Card Game · Trick-Taking
Sheepshead
Play Sheepshead free online, the five-handed trick-taking game from Wisconsin. Pick up the blind, bury two cards, team up with a secret partner and take 61 of the 120 points against four computer players. No download or sign-up.
Overview
Five players each get six cards and two more lie face down as the blind. One player picks up the blind and, usually with a partner whose identity stays secret until it is revealed in play, tries to capture at least 61 of the 120 card points over six tricks. The other players defend together. Points from every hand go on a running tally, and the first player to reach 10 wins the game.The cards
Sheepshead uses 32 cards: the 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace of each suit. Aces are worth 11 points, Tens 10, Kings 4, Queens 3 and Jacks 2; nines, eights and sevens are worth nothing. That makes 120 points in the deck.Trump
Fourteen cards are trump: every Queen, every Jack and every diamond. From highest to lowest they are the Queens of clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds, then the Jacks in the same suit order, then the Ace, 10, King, 9, 8 and 7 of diamonds. Note that the Ten outranks the King. Clubs, spades and hearts are the fail suits and rank Ace, 10, King, 9, 8, 7. A Queen or Jack of a fail suit belongs to trump, so it never counts as that suit.Picking and burying
Starting to the dealer’s left, each player may pick up the blind or pass. The picker adds both blind cards to their hand and then buries any two cards face down. The buried cards’ points count for the picking team, so burying an Ace or Ten you could not otherwise protect is a strong play.Finding your partner
The first time you play you choose a partner rule, and you can switch it in Settings. Under Jack of Diamonds, whoever holds that Jack is the picker’s partner, and nobody else knows until it is played; if the picker holds or buries it, the picker plays alone. Under Called Ace, the picker names the Ace of a fail suit they do not hold while keeping at least one card of that suit, and whoever holds that Ace is the partner. The partner must play the called Ace the first time that suit is led. Under this rule the picker may instead choose to play alone.Playing the tricks
The player to the dealer’s left leads the first trick. You must follow suit if you can, and all fourteen trumps count as one suit. The highest trump wins the trick; if no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins. The winner of each trick leads the next.Scoring
The picking team wins the hand with 61 or more points. When it wins, the picker scores +2, the partner +1 and each defender −1; when it loses, those amounts are reversed. Holding the losing side to 30 points or fewer is a schneider and doubles every score, and taking every trick triples it. A picker who plays alone stakes double: +4 or −4 before any schneider.Leaster
If all five players pass, the hand is played as a leaster. Everyone plays for themselves and the blind goes to whoever wins the first trick. The player with the fewest points who has won at least one trick scores +4, and everyone else scores −1.Strategy and tips
Pick when you hold several high trumps, especially Queens and Jacks. As the picker, lead trump early to pull it from the defenders. As a defender, keep your Aces to win points, and throw Aces and Tens onto tricks a teammate is already winning; this is called schmearing. Keep count of the trump: there are only fourteen.Controls
Tap Pick or Pass when the blind comes to you. To bury, tap two cards, then tap Bury. Under Called Ace, tap the suit of the Ace you want to call, or Alone. On your turn, tap a card and then Play, or tap a selected card again to play it. The game will not let you play an illegal card. Drag the hand sideways to scroll it on a small screen.
