How to Play Sheepshead: Rules for Beginners
Sheepshead is a trick-taking game for five players with a 32-card deck in which every queen, jack and diamond is trump. Each player gets six cards and two go face down as the blind. One player picks up the blind, buries two cards, and names a fail ace to find a secret partner. The picker and partner need 61 of the deck's 120 card points to win.
The deck: 32 cards, 14 of them trump
Sheepshead uses a 32-card deck, the 7 through ace of each suit. The unusual part is trump. Every queen, every jack and every diamond is trump, whatever suit is printed on it. That makes 14 trump cards, ranked from highest to lowest:
| Group | Order, high to low |
|---|---|
| Queens | Q♣ Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ (clubs, then spades, hearts, diamonds) |
| Jacks | J♣ J♠ J♥ J♦ (same suit order) |
| Diamonds | A♦ 10♦ K♦ 9♦ 8♦ 7♦ |
The other 18 cards are fail: clubs, spades and hearts without their queens and jacks. Each fail suit has six cards, ranked ace, 10, king, 9, 8, 7. The queen of clubs is the strongest card in the game. A 7 of diamonds still beats the ace of clubs, because it is trump.
Card points: 120 in the deck
Strength and points are separate. Winning a trick means beating the other cards. Points are what those cards are worth when you capture them.
| Card | Points each | In the deck |
|---|---|---|
| Ace | 11 | 44 |
| 10 | 10 | 40 |
| King | 4 | 16 |
| Queen | 3 | 12 |
| Jack | 2 | 8 |
| 9, 8, 7 | 0 | 0 |
That adds to 120. The picker's side needs 61 to win, a majority.
The deal and the blind
Five players get six cards each. The last two cards go face down in the middle as the blind. Starting to the dealer's left, each player in turn may pick up the blind or pass. The first player who picks becomes the picker. A good starting guideline for a newer player is to pick with at least four trump, ideally including a queen, because the blind rarely fixes a weak hand.
If all five players pass, most groups play a leaster (everyone for themselves, fewest points wins), but some force the dealer to pick. This is a house rule, so agree on it before you deal.
Burying and calling a partner
The picker adds the blind to the hand (now eight cards) and puts two cards face down. That is the bury. The buried cards count for the picker's side at the end, so burying an ace or 10 banks 10 or 11 points where nobody can capture them. Burying a fail suit completely also lets you trump it later.
Then the picker finds a partner. In the five-player game most people play, the picker names a fail ace (clubs, spades or hearts) that is not in their own hand. Whoever holds it is the secret partner and does not announce it. The picker must keep at least one card of the called suit, the hold card, so the call is legal. A jack or queen cannot be a hold card because it is trump.
Two common variations: some groups make the holder of the J♦ the partner automatically, and a picker with a very strong hand can go alone against all four others for bigger stakes. A picker holding all three fail aces has no ace to call, so that hand is played alone under most rules.
Playing the six tricks
The player to the dealer's left leads. Everyone else must follow the suit that was led if they can. If trump is led, you must play trump when you have one. If a fail suit is led, you must play that fail suit, and a queen or jack of that suit does not count as it is trump. If you cannot follow, you may play anything. The highest trump wins the trick, or if nobody trumped, the highest card of the suit led. The winner leads the next trick.
Clubs are led. Five cards go down:
- Player 1 leads K♣
- Player 2 follows with 7♣
- Player 3 has no clubs and plays 7♦, a low trump
- Player 4 follows with A♣
- Player 5 has no clubs and plays J♥
Two trump were played, and the J♥ outranks the 7♦, so Player 5 wins. The trick holds 4 + 0 + 0 + 11 + 2 = 17 points, even though the ace of clubs was the highest club.
Scoring a hand
When the six tricks are done, the picker's side counts its captured cards plus the buried cards. Many groups keep score in game points on a zero-sum basis. A common table for the five-player game with a partner:
| Picker's side card points | Picker | Partner | Each defender |
|---|---|---|---|
| 91 to 120 | +4 | +2 | -2 |
| 61 to 90 | +2 | +1 | -1 |
| 31 to 60 | -2 | -1 | +1 |
| 0 to 30 | -4 | -2 | +2 |
If the picker's side takes every trick, those numbers are tripled. A side that takes no tricks pays triple. The doubled rows at the top and bottom of the table are called schneider. Example: the picker and partner capture 78 points including the bury. They win, so the picker scores +2, the partner +1, and each of the three defenders loses 1.
Check your own table before the first deal. Payouts, ties at exactly 60 and the schneider line differ from group to group.
How Sheepshead Trainer helps
Sheepshead Trainer is a free iPhone and iPad practice app for exactly this five-player called-ace game. Its rooms drill the trump order, point values, whether to pick, what to bury, which ace to call and how to follow suit legally, each with the reasoning behind the answer. It is not a full multiplayer game, so there are no opponents, and it works offline. Short practice reps make the trump order automatic before you sit down at a table.
Learn the trump order by playing it
Sheepshead Trainer drills trump, points, picking, burying and legal play on real hands, with the reasoning for every answer. Free on iPhone and iPad.
See Sheepshead TrainerQuestions
What is the trump order in Sheepshead?
From highest to lowest: the four queens (clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds), the four jacks in the same suit order, then the diamonds ace, 10, king, 9, 8 and 7. That is 14 trump cards.
How many points do you need to win at Sheepshead?
The picker and partner need 61 of the 120 card points. Buried cards count for the picker's side.
Who is the partner in Sheepshead?
In the common five-player game the picker names a fail ace they do not hold, and whoever holds it is the secret partner. Some groups use the jack of diamonds as the partner card instead.
Is a jack of clubs a club?
No. Every queen and jack is trump. If clubs are led, a jack or queen of clubs does not count as a club, so you cannot play it to follow suit while you still hold a real club.
What happens if everyone passes?
Most groups play a leaster, where each player plays alone and the player with the fewest points wins. Some tables make the dealer pick the blind instead, so agree on the rule before the deal.
Sources
Sheepshead rules vary by region and group. This guide describes the common five-player called-ace game. Sheepshead Trainer is an independent app.