The leaster in Sheepshead

What is a leaster in Sheepshead?

A leaster is the hand played when everyone passes and nobody picks up the blind. There is no picker and no partner: every player is on their own, and the goal is turned upside down. The player who takes the fewest card points wins.

The winner collects one game point from every other player, so with five players the winner is up 4 and everyone else is down 1. Most groups require the winner to take at least one trick, even one worth no points, so a player cannot win simply by ducking every trick. The blind usually goes to whoever takes the last trick.

Not every table plays leasters. Some throw the cards in and play a doubler, where the next hand counts double; others play a moster, where the player who takes the most points pays everyone, and some make the dealer pick.

In Score All you choose what happens when nobody picks when you set up the game. On the score sheet you tap "Nobody picked" and the winner, and the app pays everyone, including a custom value per player if your table plays for more.

Where it applies

Related: Sheepshead scoring

This rule is a switch when you set up a game, so the scoreboard applies it for you. All scoring rules →