Fail (Fail Suit)
Definition
Any suit that is not trump. In Sheepshead, Clubs, Spades, and Hearts (without their Queens and Jacks) are fail suits.
Fail (Fail Suit) in play
The fail suits are clubs, spades, and hearts minus their Queens and Jacks, which are trump. A fail card can only win a trick if it is the highest card of the suit that was led and no trump was played, so fail Aces and Tens are valuable but vulnerable to being trumped. Managing fail suits - shedding them to create voids, or holding a boss Ace for a clean trick - is much of the game's craft.
Example
“If you can't follow trump, you might have to play from a fail suit.”
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Related Terms
Trump
The powerful suit that beats all fail cards. In Sheepshead: all Queens, all Jacks, and all Diamonds are trump (14 cards total).
Void
Having no cards in a particular suit. Being void in a fail suit is valuable because you can trump in when it's led.
Follow Suit
The requirement to play a card of the same suit that was led, if you have one. Trump is considered its own suit.