Which Ace to Call
Call the ace of the suit you hold the fewest cards of, ideally a single low card, and plan the bury so that card is the only one of the suit you keep. A short called suit is the likeliest to go round once without a defender trumping your partner’s ace, and it leaves you void and able to trump once it has been led.
What you may call
A fail ace you do not hold, in a suit where you hold at least one fail card. Never diamonds, which are trump. If no ace qualifies, see calling a ten, card under or going alone.
Why the shortest suit
Each fail suit has six cards. The fewer of them you hold, the more are spread around the other hands, and the less likely it is that a defender is already void in the suit and can trump your partner’s ace when it comes. Holding one card of the called suit also means you are void the moment it has been led once. Hold three of them and you are more likely to be the only player still following the suit while a defender trumps it.
Plan the call and the bury together
You call before you bury, so look at both at once. After the blind, say you hold:
Q♣ Q♥ J♠ 10♦ 8♦ K♥ 9♥ 7♠
Hearts and spades are callable; clubs are not, because you hold no club. Calling spades, where your only card is the 7♠, lets you bury the K♥ and 9♥, which empties hearts as well. Calling hearts instead would keep two hearts in your hand or force the 7♠ into the bury anyway. Spades: one call, two voids.
A ten in the called suit
If your only card of the suit is its ten, calling it is legal, and when the suit is led your ten falls onto your partner’s ace for 21 points to your side, unless a defender trumps the trick, when it is 21 points to them. A low card risks less. Given the choice between two short suits, keep the cheap card.
When to lead the called suit
The picker may lead the called suit at any time, but timing matters. Lead it while the defenders still hold trump and a defender who is void simply trumps the ace. In our measurements the picker did best waiting until at most one trump was unaccounted for before leading the called suit, and being eager, with five or more trump still out, was clearly worse. Defenders know this too: they often lead the called suit early, with their lowest card of it, to force the ace out before trump is drawn. That is on how to defend.
When not to call
Some hands are better alone. With seven or more trump including a black queen, six trump with both black queens, or a few similar shapes, going alone measured as clearly better than calling. Those hands are listed on going alone.
Related
- Call an ace: the rules
- What to bury
- Leading as the picker
- Going alone
- Working out who your partner is
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.