How to Play Schafkopf
Description
Bavaria's own. Call an Ace to find a partner, and neither of you admits it.
Also known as: Sheepshead
Objective
Declare a contract and take more than half the card points, alone or with a partner nobody has named.
Setup
A Bavarian 32-card deck, or a standard deck stripped to Seven and above. Deal eight cards to each of four players.
Trumps are all Obers, all Unters, and the whole Hearts suit, with the Ober of Acorns highest.
Rules
Bidding decides the contract. In a Rufspiel, the declarer calls an Ace of a non-trump suit — whoever holds it is their partner, and neither says so out loud.
A Solo means the declarer plays alone against the other three, naming their own trump suit. A Wenz makes only the Unters trump.
Follow suit if you can. Highest trump takes the trick, otherwise the highest card of the suit led.
Winning
The declaring side needs 61 of the 120 card points to win the hand.
Winning with 91 or more is schneider; taking every trick is schwarz. Both raise the stakes, and both can be announced in advance for more.