How to count points in pétanque like a pro?

🎯 How to count points in pétanque like a pro?

Keeping score in pétanque seems simple… until three boules stick to the jack and everyone claims to have won the round! 😅
If you want to avoid endless debates and shine with your precision, here is the ultimate guide to counting points like a pro — and silencing the surrounding bad faith.

1. Understand the basic principle

At the end of each round, the team whose ball is closest to the jack scores the points .
Each ball placed better than the best ball of the opposing team is worth an extra point .

🧮 Example:

• The blue team has its two balls closest to the jack.
  ➡️ She scores 2 points for this end.

• If the red team then places their closest one, the round ends there.

2. The goal to be achieved

A game of pétanque is played to 13 points (except for the friendly variant at 11 or 15).
👉 The first team to reach or exceed 13 points wins the game.

3. Checking the point

When two balls appear to be the same distance apart, we measure !

• It's rarely reliable to the naked eye.

• Use a tape measure , a measuring compass or, for the more tech-savvy, an electronic ballometer .

Quick reminder: only the team captain or a designated player may enter the playing circle to measure, in order to avoid a general melee around the jack.

4. Scoring

The biggest trap is forgetting to update the score after each end.
Here are the possible options:

• ✏️ Notebook or whiteboard : the classic method, but beware of transcription errors.

• 📱 Mobile application : convenient for tournaments or players who like statistics.

• 🔢 Mechanical score counter : simple, visible, and above all, impossible to dispute .

👉 The Score Pétanque counter remains the preferred solution for clubs and families, because it gets everyone to agree without discussion.

5. Managing equality

In the event of a perfect tie (two balls exactly the same distance from the target), the end is void :

• No points are awarded.

• And the goal is replayed by the team that originally scored it.

6. Mistakes to avoid

🚫 Do not count balls that have touched a boundary of the field or have gone out of bounds.
🚫 Don't confuse the distance to the goal with the distance to the edge of the throwing circle.
🚫 And above all, don't let "the public" decide: the verdict is measured by tape measure (or counter)!

7. Count with style

Because in pétanque, we also like to play with elegance , a nice, clearly visible scoreboard, matching your game, is classy.
And besides… it avoids hearing the famous phrase:

“No, but you forgot that we scored two ends before!”