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[ Sheepshead
Quiz ]
So you want to
test your Sheepshead skills? I've written a number of
brain teasers to see if you measure up. Once you are done,
you can call yourself an expert or maybe just learn something in
the process. Keep in mind that some questions really don't
have a definitive answer and the questions are not in any
particular order. Assume 5 handed, call an Ace play in all
games unless stated otherwise. The Sheepshead quiz was
donated and updated by Jim Mihal.
Question #1
You are the picker (and called
Ace of Clubs partner which has not yet been lead) and have these
cards remaining:
 Jack
of hearts Eight of Clubs
You have the lead and you know
that there is one trump left which is higher than your Jack.
(We can also assume that you are not sure who your partner
is or who has the high trump.) Which card should you lead
with?
Make your choice...
Answer #1
Lead the called suit (Eight of
Clubs)! Why?
If your partner has the high
trump, it doesn't matter which card you lead- you win both
tricks. But if your partner does not have the high
trump, and you lead the called suit, it will take the remaining
high trump to take the trick, making your trump the high card
for the last trick. And who knows, maybe the person with
that high trump also has a card from the called suit, in which
case, the called suit walks. Either way, you will get at
least one trick.
What if you lead the trump?
Bad news!!!! You lose this trick and then have to
hope that the last card in the opponents hand is the called suit
or you lose both tricks.
Question #2
You just picked the blind and
have these 3 fail:
 10
of Hearts, 9 of Spades, and 7of Spades
Which cards do you bury and what
ace do you call?
Make your choice...
Answer #2
Bury the two Spades
and call the Ace of Hearts partner! Why?
It is tempting to
bury the 10 and call the Ace of Spades but this is a poor
choice. This almost guarantees that the called suit, when
lead, will get trumped (because you already have two of the six
fail spades). It may be a bit of a gamble but almost a
sure win if the called suit walks.
What if you
"play it safe" and bury the 10? OK, you have 10
in the bag but when the called suit is lead, you will loose the
ace (and probably the 10 of Spades) and if you are really down
on your luck, the suit gets trumped with an Ace of
Diamonds....32 points right there!!!
I know what your
thinking.....you could lose your 10 of Hearts, Ace of Hearts
(and more) if the called suit gets trumped....but you have to
figure that you can get burnt either way...which one
gives you the least chance of failure?
The only instance
where I would "play it safe" is if I had the lead and
had the Queen of Clubs. I could get out two trump leads
and hope that the called suit walks because most players are
drained of trump.
This particular
problem is one for the ages. There is no "right
answer" but is a situation you will see quite a bit playing
Sheepshead.
Question #3
Is German "Schafkopf"
the same as Sheepshead? Yes or No
If different, how?
Make your choice...
Answer #3
The two games are similar but not
quite the same! Thanks to the many inputs from readers
(see link at bottom of top frame) I have found many differences
from the original German game. For starters, German
Schafkopf is a 4 player game which uses a different looking deck
(Bavarian cards):
As far as I can tell, there is no
blind (8 cards are delt each). There are many variations
but unfortunately, I have not yet translated these pages (all in
German):
http://home.t-online.de/home/Florian.Cermak/
Here are the "German
Rules" which I got from Otto J. Penn.
Thanks to Thomas, griffin-harden,
and Peter Pommerenk for their input.
Question #4
You have 4 trump and 2 fail and
are thinking of picking the blind. Can you count on at
least one trump in the blind?
Are your chances closest to:
1 in 3 (33%)
1 in 2 (50%)
2 in 3 (67%)
Make your choice...
Answer #4
Of course you need a trump to
avoid holding a "loser" fail. But odd as it may seem,
you have a 63% chance of getting at least one trump in the
blind. Here is the math:
There are 10 trump and 16 fail on
the table what is the probability that the first card in the
blind is a trump? 10/26 and the probability that the second card
is also a trump is 9/25...so multiply to get 90/650 or 14%.
Now the probability that the
first card is a is a trump is 10/26 and the next card is fail is
16/25...multiply to get 160/650. Also the probability the
first card is fail is 16/26 and second card is trump is
10/25...multiply to get 160/650. So the probability of
getting one trump is 320/650 (49%).
14% + 49% = 63% chance of getting
at least one trump....not bad!
There is only a 37% chance of
getting 2 fail in the blind with this hand.
The odds get slightly better if
you only have 3 trump but I wouldn't pick unless those 3 trump
are pretty good (or you have lots of points to bury).
