of points. Statistically, players who have an opportunity to pick first need a stronger hand, while picking on the end usually means that since nobody else picked, the trump is fairly evenly spread out. Because of the complex nature of the game, in most cases, mauering is a matter of opinion. Schmear A player "schmears" a trick by playing a high-point card (usually an ace or ten) into a trick that a player thinks will be (or has already been) taken by one of their partners, in order to increase the points earned on that trick. The term may also be a noun, referring to the high-point card played in this manner. An example of schmearing (by Opponents 2 and 3): Partner leads 10♦ (10 points) Opponent 1 plays Q♣ (3 points) Opponent 2 plays A♦ (11 points) Picker plays 8♦ (0 points) Opponent 3 (out of trump) plays 10♠ (10 points) This trick was worth 34 points. That's schneider all by itself. Opponent 1 is guaranteed to win the trick as the queen of clubs is the highest card. As a result, opponents 2 and 3 both took advantage of the situation and put high-counting cards down. Also note that the picker played the 8♦, a no-counting card—the opposite of schmearing. Schmearing is an important strategy. In this example, schmearing increased the value of the trick by 21 points to a total of 34 points—schneider all by itself and over a quarter of the points available. Renege (Cheating) A player "reneges" means to fail to follow suit when able and required by the rules to do so. Reneging is a form of cheating. In most circles, this results in the guilty party forfeiting the hand. Granny hand When a player holds all or most of the top trump there is no way for the opposition to win. This unusually powerful hand is often derided for its ease of play; "My granny could win that hand." The hand still counts and is played out. In some circles, the player simply lays down the granny hand and the opponents conceding by acclamation. Even if not completely a granny hand, some circles permit a player to state that he believes he will take all of the remaining tricks (possibly requiring an explanation, say, "I have all of the remaining trump"), giving opponents an opportunity to object (say, if the calling player miscounted