Sheepshead and Schafkopf
No. Sheepshead is the American descendant of Schafkopf, the German game still played across Bavaria, and the two are close cousins rather than the same game. Both use a 32-card deck, 120 card points and 61 to win, with the queens and jacks (Ober and Unter) as the top trump. Sheepshead makes diamonds the trump suit, usually plays five-handed with a two-card blind, and has no bidding, while Schafkopf is a four-player game with hearts as trump and an auction for solo games.
Side by side
| Sheepshead | Schafkopf (Bavarian) | |
|---|---|---|
| Players | Usually five; three to six | Four |
| Deck | 32 French-suited cards | 32 German-suited cards: acorns, leaves, hearts, bells |
| Cards each | Six at five-handed, plus a two-card blind | Eight, no blind |
| Top trump | Queens, then jacks | Obers, then Unters (the same two ranks) |
| Trump suit | Diamonds | Hearts, in the ordinary partnership game |
| Who plays | First player to pick the blind | The highest game announced: partnership, Wenz, or solo |
| Partner | Jack of diamonds, or a called ace | A called ace (the Sau) of a non-trump suit |
| Points | 120; picking side needs 61 | 120; declaring side needs 61 |
| Schneider and schwarz | Yes | Yes |
| Doubling | Cracks, recracks, blitzes | Kontra and Re, plus bonuses for runs of top trump |
| Nobody plays | Doubler, leaster, dealer stuck, schwanzer | Throw in, or a Ramsch where most points loses |
What carried over
The bones are the same: a stripped deck of 32, the queens and jacks lifted out of their suits to sit on top of trump in a fixed suit order, a race to 61 of 120 card points rather than a count of tricks, and the tension of one player, or a hidden pair, against the rest. A Schafkopf player sitting down to call-an-ace sheepshead would recognize the called ace immediately: Schafkopf’s ordinary game finds the partner the same way.
What changed
- Diamonds instead of hearts. In Schafkopf’s ordinary game the hearts sit below the Unters as trump. American sheepshead settled on diamonds, which is why the 7♦ is the lowest trump here.
- The blind and the pick. Sheepshead deals two cards face down and the first willing player picks them up. Schafkopf has no blind; players announce which game they want to play, and the highest-ranking announcement wins.
- Five players. The blind is what makes five work: thirty cards deal evenly, six apiece, with two left for the picker.
- Fewer contract types. Schafkopf has solo games in which one player names a trump suit, and the Wenz, in which only the Unters are trump. Sheepshead mostly kept the partnership game and the lone picker.
- Different doubling. Sheepshead’s cracks and blitzes play the role of Schafkopf’s Kontra and Re, and Schafkopf pays extra for holding an unbroken run of top trump.
Why the two drifted apart
Like most folk card games, Schafkopf never had one rulebook; every region bent it. The version that crossed the Atlantic with German immigrants in the 1800s kept changing in Wisconsin taverns and kitchens, and the American game that resulted is what people now call sheepshead. The history page tells that story. Both names mean the same thing: Schafkopf is German for “sheep’s head.”
Can a sheepshead player learn Schafkopf?
Easily. The hardest part of either game, the trump order with queens and jacks on top, transfers almost directly once you remember that hearts replace diamonds and that the German card faces use acorns, leaves, hearts and bells. The auction and the solo games are the new parts.
Related
- Where sheepshead comes from
- The sheepshead trump order
- Call an ace
- Sheepshead vs euchre
- How to play sheepshead
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.