Sheepshead Hand Evaluation

How to quickly assess your hand and make better picking decisions

Quality Over Quantity

Not all trump are created equal. Four high trump often beats six low trump.

A hand with Q♣ Q♠ J♣ J♠ controls the game. A hand with J♦ A♦ 10♦ K♦ 9♦ 8♦ has six trump but struggles to win tricks against opponents' Queens and Jacks.

Trump Power Rankings

Remember the hierarchy when evaluating trump strength:

High Trump (Game Controllers)

Q♣#1 - The Boss

Q♠#2

Q♥#3

Q♦#4

J♣#5

J♠#6

Low Trump (Support Cards)

J♥#7

J♦#8

A♦11 pts

10♦10 pts

K♦ 9♦ 8♦ 7♦Filler

Q♣ - The Boss Card

The Queen of Clubs deserves special attention. It's the most valuable card in Sheepshead because it guarantees a trick win.

Leading Q♣ on trick 1: You win the trick AND force all 4 opponents to play trump. That's 5 trump out of 14 gone in one play!

If you have Q♣, add significant weight to your picking decision. It's worth at least +1 to your effective trump count.

The Ma's - Q♣ + Q♠ Together

Having both black Queens (called "The Ma's" in Wisconsin) is extremely powerful. You control the top two trump in the game.

With The Ma's You Can:

• Lead Q♣, then Q♠ - pull 10 trump from opponents
• Control exactly when trump get played
• Pick with fewer total trump
• Consider going alone with 7+ trump

Picking Guidelines:

• The Ma's + 2 other trump = usually pick
• The Ma's + 3+ trump = strong pick
• The Ma's + 5+ trump = consider alone

Effective Trump Counting

Don't just count trump - weight them by quality:

Queens (Q♣, Q♠, Q♥, Q♦)Count as 1.5 each

Game controllers that guarantee trick wins

Jacks (J♣, J♠, J♥, J♦)Count as 1.0 each

Strong trump that win most battles

High Diamonds (A♦, 10♦, K♦)Count as 0.75 each

Point cards, but vulnerable to higher trump

Low Diamonds (9♦, 8♦, 7♦)Count as 0.5 each

Filler trump - follow suit but rarely win

Example Hand Evaluations

Strong Pick

Effective: 6.5 trump

Q♣ Q♠ J♥ A♦ 10♦ A♠

The Ma's (3.0) + J♥ (1.0) + A♦ (0.75) + 10♦ (0.75) = 5.5 effective trump. Plus A♠ to bury (11 pts). This hand controls the game.

Borderline

Effective: 4.25 trump

J♠ J♦ A♦ K♦ 9♦ A♣

J♠ (1.0) + J♦ (1.0) + A♦ (0.75) + K♦ (0.75) + 9♦ (0.5) = 4.0 effective. No Queens means you can't control trump. Pick in late position only.

Deceptively Weak

Effective: 3.5 trump

J♦ A♦ 10♦ K♦ 9♦ 8♦

Six trump looks great! But J♦ (1.0) + A♦ 10♦ K♦ (2.25) + 9♦ 8♦ (1.0) = 4.25. All your trump lose to any Queen or higher Jack. Pass this hand.

Beyond Trump: Fail Suit Evaluation

Your fail cards matter too! Evaluate these factors:

♠

Voids (0 cards in a suit)

Being void in a fail suit is valuable! You can trump in when that suit is led. A void is worth about +0.5 to your hand evaluation.

♣

Singletons (1 card)

Nearly as good as voids. After one trick in that suit, you can trump. Singleton Aces are especially valuable - win a trick, then you're void!

♥

Bury Candidates

Aces (11 pts) and Tens (10 pts) in suits you want to void are perfect bury material. Having 20+ points to bury significantly improves any hand.