The Schwanzer
A schwanzer is an all-pass rule in which the hand is not played at all. When the dealer passes, every player’s cards are counted for trump (each queen 3, each jack 2, any other trump 1), and the player holding the most pays every other player one point for passing with it.
The count
| Card | Counts |
|---|---|
| Any queen | 3 |
| Any jack | 2 |
| Any other trump (a diamond) | 1 |
| Fail cards | 0 |
Only the players’ own hands are counted. The blind stays out of it, because nobody chose to pass on cards they had not seen.
Ties
If two or more players share the highest count, the one holding the single highest trump pays. That always settles it, because two players cannot hold the same card: whoever has the higher queen, or failing a queen the higher jack, is the one who was sitting on the better hand.
A worked example
| Player | Trump held | Count |
|---|---|---|
| A | Q♠ 9♦ | 3 + 1 = 4 |
| B | J♣ J♥ A♦ 8♦ | 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 6 |
| C | Q♥ K♦ 10♦ | 3 + 1 + 1 = 5 |
| D | Q♣ J♠ 7♦ | 3 + 2 + 1 = 6 |
| E (dealer) | Q♦ | 3 |
B and D tie on 6. D holds the Q♣, the best card in the deck, so D pays one point to each of the other four players: D is down 4 and everyone else is up 1.
What it pays
One point from the payer to each other player, a flat amount. At Sheepshead Club it is not multiplied by a doubler carried in from an earlier hand. Every player’s count is shown afterward, since nobody plays a card and the count is the only thing anyone can check.
Why a table plays it
Each all-pass rule punishes something different. A doubler raises the stakes for whoever picks next. Dealer stuck punishes the dealer. A schwanzer punishes the specific player who passed with the most trump, the biggest mauer at the table, which is why clubs that play it tend to like it a lot. It also keeps a night moving: no cards are played, so a passed-out hand costs seconds.
How it changes your picking
At a schwanzer table, passing a good trump hand is no longer free. If everyone passes, you are the one who pays. Our measurements found that some marginal hands, two queens from the middle seats for example, are worth picking at a schwanzer table even where the same hand is a pass at a doubler or leaster table. The when to pick page covers that in more detail.
Related
Play a hand
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