Gregory Hoerth states: "Even
though statistically the answer is correct, from playing, I
think odds that trump are in the blinds increase as more and
more people pass. So if I'm at the end, and all four people
passed, I think my odds are higher that a trump is in the
blind."
I agree, as long as you don't sit
with a filthy mauer!
Question #5
You find that you are not the
partner and have the first lead. The Ace of Spades is the called
partner and you have this hand:
Queen of Spades, 10 of Hearts, 7
of Hearts, Ace of Clubs, King of Clubs, 9 of Spades
What do you lead?
Make your choice...
Answer #5
This is known as the "Lone
Queen of Spades Trick". Normally you would lead the 9
of Spades automatic!!! But here is a case where you could add
some trickery to the game. You have to figure the picker for the
top queen. On the pickers first lead, you will lose your
queen! But if you lead your queen, you will fool the
picker into thinking that you are the partner and he/she will
schmear points to you. Then you come back with the called
suit.
Can this backfire? Sure....your
team-mates might have the big lady and overtrump your queen!!! Would
that make the picker happy :) and your team-mates mad:( or maybe
one of your team-mates is short of spades and you just drew his
one and only trump*&%$#&^!@#
Note: I've played this game since
1961 and have not had a chance to play this
"trick"! If you are an long time player, you
have heard of this situation! Ever happen to you?
Question #6
Would you pick on this hand?
Queen of Hearts, Queen of
Diamonds, 9 & 7 of Diamonds, 8 of Clubs, King of Hearts
Make your choice...
Answer #6
This hand is known as "Red
Death". Holding the two red queens looks awful
good and you have two more trump to boot!!! What more can you
ask for? Most players would pick in an instant....but
wait! You have no sure trick in this hand...nothing to
bury and I've seen some of the best crash and burn on hands just
like it (including myself). It is quite possible to get
no tricked with this hand and I've been there! So you have
to ask yourself one question....do you feel lucky, punk? Well,
do you?
As for me, I would pick, no
questions, if I had the lead (with no help in the blind...lead
the 7 of Diamonds and go fishing) or if I was on the end (hoping
nobody maured). But I would think twice if playing a
doubler or "double on the bump" (but would most likely
grab'em otherwise). Beer helps a timid player and of
course, if anyone sees your hand after everyone passes....watch
out you filthy maure!
Question #7
You have:
Queen of Clubs, 7 of Diamonds, 10
of Spades, King of Spades, 7 of Clubs
The picker called Hearts and you
just trumped it and now have the lead with the picker at the
end. What do you lead?
Make your choice...
Answer #7
The general rule is "long
suit through the picker, short suit with the picker at the
end"....hoping the picker is carrying a loser (which works
much better in 3 & 4 handed play). But not in this
case! You must lead the King of Spades here. Why?
Most likely you will loose this
trick because the picker at the end. However, you know you
have the lead coming again when you play your big queen. The
second time the same fail suit is lead your team-mates will be
all over it. Wow! You mean you'd lead a 10 with the picker
at the end? You bet! One of your mates will go high, forcing at
least a queen out of the picker (or may even take the trick).
If you can make the picker blow a queen on a fail lead,
you are doing OK.
Question #8
You are the partner with the
first trump lead in the game and the picker (your mate) is not
at the end. You have these trump cards:
Queen of Diamonds, 9 & 8 of Diamonds
What do you lead?
Make your choice...
Answer #8
Lead the 9 or 8 of Diamonds.
Why? If you lead the queen, the picker will surely
overtrump it if he/she had the big lady (to insure the
lead)...so you would be throwing away a queen. If the
picker had a weak hand and did not have the big lady (say just
the queen of spades), then the picker would be in a
dilemma....do I play it and flush out the lady? If so, the
picker would have done so with the 8 of Diamonds lead (again a
waste of your queen). Or maybe, the picker has the queen
of spades and decides to save it....fine, except you could
loose the trick to the queen of hearts....and the picker is
still left with the big lady out there :(
If the picker has the queen of
hearts and spades (but not the big lady), the picker will lay a
queen and flush out the big ma. Your queen will be high
card soon.
Let the picker take control here
and lead out a low trump (that alone should make the picker
happy)! If the picker has only 2 of the 3 top queens, your
queen will most likely be a high card soon and it should take a
trick later.
BTY, if the picker is at the end
(instead of on your left), you lead out the queen...no questions
asked! Why? Because your lead will either flush out queens
from your opponents, or give you the lead again if not
overtrumped (the picker would not overtrump you).
