Editing Sheepshead (card game) (section)

==Glossary / Slang==
The following phrases or slang can be used to describe certain behaviors or situations in the game. For more, see [[Glossary of card game terms]].

===Mauer===
A player "mauers" when the player has enough power-cards to pick up the blind, and yet passes (whether for fear one's hand is not actually good enough, or worse, one hopes to set up another player to lose). Mauering is considered to be in very poor taste and in some cases players who do it often enough can be asked to leave a game. Of course, mauering can backfire if the hand results in a leaster, and the mauerer is stuck with what is then a poor hand.

There are different methods of deciding if a player has a strong hand. In a five-handed game, some players pick on any four trumps, while others decide based on the number of higher trump (queens and jacks). Others use a numbering system, giving each type of trump a point value and making the decision to pick based on a certain number of points. Statistically, players who have an opportunity to pick first need a stronger hand, while picking on the end usually means that since nobody else picked, the trump is fairly evenly spread out. Because of the complex nature of the game, in most cases, mauering is a matter of opinion.

===Schmear===
A player "[[Schmear (cards)|schmears]]" a trick by playing a high-point card (usually an ace or ten) into a trick that a player thinks will be (or has already been) taken by one of their partners, in order to increase the points earned on that trick. The term may also be a noun, referring to the high-point card played in this manner. An example of schmearing (by Opponents 2 and 3):

# Partner leads <span style="color:red;">10♦</span> (10 points)
# Opponent 1 plays Q♣ (3 points)
# Opponent 2 plays <span style="color:red;">A♦</span> (11 points)
# Picker plays <span style="color:red;">8♦</span> (0 points)
# Opponent 3 (out of trump) plays 10♠ (10 points)

This trick was worth 34 points. That's schneider all by itself.

Opponent 1 is guaranteed to win the trick as the queen of clubs is the highest card. As a result, opponents 2 and 3 both took advantage of the situation and put high-counting cards down. Also note that the picker played the <span style="color:red;">8♦</span>, a no-counting card—the opposite of schmearing.

Schmearing is an important strategy. In this example, schmearing increased the value of the trick by 21 points to a total of 34 points—schneider all by itself and over a quarter of the points available.

===Renege (Cheating)===
A player "reneges" means to fail to follow suit when able and required by the rules to do so. Reneging is a form of cheating. In most circles, this results in the guilty party forfeiting the hand.

===Granny hand===
When a player holds all or most of the top trump there is no way for the opposition to win. This unusually powerful hand is often derided for its ease of play; "My granny could win that hand." The hand still counts and is played out.

In some circles, the player simply lays down the granny hand and the opponents conceding by acclamation. Even if not completely a granny hand, some circles permit a player to state that he believes he will take all of the remaining tricks (possibly requiring an explanation, say, "I have all of the remaining trump"), giving opponents an opportunity to object (say, if the calling player miscounted trump) -- forestalling the players from needing to play out the remainder of the hand.

===Bumping===
When a teammate uses a higher powered card to take a trick that already is already going to his/her team—usually when the trick is necessarily going to another teammate. Sometimes this is unavoidable especially in cases where there is only one card of a particular suit left in a player's hand. Sometimes this is strategic, such as to place an opponent on each side of the picker and/or the partner.

===Collusion (Cheating)===
As with any partner game, code words or signs can be used to cheat. This involves 2 players creating a word or phrase which tells their partner in crime what to lead. For instance, Player A and Player B are colluding with each other in a game of 4 handed. Player A has the lead and Player B is behind the dealer without a fail Spade. Player B uses the phrase "let's rock n' roll" to signal Player A to lead spades. Player A leads spades, the picker trumps it, and Player B trumps over the Picker. This is very much frowned upon and if caught, the players are usually kicked out of the game. Also called “Table Talk”.

===Throwing Off / Slough===
A player "throws off" or "sloughs" when, after a fail card is played and the player does not have any of that fail suit but does have trump, decides to play a fail card rather than trump. Sloughing well is a key to winning at sheepshead, especially as the picker. One popular situation to throw off is as follows and is known as "The Throw Off"; (1) a fail suit is led that the picker does not have, (2) the picker is 2nd in line, and (3) the picker throws off, usually because he has a poor hand, hoping his partner can take the trick.