[ Sheepshead Glossary ]

Provide By Honorary Member Daniel Osborne

aus der Hand The picker can declare that he will play aus der Hand, or out of the hand only. The blind is not picked up, viewed, or used by the picker. The picker gets the points in the blind at the end. If the picker wins, the points are doubled.

Blind the two cards left face-down the middle of the table that are not dealt to any players constitute the blind. These cards are taken by the picker and added to his hand. The picker must discard two cards before play begins.

Double on the Bump - more competitive players play with this rule whereby the picker and partner pays double when they lose.

Doubler when no player decides to pick, a doubler can be played instead of a leaster. In a doubler, the points for the hand are simply doubled. It should be decided before the game whether leasters or doublers will be used. Doublers are also sometimes used in the first game, the last game, or any game immediately following a misdeal.

Fail the 18 fail cards are 7, 8, 9, 10, Kings, and Aces of all suits except Diamonds. There is graphic of these on the rules page. Fail cards always lose to trump cards, but differ in point value. A common term is "fail off" which means use one of your fail cards instead of a trump.

Grandma Hand - an extremely powerful hand containing all of the queens. (or three queens and a jack or two.)

Habener - When playing with more than five, each player must, in succession, sit out for a hand.  (Also know as 5 handed dealer sits) The sixth player is called the "habener", from the German word "haben" (v. - to have), and is free to have a bathroom break or trip to the fridge for a snack or beverage during her/his break.

Kabitz - Watching (and not playing)

Leaster when no player decides to pick, a leaster is played. The object of a leaster is to get the fewest amount of points while still taking at least one trick. A doubler is sometimes played instead of a leaster.

Long suit is the fail suit you have the most cards in.

Maurer a player who passes the opportunity to pick the blind despite having a powerful hand. The term "mauer", used as a noun, is loosely translated as "coward". In German "Mauer" is a stone wall - like a city wall; "der Mauerer" is the stone mason who builds such walls, and is used in card games to describe a very cautious player; the verb is "mauern."

Pass if a player decides he cannot win the game with his cards plus the unknown cards in the blind, he must decide to pass the option on to the next player. That player may pick up the blind, or pass again. If every player passes, a leaster or doubler is played.

Pick if a player decides he can win the game with the cards in his hand plus the unknown cards in the blind and the unknown cards his partner has, he may pick. The picker takes the two cards from the blind and adds them to his hand. He then must discard two cards and may choose a partner by calling an Ace before play can begin.

Schneider if the picking team wins and the opposition fails to get 30 points (has a total 29 points or less), the picking team schneiders the opposition and wins double what they would have. The opposition would then lose double as well.

Schmeer When a partner plays a card with high point value (like an ace or ten), thinking/hoping their partner will be able to take the trick.

Schwartz if the picking team does not get 31 points in a game (has a total of 30 or less), the opposition schneiders them, which is called schwartz, and each player on the opposing team gets 2 points using standard scoring methods. The picker would then lose 4 points and the partner would lose 2.

Short suit is the fail suit you have the least amount of cards.

Trick one round of discards, or one hand of Sheepshead, is called a trick. Each game of 5 handed Sheepshead is made up of six tricks.

Trump the 14 trump cards are the four Queens, the four Jacks, and the rest of the Diamond suit: Ace, 10, K, 9, 8, and 7. There is a graphic of these cards on the rules page. Trump cards always beat fail cards in strength, but their point values differ. To "trump it" is to take a trick using one of your trump cards.

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