Sheepshead (card game)

Sheepshead is an American trick-taking card game. It is derived from Bavaria's national card game, Schafkopf (lit. 'sheep's head'), hence it is sometimes called American Schafkopf. Sheepshead is a game for five players.

One of Sheepshead's distinguishing features, compared to other popular trick-taking card games like Bridge, Hearts, Spades, or Euchre, is a hidden-partnership structure. The picker's partner is determined at the beginning of each game, but their identity is unknown to the picker and the defenders. This creates an element of asymmetric information, as players must deduce the partner's identity through gameplay as in a Social deduction game. Each game, a "picker" and a "partner" compete against the other three players, and at the beginning of the game, only the partner knows their identity as the partner. Variants exist, some allowing for two to eight players; many slang terms are used with the game.

Sheepshead is most commonly played in Wisconsin, where it is sometimes called the "unofficial" state card game. In 1983, it was declared the official card game of the city of Milwaukee. It is also common among German counties in Southern Indiana, which has large German-American populations, and on the Internet.

Numerous tournaments are held throughout Wisconsin during the year, with the largest tournament being the "Nationals", held annually in the Wisconsin Dells during a weekend in September, October or November, and mini-tournaments held hourly throughout German Fest in Milwaukee during the last weekend of each July. National 3-Hand Sheepshead Tournament has been held annually in Wisconsin since 1970 in the month of March. 48-hand sessions are held at locations around the state, offering players an opportunity to play in as many of the 100 plus sessions as they wish.