Sheepshead rules
How to play Sheepshead
Thirty-two cards, one hundred and twenty points, and a deck that is not laid out the way you expect. Once you accept that every Queen and Jack has left its suit, the rest of Sheepshead follows quickly.
At a glance
The Big Mike Games default table
- Players
- Three or four, picker alone
- Pack
- 32 cards: 7 through Ace
- Trump
- Fourteen cards
- Card points
- 120 in the pack
- Picker needs
- 61
- All pass
- A leaster
The pack and the card points
Sheepshead uses a 32-card pack: the 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of each suit. Card points are what decide the hand, and they have nothing to do with which card wins a trick.
| Card | Card points |
|---|---|
| Ace | 11 |
| Ten | 10 |
| King | 4 |
| Queen | 3 |
| Jack | 2 |
| 9, 8, 7 | 0 |
Four of each card at 11, 10, 4, 3, and 2 comes to exactly 120 points in every deal. That total never changes, which is why 61 is the winning line.
Sources: The Sheepshead Association: basic rules; The Sheepshead Association cheat sheet; Pagat: Sheepshead.
The rule that reshapes the deck
They leave their printed suits entirely. Clubs, spades, and hearts are left with six cards each: Ace, Ten, King, 9, 8, 7. Trump is one long fourteen-card suit.
This is the single thing that separates a new Sheepshead player from an experienced one. If clubs are led, the Queen of clubs does not follow the lead, because it is not a club any more.
Sources: The Sheepshead Association: basic rules; Pagat: Sheepshead; The Sheepshead Association cheat sheet.
See the full trump orderPicking the blind
- The deal leaves a blind. Three-handed play deals ten cards each with a two-card blind; four-handed deals seven each with a four-card blind.
- Starting left of the dealer, each player may pick or pass.
- The first picker takes the blind and buries the same number of cards face down.
- The buried points count for the picker, so burying an Ace is banking eleven points before a card is played.
- The picker plays alone against every other player at this table.
The traditional five-handed game uses a called ace to give the picker a secret partner. Big Mike Games implements the three- and four-handed games where the picker is always alone, so there is no partner to call here.
Sources: The Sheepshead Association: 2 to 7 handed variations; Pagat: Sheepshead.
Playing the tricks
The player to the dealer's left leads first, and the winner of each trick leads the next.
- You must follow the effective suit led. If trump is led, every Queen, Jack, and diamond in your hand counts as trump.
- If you are void in the led suit, you may trump or throw any fail card.
- The highest trump wins. With no trump played, the highest card of the led fail suit wins.
Worked example
A club is led and you hold Q♣
The Queen of clubs is trump, not a club, so it does not answer the lead. If you hold any real club, Ace through 7, you must play that instead. If you hold none, you are void and may trump with the Queen, which will almost certainly take the trick.
Sources: The Sheepshead Association: basic rules; Pagat: Sheepshead.
Winning the hand
Add the card points the picker captured, plus everything buried. Sixty one or more and the picker wins; sixty or fewer and the defenders do. A 60-60 split goes to the defenders, so the picker has to cross the line rather than tie it.
Bigger margins pay more. Holding the losing side under thirty is Schneider and doubles the stake; holding them to no trick at all triples it.
Sources: The Sheepshead Association: basic rules; Pagat: Sheepshead; The Sheepshead Association: tournament rules.
See the full scoring guideWhen everybody passes
At the default table an all-pass hand becomes a leaster. Everyone plays for themselves, the lowest card-point total wins, and by default you must take at least one trick to qualify. The last trick collects the blind.
Big Mike also supports a forced-dealer table, where the dealer must pick instead of playing a leaster.
Sources: The Sheepshead Association: tournament rules; Pagat: Sheepshead.
What this version does not mix in
The five-handed called-ace partnership game, jack-of-diamonds and called-ten partner variants, queens-only and jacks-only trump packs, blitzing, cracking, and the many regional doubler schemes are all real Sheepshead traditions. Each changes the partnership structure, the deck, or the stakes enough that Big Mike treats them as separate tables rather than as switches on this one.
Sources: The Sheepshead Association: 2 to 7 handed variations; Pagat: Sheepshead.
Quick answers
Sheepshead rules FAQ
How many trump cards are there in Sheepshead?
Fourteen. All four Queens, all four Jacks, and all six diamonds are trump, which leaves clubs, spades, and hearts with only six cards each.
How many points does the picker need in Sheepshead?
Sixty-one of the 120 card points in the pack. A 60-60 split goes to the defenders, so the picker must actually cross the line rather than reach it.
Do the buried cards count for the picker?
Yes. The picker takes the blind and buries the same number of cards, and the card points in that bury count toward the picker's total.
Is the Queen of clubs a club in Sheepshead?
No. Every Queen is a trump card. If clubs are led, the Queen of clubs does not follow the lead, and if trump is led you must play it when it is your only trump.
Put the rules to work
Play a guided Sheepshead hand
The table shows your legal cards, so the effective-suit rule is enforced while you learn it.