Traditional padel scoring, like tennis, can drag a deuce game out for minutes – repeatedly going from 40-40 to advantage and back. In 2020, the World Padel Tour introduced a rule that put an end to that: the gold point. One point at 40-40 decides the game. No advantage, no repeat deuces, just sudden death.
The gold point (punto de oro, also called the golden point) is a sudden-death scoring rule in padel. When the score reaches 40-40 (deuce), there is no advantage play. The next point wins the game. The receiving team chooses which side of the court to receive on, and whoever wins that single point takes the game. The rule was introduced by the World Padel Tour in 2020, adopted by the International Padel Federation shortly after, and is now used across most professional tours including Premier Padel.
This guide covers exactly how the gold point rule works, who benefits from it, why professionals were divided when it was introduced, and when it’s used in amateur play. It also covers the newer “bronze point” and “silver point” variations some tours have experimented with.
