How to Play Sheepshead

What you need

• 3–5 players. Five is the usual table (picker + called ace vs three). Four is picker vs three. Three is a real table (picker vs two). Two is not tonight's Sheepshead.
• A 32-card pack: pull 2 through 6 from a 52, keep 7 through ace. No jokers. No bowers.
• Paper. First picker-made-or-set to 5 wins the night. +1 if the picker makes 61, +2 if they take 91+, −1 / −2 if set.

Sit, pick a dealer, agree on the house

Sit where everyone can see the tricks. Cut for the first deal, or point at someone. After each hand, the deal moves clockwise.

Say these out loud before the first card:

1. 32 cards. 7 through ace. Five is the usual table: 6 each, 2 face-down as the blind. Three: 10 each, 2 blind. Four: 8 each, no blind.
2. Trump is always queens, jacks, then diamonds. Fail suits: clubs, spades, hearts. High to low trump: Q♣ Q♠ Q♥ Q♦, then J♣ J♠ J♥ J♦, then A♦ 10♦ K♦ 9♦ 8♦ 7♦. Fail: A 10 K 9 8 7.
3. Picker takes the blind (at 5 and 3), buries 2, needs 61 of 120. At five they call an ace of a fail suit they do not hold. At three and four they play alone. Left of dealer leads. Follow suit.
4. First to 5. Make 61: +1. 91+: +2. All 120: +3. Set: those amounts the other way. Partner at five shares the win or the loss. Not euchre hash marks to 10. Not Skat.

The 32-card pack and who sits

Shuffle a 52. Pull every 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. What remains is 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, king, ace in four suits — 32 cards. That is the pack for the night.

Five people: 6 × 5 + 2 = 32. Three people: 10 × 3 + 2 = 32. Four people: 8 × 4 = 32, no leftover. If someone has the wrong count, throw it in and deal again.

Two is not this game. Two people: cribbage or gin from tonight.

Trump, fail, and points in the cards

Trump does not wait for a bid. Say it out loud. All four queens, all four jacks, then all diamonds. Clubs, spades, and hearts are fail — they are not trump. Diamonds are never fail.

Fail order, high to low: A, 10, K, 9, 8, 7. Ace, then the 10, then the king. Queens and jacks are not fail cards — they are always trump, even in clubs, spades, or hearts.

You are counting points in cards, not tricks. A trick with an ace and a 10 is 21. A trick of 9s and 7s is 0. The picker's side needs 61 of the 120. Buried cards count for the picker.

Deal and pick (five is the usual table)

Shuffle the 32. Deal clockwise until each of five has 6. The last 2 sit face-down in the middle. That is the blind. Nobody looks yet.

Left of the dealer speaks first. Each player may pick or pass. The first to pick takes the 2-card blind, now holds 8, and buries 2 face-down. Those two are out of the play — their points still count for the picker. The picker is back to 6, like everyone else.

Then the picker calls an ace of a fail suit they do not hold — clubs, spades, or hearts. The player who holds that ace is partner. They do not announce it. Partner is known when the ace is played. If you hold all three fail aces, go alone — picker vs four. Do not call a 10 tonight.

If everyone passes, throw the hand in and redeal. There is no forced pick tonight.

Three (real table): 10 each, 2-card blind. First to pick takes the blind, buries 2, and plays alone vs the other two. No called partner. Same trump. Same 61.

Four: 8 each, no blind. First to pick plays alone vs the other three. Do not invent a 4-card blind. Same trump. Same 61.

Play the tricks

Left of the dealer leads trick 1 — not the picker, unless the picker sits there. After that, the winner of a trick leads the next. At five you play 6 tricks. At three, 10. At four, 8.

1. You must follow suit if you have a card of the suit that was led. Trump led (a queen, a jack, or a diamond) means you follow with trump if you have it.
2. If you are void, you may trump or discard any card.
3. The highest trump in the trick wins. If nobody played trump, the highest card of the led fail suit wins (A, then 10, then king).
4. Buried cards at 5 and 3 count for the picker. Add them when you count 61.

There are no bowers. The jack of trump is a jack in the jack row, under the queens. That is not euchre. There is no kitty to name a strain. That is not Bid Whist.

Scoring, in the amount you need tonight

Count points in the picker's tricks, including the bury. Compare to 61, 91, and 120.

At three and four the picker is alone, so only the picker's column moves. First to 5 wins. You do not hash-mark to 10. That is euchre. You do not race to 500. That is Five Hundred or Spades. Do not teach crack, recoup, or a 20-row payout table tonight.

Walk through one first-night hand

Five people — the usual table. You are West. South dealt. You speak first.

Your six cards:

• Q♣ and Q♠ — the two black queens, including the highest trump
• J♦
• A♥ and K♥
• 7♣

Two queens and a jack. That is a pick you can see. You pick. Blind: 10♦ and 9♠. You now hold eight: Q♣ Q♠ J♦ 10♦ A♥ K♥ 7♣ 9♠. Bury 7♣ and 9♠ — both 0. Those zeros still count for you. You do not hold A♣ or A♠. You hold A♥. Call the ace of clubs. North holds it. North does not speak.

You are left of the dealer, so you lead. You lead Q♣. Trump comes out. You take it. You lead Q♠. You take it. You lead J♦. East dumps a fail king. You take it. You lead 10♦. That is four trump tricks. You lead A♥. North cannot follow hearts and must play something — the A♣ hits the table. Partner is known. You take the ace of hearts. Last trick: K♥. Someone trumps it. You do not take it.

Count. Your five tricks plus the bury (0). Queens, jack, 10 of diamonds, A♥, and partner's A♣ in the heart trick — 73. You made 61. You score +1. North, the called ace, scores +1. The three defenders score nothing this hand. Write it down. Deal again.

Night-one habits

• Say trump out loud: queens, jacks, diamonds. Fail is A 10 K, not A K Q.
• Count points, not tricks. 61 is the make. Buried cards are the picker's.
• At five, call an ace you do not hold. Partner stays quiet until the ace plays. Hold all three fail aces: go alone.
• Three is a real Sheepshead table — 10 each, 2 blind, picker vs two. Four is 8 each, no blind. Five is the usual table.
• First to 5. Do not hash-mark to 10. Do not open a Skat book.

You know enough to deal. Keep this page beside the pad. Five people is a tonight pick. Four people is a tonight pick. Three people is a tonight pick. There is no Sheepshead trainer on CardPractice — this how-to is the product. If you wanted 24 cards, bowers, and hash marks to 10, that is euchre. If you wanted a 43-card pack and a race to 500, that is Five Hundred. If you wanted partners, jokers, a kitty, and books over 6 to 7, that is Bid Whist. Two people: cribbage or gin.