The Sheepshead Home Page

Welcome to the Sheepshead Home Page. My name is Jim Mihal .  Sheepshead is an Americanized version of a card game of German origin (called Schafskopf, Schaffskopf, or Schafkopf) which we play in Wisconsin (USA) and apparently, also in lots of other places. I learned the game from my father when I was only 10 (way back in 1961) and I continue playing it today. 

Simply stated, each player is dealt cards. A trick is one round of cards ... where each player lays a card on the table. The player who lays the most powerful card in the round, wins all the cards in that trick. There are points assigned to cards so when you win a trick, you also win the points associated with those cards. When all the tricks have been played, the person with the most points wins the game. Sound simple??? Read on ..... 

The Cards 

The Basic Rules 

Scoring Rules 

Choosing a Partner 

Strategy and Tips 

Sheepshead Crib Sheet (for beginners)

Input from Readers 

My silly picture of "Sheepshead playing Sheepshead"

A Scoring Spreadsheet

Take the Sheepshead IQ Test

My Sheepshead Friends 

Sheepshead Glossary

Other Sheepshead Links 

This page was first posted (originally on AOL) on May 12, 1996.  We spent 10 years at Yahoo Geocities (which closed) and then moved to LimeWebs (which closed).  We were off the web a few years but we are happy to be back on Google Sites in 2020.

Last revised on December 2023