How to Play

Smear is a Midwestern American trick-taking game in the Pitch family, popular in Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Wisconsin. 3 to 6 players use a 54-card deck (52 + 2 jokers) and bid for the right to name trump; 10+ points are scored per hand from High, Low, Jack, Jick, jokers, Game, and Trey. First to 21 points wins.

Smear is a Midwestern American trick-taking game in the Pitch family, especially popular in Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Wisconsin. 3 to 6 players (4 is optimal) use a 54-card deck (standard 52 plus two jokers) to bid for the right to name trump; points are then scored for specific trump cards (High, Low, Jack, Jick, the jokers, Game, and Trey) captured in tricks. A match is played to 21 points; a session of several games takes 45 to 75 minutes.

Players

3 to 6 players; 4 is optimal, often played in fixed partnerships (two against two). The first dealer is chosen by cutting for high card; deal rotates clockwise each hand. Team variants (4, 6, or 8 players) use fixed partnerships across the table.

Card Deck

One standard 52-card deck plus two jokers, for 54 cards total. Ranks within each suit: Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (low). Once trump is named, three additional 'trumps' join the trump suit for that hand: the Jick (the Jack of the same colour as trump, for example when spades are trump), and both jokers. Trump order from high to low: Ace, King, Queen, Jack of trump, Jick, Joker 1, Joker 2, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 of trump. The two jokers are interchangeable but ranked as an agreed first/second by the group.

Objective

Bid how many points of 10 maximum your side can capture in tricks during the hand. If you make your bid, you score the points you captured; fail and you are set back by the bid amount. First player or partnership to 21 points wins the match.

Setup and Deal

1. Shuffle the 54-card deck thoroughly; the dealer offers a cut to the player on the right.
2. Deal 10 cards to each player, in two rounds of 5 (or any agreed pattern), clockwise starting with eldest hand (left of dealer). With more than 4 players, hands may be adjusted (some groups deal 8 instead of 10).
3. Bidding: Each player, starting with eldest hand and going clockwise, gets one chance to bid for the right to name trump. The minimum bid is 2; each successive bid must be higher than the previous. The maximum bid is 10 (capturing every available point). A player who passes cannot re-enter the auction. The highest bidder becomes the pitcher (maker) for the hand.
4. Trump declaration and discard: The pitcher names the trump suit, then takes their full hand (10 cards) and discards down to 6. Other players similarly discard down to 6 cards; each keeps only 6 of their dealt 10. Non-trumps are usually discarded first because they cannot score.
5. Misdeal: If a card is exposed or the wrong number of cards is dealt, the deal is void and the same dealer redeals.

Gameplay

1. Leading the first trick: The pitcher leads a trump card to the first trick (mandatory; cannot open on a non-trump).
2. Trick structure: Play proceeds clockwise. Each player plays one card face-up to the centre. You must follow suit if you hold any card of the led suit; if the led suit is trump, you must follow trump.
3. Trumping instead of following: It is always legal to play a trump in place of following a non-trump led suit (the standard All Fours family rule); if you trump, you may win the trick even if you hold the led suit.
4. Winning a trick: The highest trump played wins; if no trump is played, the highest card of the led suit wins. The Jack of trump is the standard high-Jack. The Jick (same-colour Jack) ranks just below the Jack of trump. Jokers rank below the Jick.
5. End of hand: Each player/partnership counts point cards captured (see Scoring).
6. Renege (revoke): Failing to follow suit (or trump suit when led) when able is a renege. Standard penalty: the offending team scores zero for the hand and the non-offending team scores 10 (the maximum).

