When to Crack
Crack rarely, and only on trump: long trump headed by queens, enough to beat the picker’s trump and protect your side’s points. A pile of fail aces is not a crack, a void in the called suit is not a crack, and sitting right after the picker is not a crack. Most defensive hands, even good ones, should not double the stakes.
Most crack chances should be passed
We forced a crack and a pass at every point where a defender at call an ace could crack, and played both out. On average the crack lost: about 3.4 units a decision for a defender void in the called suit, about 4.9 for one holding it. Cracking doubles both outcomes, and a defender who has not seen the picker’s hand is more often wrong than right about it. The picker chose to pick; the cracker is betting that was a mistake.
What a crack needs
Trump, counted by quality. Our computer players weigh a hand for doubling by trump count, plus one for each queen, plus one more for each black queen, since those are the two best cards in the game. Five trump with both black queens scores 9; six small trump with no queens scores 6. Only the top of that scale cracks. Split by trump, the forced crack only broke roughly even for a defender with five or more trump and a void in the called suit.
Two things that sound like reasons and are not
- A void in the called suit. It is a real asset when you play the hand: you can trump the called ace. But giving a crack extra weight for it measured worse at every size of bonus we tried. A void is worth a trick, not a doubled stake, and a void with few trump cannot take that trick anyway.
- Sitting right after the picker. Seeing the picker’s card before you play is a real edge in the play. Cracking more readily because of it also measured worse, and worse in proportion to how much weight it was given.
About the numbers: they come from our own simulations, in which our strongest computer players play the same deals both ways and the results are compared. A unit is one defender’s base payment. They are measured at five-handed with the live table rules, against strong opponents, and they are averages, not guarantees for any one hand.
Blitz cracks need four trump
A defender holding both black queens, both red queens or three jacks may crack at four times by showing them. That is a bigger bet, and it needs the trump to back it: the blitz crack measured as a loss on three trump or fewer and a gain from four trump up, larger with five or more. At a table of our strongest players, requiring four trump for a blitz crack also cut the share of a night’s money riding on hands of eight times or more.
Recracking
A recrack should be a statement, not a reflex. The picker already knows the hand is strong enough to pick; the crack says a defender thinks it is not. Recrack with a hand that dominates the trump, typically several queens and length behind them, and remember the stakes are now four times on every outcome.
Before you crack, remember
- You may only crack if the blind never reached you; see the cracking rules.
- A crack invites a recrack. Crack thin, get recracked, and you are playing for four times the stakes on a hand you only half believed in.
- At jack of diamonds, a non-passing seat that holds the jack is the partner and cannot crack its own picker.
Related
- Cracking and recracking: the rules
- Blitzes
- How to defend
- Defending against a lone picker
- Common mistakes
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.