Scoring and Settling Up
Sheepshead is scored in units owed between players, not in card points. When the picking side wins, each defender pays one unit (two for schneider, three for schwarz). With a partner, the picker collects two shares and the partner one; alone, the picker collects them all. When the picking side loses, the same amounts go the other way. Every hand adds up to zero.
Card points decide who won; units decide what it is worth
The 120 card points only decide the result: 61 or more for the picking side wins. The settlement is counted separately, in units. What a unit is worth is up to the table. At Sheepshead Club it is simply a point on the running tally, which every table keeps on The Sheet.
A plain hand at five-handed
| Result | Picker | Partner | Each of three defenders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Picking side wins | +2 | +1 | −1 |
| Picking side loses | −2 | −1 | +1 |
| Picker alone wins | +4 | none | −1 (four defenders) |
| Picker alone loses | −4 | none | +1 |
Check any row and it sums to zero: two plus one is three, paid by three defenders. At a four-handed table with a partner, picker and partner each take one unit from the two defenders; at three-handed the picker is always alone and wins or pays two.
Multipliers
| What happened | Multiplies the hand by |
|---|---|
| Schneider (91 or more, or 30 or fewer for the picking side) | 2 |
| Schwarz (one side takes every trick) | 3 |
| A blitz | 2 each |
| A crack | 2 |
| A recrack | 2 more |
| A blitz crack or blitz recrack | 4 instead of 2 |
| The sheepshead call | 4 |
| A doubler carried in | 2, or more if hands passed out in a row |
| Double on the bump (house rule, off by default) | 2, only when the picking side loses |
They all multiply together. A worked example: the picking side wins with 95 points (schneider, ×2) on a hand that was cracked (×2). Each defender pays 4 units; the picker collects 8 and the partner 4.
Leasters and schwanzers
In a leaster, the winner collects one unit from each other player. If players tie for fewest points, each of them collects one unit from every player who did not win. In a schwanzer, the player with the most trump pays one unit to each other player.
Keeping score at a real table
Write each player’s running total after every hand, not just the hand’s result, and check that the row sums to zero before the next deal. A row that does not balance is a mistake you can still find; three hands later it is an argument. The free printable score sheet is laid out for this, and the score tracker does the arithmetic on a phone with no account.
Related
Play a hand
Sheepshead Club is free, with no ads and no account needed. Play a first hand with the coach beside you (about three minutes), or sit down at a table with computer players or real people.