How to play Sheepshead

The rules of the five-handed, called-ace game, as played at our tables.

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The cards

Sheepshead uses 32 cards: the 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king and ace of each suit. Fourteen of them are trump, and trump beats everything else. From highest to lowest:

Queens: clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds
Jacks: clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds
The rest of the diamonds: ace, 10, king, 9, 8, 7

The other eighteen cards are the fail suits: clubs, spades and hearts, each ranking ace, 10, king, 9, 8, 7. Watch the 10: it outranks the king. And remember that every queen and jack is trump, so the queen of hearts is not a heart.

Card	Ace	10	King	Queen	Jack	9, 8, 7
Points	11	10	4	3	2	0

There are 120 points in the deck.

The deal

Each of the five players gets six cards, and two cards go face down in the middle as the blind. The deal moves one seat to the left after every hand.

Picking and burying

Starting left of the dealer, each player may pick up the blind or pass. The first player to pick is the picker: they add the blind to their hand and then bury any two cards face down. Points in the buried cards count for the picker. Pick when your hand is strong in trump; the picker has to win the hand for their side.

Calling a partner

The picker calls the ace of a fail suit they do not hold, and must keep at least one card of that suit (the hold card) until the suit is led. Whoever holds the called ace is the picker's secret partner. Nobody knows who it is until the ace hits the table; the partner must play it the first time that suit is led, and may not throw it away on another suit.

Holding all three fail aces, the picker calls a fail 10 instead.
With no hold card for any ace they could call, the picker may call an ace unknown: one of their cards is set aside face down and played when that suit is first led. It can never take the trick.
The picker may always go alone against the other four, for double the stakes.

Playing the hand

The player left of the dealer leads the first trick. You must follow suit if you can, and trump is a suit of its own: when trump is led, play trump if you have any. If you cannot follow, play anything. The highest trump wins the trick; with no trump in it, the highest card of the suit led wins. The winner leads the next trick.

Winning

The picker's side needs 61 points to win; the other side wins with 60. Taking 91 or more (holding the other side to 29 or less) is schneider, and taking every trick is schwarz. The picker's side gets out of schneider with 31 points; the defenders with 30.

Scoring

Picker's side	Picker	Partner	Each defender	Picker alone
All tricks (schwarz)	+6	+3	-3	+12
91 to 120 (schneider)	+4	+2	-2	+8
61 to 90	+2	+1	-1	+4
31 to 60	-2	-1	+1	-4
0 to 30 (schneidered)	-4	-2	+2	-8
No tricks (schwarzed)	-6	-3	+3	-12

The scores always add up to zero. They are just points: nothing here is ever played for money.

Leasters

When everybody passes, the hand is played as a leaster: every player for themselves, and the fewest points wins. You must take at least one trick to win a leaster. The blind goes to whoever takes the last trick. The winner gets one point from each other player. Ties go to the player with fewer tricks; if that is still a tie, the tied players share the win.

House rules

Every table shows its rules. When you open your own table you can choose:

Jack of diamonds partner instead of calling an ace. If the picker holds the jack of diamonds, they play alone without telling anyone.
Doublers instead of leasters: when everybody passes, the cards are thrown in and the next hand counts double.
Dealer must pick when everybody else passes.
Three- or four-handed games. Three-handed: ten cards each and the picker always plays alone. Four-handed: the black sevens come out, seven cards each.

Words to know

Blind: The two cards dealt face down in the middle.
Bury: The two cards the picker puts back face down. Their points count for the picker.
Fail: A card that is not trump: clubs, spades and hearts without their queens and jacks.
Schmear: Throwing a high-point card onto a trick your partner is winning.
Set: When the picker's side loses.
Schneider: Holding the other side to 30 points or less. Pays double.
Schwarz: Taking every trick. Pays triple.
Leaster: The hand played when nobody picks: fewest points wins.

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