Take a seat.
Pick the blind, call a partner, and take 61 card points. Highest individual ledger after ten hands wins.
HAND COMPLETE
Waiting for the host to deal.
FREE ONLINE CARD GAME
Pick up the blind.
Find your partner.
Play five-handed Sheepshead free against four computer opponents with no download or sign-up. Pick or pass, bury two, call an ace to find your secret partner, and take 61 of the 120 points. Called ace or Jack of Diamonds, leasters or doublers, three computer levels, and a printable cheat sheet in the guide.
Called-ace Sheepshead · 5 seats · 61 of 120 wins
Updated
New to Sheepshead? Learn the rulesHOW TO PLAY
Five hands, a blind and a secret partner. Count card points to win the hand; keep an individual ledger to win the match.
Play a practice hand ↑Remove the 2s through 6s: 32 cards remain. All four queens, all four jacks and every diamond make one trump suit. Queens and jacks no longer belong to the suit printed on them. Trump beats fail; within a fail suit, ace is highest, then 10, king, 9, 8, 7.
Queens, then jacks, then the other diamonds.
Deal three to each player, two to the blind, then three more to each. Beginning left of the dealer, each player may take the blind or pass. The first picker commits to taking 61 card points with their side, adds the blind to make eight cards, then buries any two privately.
Eight cards become six in hand and two buried.
Call clubs, spades or hearts only if you keep a fail card of that suit and do not hold or have buried its ace. The ace's holder is your partner, but the table learns who only when it is played. The partner must play it on the first lead of the suit, including when leading that suit themselves. Save the ace and the picker's last hold card while another legal card remains. A sole final card is always playable.
The partner knows their role from their own ace.
Go alone whenever you choose, or when no ace is callable. With the Jack of Diamonds option, skip the call: its holder is the secret partner. If the picker holds or buries that jack, they play alone.
The dealer's left neighbour leads the first trick. Follow the effective suit when possible. If clubs is led and you hold the club queen and club 7, play the 7: the queen is trump. When void, choose a trump or another fail card. Highest trump wins, otherwise highest of the led suit. The winner leads next; six tricks finish the hand.
Aces 11 · tens 10 · kings 4 · queens 3 · jacks 2.
Last trick opens the previous five cards. Claim the rest only on your lead when every card is unbeatable against everything unshown, including a hidden bury. The table checks that proof.
TEN HANDS · INDIVIDUAL LEDGER
Card points decide the hand; ledger points carry between hands. The picker side counts its tricks plus the two buried cards and needs at least 61 of 120. A 60–60 tie goes to the defenders. This table uses no double-on-the-bump.
A normal partner win pays picker +2, partner +1 and each defender −1. A loss reverses those numbers. At 91 or more, or at 30 or fewer for the picker side, the payment doubles for schneider. If the losing side takes no trick, it triples instead. Going alone pays the picker four shares and each defender the opposite single share. Every hand sums to zero.
After ten played hands, the highest ledger wins; equal highest shares the win. Doublers, cracks, re-cracks and a declared blitz multiply the hand's payment. They change no card's point value.
KEEP BESIDE THE TABLE
Five players · 32 cards, 7–Ace · six cards each, two in the blind · ten played hands.
Q♣ Q♠ Q♥ Q♦ · J♣ J♠ J♥ J♦ · A♦ 10♦ K♦ 9♦ 8♦ 7♦
Fail clubs, spades and hearts: A 10 K 9 8 7. Always follow the effective suit; when void, trump or discard.
| Card | Points |
|---|---|
| Ace | 11 |
| 10 | 10 |
| King | 4 |
| Queen | 3 |
| Jack | 2 |
| 9, 8, 7 | 0 |
| Picker side | Picker | Partner | Each defender |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61–90 | +2 | +1 | −1 |
| 91+, defenders took a trick | +4 | +2 | −2 |
| Defenders took no trick | +6 | +3 | −3 |
| 31–60 | −2 | −1 | +1 |
| 0–30, picker side took a trick | −4 | −2 | +2 |
| Picker side took no trick | −6 | −3 | +3 |
Alone: picker ±4/8/12; each defender ∓1/2/3. Default leaster: blind ignored, at least one trick to qualify; fewest card points wins +4, others −1. Break a points tie by fewer tricks; if still tied, no change. Doublers keep the same dealer and compound ×2, ×4… on the next played hand. Optional crack/re-crack and picker queen-pair blitz each double.
CARD POINTS ARE NOT CARD STRENGTH
A queen is worth only three card points but can win a trick full of aces and tens. Count the trumps already played. Spending a high trump for an empty trick can leave your points exposed later.
Two buried cards count for your side even if they never win a trick. A short fail suit can become a void, giving you a choice to trump next time. Keep protected aces and enough of a fail suit to call its ace when you want a partner.
The partner knows from their own called card. Everyone else must wait for its play. A trump lead or a high-point discard may suggest an ally; neither proves it. The computer levels use the same private information boundary.
Avoiding every trick cannot win. Take one cheap trick when you can, then try to lose your points on someone else's. With ties broken by fewer tricks, a second cheap trick is still a cost.
COMMON QUESTIONS
This table plays the five-handed version with a picker and secret partner against three defenders, or a picker alone against four. Other deals exist for three, four and more players; those versions are outside this table.
Queens in clubs, spades, hearts, diamonds order; jacks in that same order; then diamonds ace, 10, king, 9, 8, 7. Every queen and jack counts as trump. The Trump order control and printable cheat sheet keep it available.
Call a fail ace outside your hand and bury, keeping a card of its suit. Its holder is the secret partner until it is played. With Jack of Diamonds selected, that jack identifies the partner without a call. A picker who holds or buries it plays alone.
By default, play a leaster with the blind set aside. Take at least one trick to qualify, then have the fewest card points. A points tie is broken by fewer tricks; a remaining tie scores nothing. The winner gets +4 and everyone else −1. Options offer a multiplying doubler with the same dealer, or a dealer forced to pick.
On this table, picker-side totals of 91 or more, or 30 or fewer, double the ledger payment. If the losing side takes no trick, use triple instead. Home tables differ at the boundaries and on double-on-the-bump; this table's rules are shown here and in Options.
Count card points first: ace 11, ten 10, king 4, queen 3, jack 2, others zero. Picker side needs 61 including the bury. A normal win moves ledger points +2 to the picker, +1 to the partner and −1 to each defender; a loss reverses it. Highest ledger after ten hands wins. No money or chips are used.
They are related games. This American five-handed version uses diamonds, queens and jacks as trump, a two-card blind and a secret partner. Other Schafkopf games use different deals, trump suits and partnerships.
A non-passing defender may crack once; only the picker may re-crack here. Both double the payment. The secret partner gets a quiet pass in the same offer order, so the offer cannot reveal their identity. The optional picker blitz shows both black or both red queens after pickup and before burying, once, for another double.
Practice against four computer opponents is free in this browser with no account or download. Choose Easy, Standard or Expert in Options. To play with friends, open a HopLobby lobby and send one link: our party games run in the browser too.
Any two of your eight cards, privately. Their points count for the picker side. A buried ace cannot be called, and burying your only card of a fail suit removes that call. Under and ten rescue calls are not used; go alone when no ace is callable.
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