How to Play Sheepshead
Sheepshead is a five-handed trick-taking card game, Wisconsin's official card game and a Midwest tavern tradition. One player (the picker) takes on the rest, usually with a secret partner. The picking side needs 61 of the 120 points in the deck.
The deck
32 cards: A, 10, K, Q, J, 9, 8, 7 in each suit. Point values: Ace 11, Ten 10, King 4, Queen 3, Jack 2; nines, eights and sevens are worth nothing. The whole deck totals 120.
Trump
Fourteen cards are trump, and the order surprises newcomers. From highest to lowest:
Q♣ Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ J♣ J♠ J♥ J♦ A♦ 10♦ K♦ 9♦ 8♦ 7♦
Every queen, every jack, and all diamonds. The three remaining suits (clubs, spades, hearts) are "fail" and rank A, 10, K, 9, 8, 7. You must follow the suit led if you can; all trump counts as one suit.
The deal and the pick
Everyone gets six cards; two go face down as the blind. Starting left of the dealer, each player may pick the blind (committing to take 61) or pass. The picker adds the blind to their hand and buries two cards face down; buried points count for the picking side.
Partners
- Jack of diamonds: whoever holds the J♦ is secretly the picker's partner, revealed only when it's played. If the picker holds (or buries) it, they're alone.
- Call an ace: the picker names a fail ace they don't hold; its holder is the partner. The picker must keep a card of that suit, and the partner must play the called ace when the suit is led.
Doubling: cracks, blitzes, and the sheepshead call
After the bury, declarations go around. Declared cards are shown to the table.
- Blitz (both black queens), Indian blitz (both red queens), or Johnny blitz (three jacks): the picker shows the cards and the stakes double.
- Sheepshead: the picker shows all four queens. Stakes quadruple, and the picking side must take every trick or the hand is lost regardless of points.
- Crack: each defender may crack, doubling the stakes (each crack doubles again).
- Blitz crack: a defender showing a complete queen pair cracks at ×4 instead.
- Recrack: a cracked picker may double right back.
- Blitz recrack (house rule): a cracked picker showing a complete queen pair or three jacks recracks at ×4 instead.
If everyone passes
- Doubler: the hand is thrown in and the next one plays at double stakes (Schmear's default).
- Leaster: everyone for themselves; fewest points wins (you must take at least one trick). The blind goes to whoever takes the last trick.
- Dealer stuck: the dealer must pick.
Scoring
| Result | Stakes |
|---|---|
| Picking side takes 61–90 | base win |
| 91 or more (defenders under 31) | double: schneider |
| Every trick | triple: schwarz |
| Picker fails (60 or less) | same multipliers, paid out instead of collected |
With a partner, the picker carries two shares and the partner one. Alone, the picker carries it all. The running tally lives in The Sheet on the right of every table.
Schmear-isms
- Schmearing is throwing your aces and tens onto tricks your side is winning. It's the soul of the game and the name of the site.
- Lay 'em down: if every card left in your hand is unbeatable, claim the rest. Schmear verifies the claim and shows your cards, like a real table.
- Fair deals: every shuffle is committed (sha256 of the seed) before the hand and revealed after, so anyone can verify nothing was stacked.
- Turn clock: 30 seconds per decision; stall and the table plays a sensible card for you. Disconnect and your seat is held while you reconnect.
- Ranked vs practice: hands at all-human tables count on the ranked leaderboard. Hands with bots count on the separate practice board.
Want more?
For deep strategy, the community classics are worth a read: the Ten Commandments of Sheepshead at sheepshead.org. Then come back and schmear something.