SCHMEAR

Print it for your table

A one-page cheat sheet and a blank score pad. Free, no signup. Two sheets of paper and your game night is set.

Prints as two pages: the cheat sheet, then the score pad. Keeping score on a phone instead? Use the score tracker.

Sheepshead at a glance

playschmear.com · free online sheepshead

Trump, strongest to weakest (14 cards)

Q♣Q♠Q♥Q♦ J♣J♠J♥J♦ A♦10♦K♦9♦8♦7♦

All four queens, all four jacks, then every diamond. Clubs beat spades beat hearts beat diamonds. Diamonds are trump, not a fail suit.

Fail suits (clubs, spades, hearts)

A10K987

Ace high, then ten. The ten beats the king, which trips up new players.

Card points (120 in the deck)

Ace11
Ten10
King4
Queen3
Jack2
9, 8, 70
Whole deck120

Winning the hand

  • Picker side needs 61 of the 120 points. Get 61.
  • Defenders win at 60. A tie goes to the defense.
  • Schneider: hold the losing side under 31 → double.
  • Schwarz: losing side takes no trick at all → triple.
  • Cracks, blitzes, and doublers multiply on top of that.

Who pays what

Picker with a partner2 shares
Partner1 share
Picker aloneall shares
Each defender1 share

Every hand is zero sum: what one side wins, the other pays.

Finding a partner

  • Jack of diamonds: whoever holds J♦ is the partner, and nobody says a word.
  • Call an ace: the picker calls a fail ace and must hold a card of that suit.
  • Nobody picks? Play a leaster (fewest points wins, must take a trick) or a doubler (stakes ride to the next hand), whatever your table plays.

Score pad

playschmear.com · free online sheepshead
# Notes (picker, ×)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Σshould add to zero
Date __________________ Where __________________ Scoring on your phone: playschmear.com/scorer