Scoring

• Per deal (up to 10 points): High (Ace of trump) = 1. Low (lowest trump captured in tricks, not merely dealt) = 1. Jack (Jack of trump) = 1. Jick (Jack of same-colour non-trump suit) = 1. Joker 1 = 1. Joker 2 = 1. Game (most 'game points' captured: A=4, K=3, Q=2, J=1, 10=10 counted across all captured cards regardless of suit) = 1. Trey (the 3 of trumps captured) = 3 points. Total maximum: 11 points per deal.A♠J♠
• Making the bid: If the pitcher's side captures at least the bid in points, they score the points actually captured (not only the bid amount). The non-pitcher side also scores whatever points they captured.
• Set back: If the pitcher's side fell short, they are set: subtract the bid amount from their cumulative score (scores can go negative, sometimes many points below zero). The opposing side still scores the points they captured.
• Match target: First side to reach 21 points cumulative wins the match. If both sides would cross 21 on the same hand, the pitcher's side is checked first (since they are the ones who 'called the game').
• Negative scores: Teams set repeatedly can drop well below zero; this is normal. Play continues until a team reaches +21.

Winning

• Match winner: First side to reach or exceed 21 points in cumulative scoring.
• Tie-breakers: If both sides cross 21 on the same hand, the pitcher's score counts first; if pitchers made their bid, they win, otherwise opponents win. If they both make their bid and cross simultaneously (impossible in standard rules because the pitcher side's score is checked first), play one extra hand.
• Bust-out option: Some groups stop the match when any team falls to -21 (or similar); the other team wins.

Common Variations

• 9-card Smear: Deal 9 cards each, discard non-trumps, refill to 6; only trumps playable.
• Widow / Kitty Smear: Deal a 4-card widow; pitcher picks it up before declaring trump and adds a scoring card (the Deuce, 2 of trumps = 2 points).
• No-Jick Smear: Drop the Jick rule; scores only High, Low, Jack, Game (and jokers if used); falls back toward classic Pitch.
• Five-Point Team Smear: 4, 6, or 8 players in teams; only High, Low, Jack, Joker, Game score (5 points per deal).
• 10-Point Smear: The standard; ten points per deal including Jick, jokers, Game, Low.
• Double-joker Smear: Both jokers are always included and rank separately; some houses rank them as 'big joker' and 'little joker' with the big ranking above the Jick.
• Target variations: Play to 11 (short session) or 52 (long session) instead of 21.

Tips and Strategy

• Bid only when you hold enough trump to reliably capture the 5 or 6 point cards available each hand. A bid of 4 or 5 typically requires three or four trumps including at least one of the high scorers.
• Leading a trump first strips opponents of trumps; after two or three trump leads, only your side should have trumps, letting your side-suit cards cash in.
• Protect Low by holding your lowest trump until the last trump-related trick; cashing it in too early lets it fall to an opposing higher card, forfeiting the Low point to them.
• The Jick is often overlooked. When spades are trump, a in your hand is a trump for this deal; play it like any Jack of trump but know it ranks just below.J♣
• Track jokers: if one joker has been played, the other is still out there as trump; count trumps carefully.
• Partnerships should communicate through card play: signalling a short suit by leading a low card, encouraging a lead by playing medium cards.

Glossary

• Trump: The suit declared by the pitcher (bid winner); beats any non-trump regardless of rank.
• Pitcher / maker: The highest bidder; leads the first trick (a trump) and is responsible for making the bid.
• High (point): 1 point for capturing the Ace of trumps.
• Low (point): 1 point for capturing the lowest trump that was actually played during the hand (not merely dealt).
• Jack (point): 1 point for capturing the Jack of trumps.J♠
• Jick (point): 1 point for capturing the Jack of the same-colour non-trump suit (for example, when spades are trump).J♣
• Joker (points): Each joker captured is worth 1 point; jokers act as low trumps.
• Game (point): 1 point for capturing the most 'game points' across all captured cards (A=4, K=3, Q=2, J=1, 10=10); awarded to the side with the higher total, ties break by low card.
• Trey (point): 3 points for capturing the 3 of trumps (in the 10-point version).
• Set back: When the pitcher fails to make the bid; the bid amount is subtracted from their score.
• Discard: In Smear's context, the discard phase where players shed to 6 cards after trump is named.