how do you score in curling olympics

February 14, 2026

In Olympic curling, you score by having your team’s stones closer to the center of the target (the “button”) than any of your opponent’s stones at the end of a round, called an “end.”

The basic idea

The ice has a circular target called the house , made of concentric rings; the very middle is the button.

Each “end” is like an inning in baseball: both teams throw all their stones toward the same house, then you count points.

Only one team can score in an end.

How points are counted

First, find which stone is closest to the button; that team “wins” the end and is the only team that can score.

Then, count how many of that team’s stones are closer to the button than the opponent’s closest stone, as long as they are touching the house rings.

Each of those stones is worth 1 point, so an end can be 1–8 points in team events (8 stones per team).

Stones completely outside the house (not touching any ring) are worth 0 points.

If no stones are touching the house, no one scores, and it’s a “blank end.”

Simple kid-style version:
“Whoever has the closest rock to the middle scores, and they get 1 point for each of their rocks that is closer than the other team’s closest rock.”

Ends, games, and hammer

In Olympic men’s and women’s events, games are usually 10 ends; mixed doubles is 8 ends.

Total game score is just the sum of points from all ends. The team with more points after the last end wins.

The team that throws last in an end has the hammer , a big strategic advantage because the last shot often decides who is closest.

If the end is blank (no score), the same team keeps the hammer in the next end in men’s and women’s events; mixed doubles flips hammer on a blank.

Olympic twist: mixed doubles

Mixed doubles teams throw only 5 stones per end instead of 8.

Each end starts with one pre-placed stone for each team, so it’s possible to score up to 6 points in a single mixed-doubles end (5 thrown + 1 placed).

Quick example

Imagine after an end you look at the house:

Your team has the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd closest stones.
The opponent’s nearest stone is the 4th closest.

Your team scores 3 points that end, because you have three stones closer than their closest stone, and only your team scores.

Bottom note: Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.