How to keep score in Oh Hell

In Oh Hell, you bid exactly how many tricks you'll take. Every trick is worth 1 point, and making your bid exactly adds a bonus of 10. The hand size goes down one card each deal and back up again, and the highest total after the last hand wins.

At a glance

• Players: 3 to 7, best with 4 to 6

• Who wins: Highest total after the last hand

• Also called: Oh Pshaw, Oh Heck, Up and Down the River, Blob

• Hands: 10 cards down to 1, and back up

How each hand scores

Tables score Oh Hell in several ways. This is one of the most common, and the others are under Variants below.

A missed bid still scores a point for each trick, but no bonus. So once your bid is lost, it still pays to take tricks.

The hook: the dealer's bid

The dealer bids last and can't make the bids add up to the number of tricks in the hand. That way at least one player is bound to miss.

Some tables play without the hook. It changes the bidding, not the scoring.

How many hands

Deal 10 cards each to 3, 4 or 5 players, 8 to 6 players and 7 to 7 players. Each deal has one card fewer, down to 1, then one more each deal back up to the start. With 4 players that's 19 hands.

Some tables start at 1 card, go up, then come back down. Either way, the highest total after the last hand wins. If two players tie, play another hand at the biggest size to settle it.

Variants

• Exact or nothing, as in Blackout and Blob: an exact bid scores 10 plus the bid. A miss scores 0.

• A penalty for a miss: 10 for each trick bid and made (10 for a made zero), and −10 for each trick you were off.

• Squares: an exact bid scores 10 plus the bid squared (10, 11, 14, 19 and so on), and a miss loses the difference squared.

• Zero bids: some tables give a made zero only 5, or 5 plus the number of cards dealt.

Agree on the scoring before the first deal, and write it at the top of the sheet.

What people often get wrong

• A made zero bid is worth 10. You took no tricks, so there's nothing to add to the bonus.

• Going over is a miss too. Bid 2 and take 3, and you lose the bonus.

• The dealer can't make it even. If the bids so far add up to 6 in a 7-card hand, the dealer can't bid 1.

A scoring example

Four players, the first three hands, with 10, 9 and 8 cards. The bid · took rows show each bid and the tricks taken. Thanks to the hook, the bids never add up to the tricks.

Ben missed hand 1 by a trick and kept 1 point for the trick he took. In hand 3 Ana bid zero and made it for 10, while Ben took one trick too many and scored only 4.

Dev made every bid and leads with 36, with 16 hands left to play.

Keep score in Tallynight

Oh Hell isn't one of Tallynight's built-in games yet, but it takes a minute to set up. Choose Something else, then Rounds, with the highest score winning.

Type everyone's score for the hand on one keypad. Add it to your favourites with your table's rules, and tap End game after the last hand.

• Everyone's hand on one keypad, with a minus key for the penalty variants

• The table keeps the totals and who deals next

• Tap any hand to fix it

• A winner card for the family chat at the end

• Get Tallynight on the App Store: free, no ads.

• Print a Oh Hell score sheet if you'd rather keep score on paper.

Questions

How do you score Oh Hell?

One common way: 1 point for each trick you take, plus a bonus of 10 if you take exactly the number you bid. So a bid of 3 made exactly scores 13.

What does a zero bid score in Oh Hell?

10 if you take no tricks: the bonus, with no tricks to add. Some tables give a made zero only 5.

Do you lose points for missing your bid in Oh Hell?

Not in the common scoring: you keep a point for each trick and lose only the bonus. Some tables take off 10 for each trick you were off instead.

Is Oh Heck the same as Oh Hell?

Yes, it's a politer name for the same game. It's also called Oh Pshaw, Up and Down the River and Blob.

Why can't the dealer make the bids add up in Oh Hell?

That's the hook rule. If the bids can't equal the number of tricks, at least one player has to miss, which keeps every hand close.

Game names belong to their owners. Tallynight isn't connected with any game publisher.