Three-Handed Sheepshead
Three-handed sheepshead, often called cutthroat, is the leanest version of the game. There is no hidden partner and no negotiation: whoever picks is alone against the other two, every hand. It is what a group of three plays when they want the real game rather than a substitute for it.
How it differs from the five-handed game
- The picker is always alone. No jack of diamonds, no called ace, no wondering who is on your side. You picked, so it is you against both of them.
- Points move faster. With two defenders instead of three, each player holds more of the deck, so a single trick swings a larger share of the 120 points available.
- The blind matters more. When you are taking on the whole table by yourself, two unseen cards are a larger part of your case for picking at all.
- Picking is a sharper decision. Alone means alone in the scoring too, so a marginal hand that would be fine with a partner behind it is a losing pick here.
The three-handed partner variation
Some tables soften cutthroat by keeping a partner system, so the picker still has somebody and the hand plays two against one instead of one against two. It changes the game considerably: the picker is no longer the underdog by default, and picking gets cheaper. Both shapes are common, and neither is wrong. It is a house rule like any other.
What stays the same
Everything else is the game you already know. The same 32-card deck, the same fourteen trump in the same order, the same 61 points to win, the same bury, and the same doubling family of cracks and blitzes. The rules page covers all of it, and the variants page maps the rest of the house rules.
Play three-handed here
Both shapes are live: cutthroat with the picker alone, and the three-handed partner version. There is a standing three-handed table on the site, and you can open a private one for your own group. It is the count to reach for when only three of you turn up and nobody wants to sit out.