Question #9
You are the picker (Ace of Hearts
partner...which has not been played yet) with these cards
remaining:
Jack of Clubs, 10 & 7 of Hearts
You have the lead, you know that
your partner (which lead out trump earlier) has the only
remaining trump...a low Jack in his/her hand. What do you
lead? (From a game played on 9/12/98)
Make your choice...
Answer #9
Lead the 7 of Hearts. Why?
If you lead the trump card, you will suck the last trump
out of your partners hand. When you then lead the called
suit, the partner takes the trick....so far, so good. But the
last trick may be lost (and lost big) because the partner may
not have a good card to lead.
To avoid the problem, lead out
the 7 and let the partner take the trick. Then you must
rely on careful play by your partner to insure getting all the
tricks (see next question).
BTY, if you lead the 10, you get
the trick and a bunch of sure points. The partner has the
lead and if they lead out their last trump, you will have to
over-trump it (you are still OK if the partner leads fail...can
you see why?...if not, see the next problem). Then you are
left with the 7 for a lead...but what if one of your opponents
has a higher Heart? Bad News and you get burnt!
Question #10
First read the answer to the last
question. What should the partner lead after the
first trick (above) is played?
Make your choice...
Answer #10
Put yourself in the partners
position now!
The partner should then lead with
their fail suit (and hope that the picker is not holding a
card from that same suit). Because the picker will take
the trick with the high trump and the last trick will be taken
by partner (because they have the only remaining trump). This is
assuming both the picker and partner are on the same page!
In fact, if the partner holds
(and plays) the high card of the fail suit, it is
guaranteed because it it will take the trick.
The partner knows that the picker
has one fail left (even though it is a good one, but the
partner doesn't know that) and also the high trump card (if they
were paying attention). If the pickers fail card is of the
same suit as the partners and neither player has the high card
in that suit you will lose the trick anyway you look at it.
What if the partner leads the
trump? It sucks the last trump from the picker and gives the
picker the lead. Then you have to hope the picker has the
high card of the fail suit in his/her hand. If the pickers
fail suit is of the same suit as yours..no harm no foul (same as
above). But if you have different fail suits....you just
messed up because you could have had both tricks guaranteed.
Question #11
You picked and are playing it
alone. You lead out three big queens and have a no tricker
going. The only problem is there is still one trump (a Jack of
Spades) in the hand of the player to your left. What do you
lead?
Jack of Hearts, 9 of Diamonds, & Ace of Hearts
Make your choice...
Answer #11
Play the Ace of Hearts! If
you lead out the small trump, it will be taken and three
opponents will get a chance to schmear points, giving them
schneider. But if you play the Ace of Hearts, it places
the player to your left with a tough decision. If he/she
trumps it, all other players must follow suit and it may not
give schneider. If he/she (player to left) does not trump
it (which is a better choice), it may draw out the 10 of Hearts
out of an opponents hand which could be the only schmear
card that player has! If that is the case, no schneider!
From a game played on 10/23/98
(brilliant insight by Mark Herder)
Question #12
The picker called Ace of Hearts
and you are at the end (as partner). The picker just lead
out the two black queens which sucked out 10 trump. Next
the picker leads out the Queen of Hearts and luckily, all the
remaining trump fall and you have the last play. What do
you play?
Ace of Spades, 7 of Spades, Ace of Hearts, 7 of
Clubs
Make your choice...
Answer #12
It is tempting to schmear the Ace
of Spades to your mate but don't do it! Play the 7
of clubs. The picker will likely play the called suit next.
After you take the called suit, your Ace of Spades is good
as gold (and who knows, it may make the 7 of spades high for the
last trick....which it did on 10/23/98)
Question #13
You picked up a great hand which
included all the queens except the queen of spades, the two top
jacks, and the king of diamonds. You are playing it alone
(on a doubler, yet). You trump the first fail lead with a
jack, and come back with the big lady...but still no queen of
spades. So you lead out the other jack only to find that
your opponents just got schneider . This is what you saw:
Crap! They got 30 points - schneider.
Now the next lead is the 8 of
hearts and you see this:
and you have What
do you play?
Make your choice...
Answer #13
Play the king of diamonds! The
trick may be lost because the person to your left may still have
trump...but who cares! They already have schneider and the
worse that can happen is 22 points fall after your play...still
no game. You then take the last two tricks and win. Chip
blew this one on 6/25/99 and we'll never let him forget it (he
lost the game). BTW, can you see another way this could
have been played when you lead out the jack (to force out the
queen)? It may be worth a point to lead out the queen of
hearts instead of the jack. Perhaps someone may be
reluctant to schmear points thinking that the picker has all top
queens and is trying to bluff points out of them.
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