Smear (card game) 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
Skat (card game) tricks and players must agree whether a game lasts for a certain number of deals or until one player scores a certain number of game points. Scoring is similar to normal Skat. Skat in the United States and Canada was played for many years as an older version of the game, also known as "Tournee Skat", which shares most of its rules with its modern European counterpart with the addition of a few different games and an alternate system of scoring. "Tournee Skat" is declining in popularity. Most tournament Skat players in North America play the modern game described above.