Long Suit
Definition
A fail suit in which you hold many cards (typically 3+). Long suits are weak on offense because the suit usually gets trumped before your low cards can win — but they can be useful for grinding out tricks once trump is exhausted.
Example
“Holding K♥ 9♥ 8♥ 7♥ is a "long heart suit" — likely dead weight unless you can avoid leading it.”
Related Terms
Short Suit
A fail suit in which you hold only one or two cards. Short suits are valuable: leading them creates a void quickly, and being short to a strong opponent (right-side seat) forces them to commit high cards early.
Long Thru, Short To
A core position maxim: lead a fail suit your opponent is long in when you sit to their left ("through" the picker), and lead a suit they are short in when you sit to their right ("to" the picker). The goal is to force them to play their best card from an awkward seat.
Fail (Fail Suit)
Any suit that is not trump. In Sheepshead, Clubs, Spades, and Hearts (without their Queens and Jacks) are fail suits.
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.