How to Play Sheepshead
Description
Wisconsin's game, straight out of Bavaria. Pick up the blind, bury two, and find a partner nobody knows about.
Objective
Take at least 61 of the 120 card points, as the picker's side or as the opposition.
Setup
A 32-card deck, Seven through Ace. Deal six cards to each of five players, plus a two-card blind.
Trumps are all Queens, all Jacks, and the whole Diamond suit — fourteen trumps in a fixed order, Queen of Clubs highest.
Rules
Going around, each player may pick up the blind or pass. Whoever picks takes the two blind cards, then buries two cards face down, keeping their points.
The picker calls an Ace of a fail suit to find a partner. That player is secret until the called Ace is played.
Follow suit if you can. Trump beats fail; highest trump or highest card of the led suit takes the trick.
Winning
The picker's side needs 61 points to win, including everything buried.
Taking 91 or more is a schneider, and taking every trick is a no-trick — both increase what changes hands. If nobody picks, the hand is usually played as a leaster, where taking the fewest points wins.