How Scrabble Scoring Works: A Complete Guide

Understanding exactly how Scrabble scoring works is the first step to dramatically improving your game. Many casual players undercount or miscount their scores — and miss bonus opportunities — simply because the rules were never explained clearly.

Tile Values

• 1 point: A, E, I, O, U, L, N, S, T, R
• 2 points: D, G
• 3 points: B, C, M, P
• 4 points: F, H, V, W, Y
• 5 points: K
• 8 points: J, X
• 10 points: Q, Z
• 0 points: Blank tiles (wildcards)

Bonus Square Multipliers

• Double Letter Score (DLS): doubles the value of the tile placed on it.
• Triple Letter Score (TLS): triples the value of the tile placed on it.
• Double Word Score (DWS): doubles the entire word score after letter bonuses are applied.
• Triple Word Score (TWS): triples the entire word score after letter bonuses are applied.
• Center star square: counts as a Double Word Score on the first move.

The Bingo Bonus

If you play all seven tiles from your rack in a single turn, you earn a 50-point bonus on top of the word's calculated score. This is called a bingo. For example, a seven-letter word scoring 18 base points on a Double Word Score would total (18 × 2) + 50 = 86 points for that single turn.

End-Game Scoring

When any player uses their last tile, the game ends. Each player then subtracts the value of the tiles remaining in their rack from their score. The player who went out adds the total value of all other players' remaining tiles to their own score. This often swings the final result significantly.