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Three-handed and four-handed Sheepshead

Five is the classic Sheepshead table, but you don't need five. Here is how the game changes with four players or three.

Open a table for three or four

Four-handed Sheepshead

  • The cards: take out the seven of clubs and the seven of spades. That leaves 30 cards: seven for each player and two in the blind. Sevens are worth nothing, so there are still 120 points.
  • Trump stays the same: all fourteen trumps are still in the deck.
  • Partners: the picker calls an ace as in the five-handed game, or the table plays jack of diamonds partner, or the picker always plays alone. The table shows which.
  • Scoring: with a partner it's two against two, and the picker and the partner score +1 each while each defender scores -1. Alone, the picker plays against three, for +3 or -3. Schneider doubles the score and schwarz triples it.

Three-handed Sheepshead

  • The cards: all 32 cards, ten for each player and two in the blind.
  • No partner: the picker always plays alone against the other two.
  • Scoring: each defender pays the picker 1, so the picker scores +2 for a win and -2 for a loss. Schneider doubles the score and schwarz triples it.
  • When everybody passes, the table's rule applies: a leaster, doublers, or the dealer must pick.

With ten cards each, you see most of the deck in your own hand, so keeping track of the trump that has been played pays off.

Which one should you play?

Five-handed is the classic game, with a secret partner. Four-handed keeps a partner and moves faster. Three-handed is the picker alone against two, every hand. At our tables, computer players fill any empty seat, so two friends can still play a full five-handed game.

The rest of the game, from the order of trump to the scoring, is in how to play Sheepshead and Sheepshead scoring.

Open a table for three or four