Smear (card game)
| Origin | United States |
|---|---|
| Alternative names | Schmier |
| Type | Trick-taking |
| Players | 3–6 (4 best) |
| Cards | 52–54 |
| Deck | Anglo-American |
| Play | Clockwise |
| Card rank (highest to lowest) | A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 |
| Related games | |
| All Fours, Pitch, Pedro; minor influence from Euchre | |
Smear (also known as Schmier) is a North-American trick-taking card game of the All Fours group, and a variant of Pitch (Setback). Several slightly different versions are played in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Minnesota, Northern and Central Iowa, Wisconsin and also in Ontario, Canada.
It is highly likely that the name is related to the German word schmieren, which is used in point-trick games such as Skat for the technique of discarding a high-value card on a trick which your partner is winning. The name might perhaps be connected to the fact that a high-scoring card may be discarded in a trick won by the player's partner, like in Pinochle, or even to "smudge," which is the highest bid in some forms of Pitch.
Partnership Smear is played by four players in fixed partnerships, sitting crosswise. It can also be played by six players in three partnerships. The following version is one of several described by John McLeod.
The game is played with a deck of 54 cards including two Jokers (Jo). The cards are ranked in the usual order, Aces ranking high. In a feature borrowed from Euchre, the Jack that is not trump but of the same color as the trump suit is known as the Jick (Ji) or Left Bower. The Left Bower and the two Jokers are considered to be part of the trump suit, where they rank below the Right Bower and above the Ten. In case both Jokers are played to the same trick, the second ranks higher than the first.
Smear is a point-trick game, i.e. the winner of Game is determined by the total value of the cards won in tricks, rather than the number of tricks won. The card-values are Ace = 4, King = 3, Queen = 2, Jack = 1, Ten = 10, all other cards = 0 regardless of suit.
The first dealer is decided by cutting. After each hand has been played, up to ten points can be won by players in total. (These are 1 point each for holding the highest or lowest trump in play, for winning one of the Bowers or Jokers, and for winning the trick-play. Finally 3 points for winning the Three of trumps.) The first player to score 21 points over several deals is the winner of the game. ("21 up".)
The dealer shuffles the deck, and the player to the dealer's right cuts. Ten cards are dealt to each player.
Beginning with the eldest hand, each player gets one chance to bid for the privilege of declaring the trump suit. A bid is the number of points that the bidder undertakes to win in the deal, the minimum bid being 1. Each player must make a higher bid than any previous player, or pass. The player who wins the bid, known as the pitcher or maker, must win as many points as he or she bid, or is set back by the amount of the bid.
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