranks. It is a practice opponent rather than a claim of expert play. There is no wager, timer or saved leaderboard.

Rules reference: Pagat’s Scopa guide. Original teaching examples and explanations; the French-suit mapping and one-hand browser format are stated above. Reviewed 29 October 2026.