Leasters in Sheepshead

How a leaster works

• Nobody picks, so there is no picker, no partner and nothing buried.
• The tricks are played as usual: follow suit if you can, and trump wins.
• At the end, everybody counts their own points. The fewest points wins.
• You must take at least one trick to win. A player with no tricks can't win, even with no points.
• The two blind cards go to whoever takes the last trick, points and all.

Ties

If two players have the fewest points, the one who took fewer tricks wins. If that is a tie too, they share the win.

Scoring

The winner scores one point from each other player: +4 at a five-handed table, and -1 for everybody else. If two players share the win, each scores +3 and the other three -2 each. More in Sheepshead scoring.

How to win a leaster

• Take one cheap trick early. One trick is all you need, and a trick with no points in it is perfect.
• Then stay out of the way. Once you have your trick, play under whatever is winning.
• Unload your points on other players' tricks. When you can't follow suit, throw your aces and tens on a trick somebody else will take.
• Watch the last trick. Whoever takes it gets the blind's points too. Keep a low card so you aren't stuck with it.
• Count as you go. The player to beat is the one with the fewest points who already has a trick.

Other ways to handle a pass

Not every table plays leasters. When you open a table, you choose one of these, and every table shows its rules:

• Leasters, as on this page. This is our default.
• Doublers: the cards are thrown in, and the next hand counts double.
• Dealer must pick: when everybody else passes, the dealer has to pick up the blind.