Padel points explained: 15-30-40, golden point and star point (2026)

Padel uses the same basic scoring as tennis, but with a couple of important twists, among them golden point and the brand-new star point rule. Here's everything explained simply.

The basics: points, games and sets

Within a game, the points are counted 15, 30, 40, game:

First point: 15
Second: 30
Third: 40
Win the ball at 40 (and your opponent has less), and you win the game.

A set is won by whoever reaches six games first with at least a two-game lead. If it's 6–6, a tiebreak is played. A match is usually decided as best of three sets.

Deuce: golden point vs. traditional advantage

At 40–40 (deuce), there are two ways to decide the game:

Golden point (punto de oro): one decisive ball. The winner of that single ball takes the game, no advantage. The receiving pair chooses which side to receive the serve on. This is standard in Premier Padel and most tournaments, because it keeps the pace up.
Traditional advantage: as in tennis, you have to win two balls in a row from deuce, first "advantage", then the game. Lose the advantage and it's back to deuce. In theory it can last a long time.

Star point: the new 2026 rule

For 2026, FIP (the international padel federation) introduced a middle ground called star point. It keeps some of the tension of advantage, but sets a limit:

Deuce 1: played with advantage as normal.
Deuce 2: a new advantage.
Deuce 3: now one decisive ball is played, the star point.

In other words: up to two advantages, and if no one manages to close out the game, a single ball decides it. It gives more drama than golden point, but without a game lasting forever.

Tiebreak and super-tiebreak

Tiebreak (at 6–6 in a set): first to 7 points with a two-point lead. Here you count 1, 2, 3 … instead of 15-30-40.
Super-tiebreak: first to 10 points (two-point lead). Often used instead of a full third set in club and amateur tournaments to save time.

Short formats: the pro set

For club tournaments with limited court time, the pro set is popular: one long set to eight games (with a tiebreak at 8–8) instead of best of three. Fast, but still real game scoring.

Which should you use?

Social night: skip games and sets. Play Americano to a fixed number of points (see the format guide).
Tournament, little time: a pro set or super-tiebreak with golden point.
Tournament, done properly: best of three sets with golden point or star point.

In PadelLoop you can choose the rule variant (golden point, star point or advantage) and match length when you set up a standard tournament, and the tool counts games, sets and tiebreaks for you.