What is Smear?

Smear is another name for Pitch — the same 4-point trick-taking game played across North America for generations. The name is especially common in the Upper Midwest, where kitchen tables from Minnesota to Nebraska have called it Smear or Schmier for as long as anyone can remember.

Each hand begins with an auction — players bid 2, 3, or 4 — and the winner sets trump by leading a card. Teams then chase the four points: High, Low, Jack, and Game. Miss your bid and you get set, sliding backward. If that loop sounds like the game you grew up with, you are in the right place.

Smear, Schmier, Pitch — same game

Smear, Schmier, Pitch, Setback, Auction Pitch, and High-Low-Jack all describe the same core game — the differences are usually small house rules or regional scoring variants. "Schmier" is simply the German spelling, from schmieren, and it stuck in German-American communities the same way "Setback" stuck where the penalty for missing a bid was the thing people talked about.

So if you grew up calling it Smear or Schmier, you will feel right at home here: pitch.ac plays clean 4-point rules with optional house rules you can set in the lobby. That means the trump-in rule, stick-the-dealer, and your winning score (11 or 21) are all yours to configure before the deal.

Play Smear online, free and cross-platform

Because pitch.ac runs in your browser, there's nothing to install and it stays free. Play solo against AI to learn or warm up, create a private room to play Smear online with friends and family across the miles, or jump into matchmaking for a quick game against real opponents.

Create a free account to keep your stats and match history, or play as a guest — your call.