Poker's meteoric rise several years ago led to a revolution in campus card playing. As 11.5-gram chips and felt-covered tables became household necessities, as Chris Ferguson emerged as a role model deserving of worship, Texas Hold 'Em tossed traditional Wisconsin card games into the burn pile. As a kid from Sheboygan won a million bucks in a tournament and students played eight tables online as a summer job, the game achieved near-monopoly status.

But the hype is getting stale. The fad seems more and more to have run its course.

Texas Hold 'Em, your time is up.

Now I'm sure some card sharks out there will disagree. What could possibly replace such a dominant form of entertainment? What could best such a combination of risk, strategy and luck at the card table?

The answer lies in a game that long held sway over the UW campus before the coming of the Hold 'Em hegemony: sheepshead.

As Texas Hold 'Em fades from the scene, it's time for a renaissance of a quintessential Wisconsin card game. Sure, euchre might be a contender for the honor, but let's face it — compared to the game that originated in Germany as “schafkopf,” it looks like a watered-down wannabe. Sheepshead, with its complexity, quirky German jargon and storied heritage on campus, is the perfect candidate for a revival in the wake of poker's fall from glory.

Furthermore, the game's suspenseful mix of skill and fate, along with its comfortable variations for 2-8 players, might even make it Wisconsin's answer to Texas Hold 'Em — a regional card game that could spread like wildfire on the national stage.

OK, so maybe you've never heard of Sheepshead. Maybe your grandfather is the only person you know who plays. Perhaps you've never heard of anyone playing for more than dimes. Don't let that deter you, though; Sheepshead is a lively, raucous game that, with a few adaptations to the modern era, could easily become the stuff of television tournaments.

Whether played in wood-paneled basements, hunting cabins, garages or around the kitchen table, Sheepshead has always proven a rousing good time. Risk-takers will pick, stone-faced, on nothing, sweating in hopes that their partners can save them. Those with a healthy dose of bravado will crack the table, raising the stakes. Wily players who dare to mauer are harassed to the verge of physical violence when found out. Partners, jack of diamonds in hand, walk the razor's edge, attempting to help the picker without revealing the partnership. Everyone is gunning for schneider, hungering for the next schmeer-laden trick.

The atmosphere is tense one moment, jocular the next. Some get lucky on a doubler and go home with a well-padded wallet. Others pray that one of their buddies will be sympathetic enough for a bail out.

Sheepshead is a uniquely Wisconsin game, as pointed out in "A Field Guide to Sheepshead" by Erica Rosch. At last spring's annual Sheepshead tournament at Nicolet High School outside Milwaukee, aficionado Ken Kurtz called Wisconsin "the sheepshead mecca of the world." All it takes to confirm the assertion is a quick jaunt into the sheepshead tables on Yahoo! Games; the vast majority of usernames are tell-tale Wisconsin monikers like "Badgerbrat" and "Cheesehead451."

To be sure, there are many local variations on the idealized sheepshead game. Determining partners is done differently in different parts of the state. And, depending on whether you're in Racine or Wausau, you might find that hearts or cribbage enjoys a limited popular advantage over Sheepshead. Only in a contest where the queen of clubs reigns as high card, however, does one enjoy a true-blue connection with Wisconsin's roots. No other card game feels quite as appropriate in the cozy warmth of the Rathskellar or Paul Bunyan Room in Memorial Union.

Sheepshead once enjoyed a clear preeminence on this campus, especially prior to the 1960s. The Portland, Ore., chapter of the UW Alumni Association still meets periodically to play, according to the group's website. As enthusiasm for poker cools, there's no reason the game once played over barrel tops in Germany can't rise like a phoenix and fill the void. It's a natural fit.

There's money in sheepshead, too. Next weekend, for a $25 entry fee, you can take on Wisconsin's best in Waupaca for a chance to win a $1,000 first prize. With a little more publicity and promotion, Texas Hold'em just might have an opponent willing to call its long-running bluff.

There's one final advantage in playing sheepshead instead of poker. Nobody can ever make you play 52 Pick Up, as there are only 32 cards in play.

So dare to be different. Wear your baseball cap, sunglasses and headphones if you must, but sit at a table where trump cards and 61 points bring home the glory, not royal flushes and good flops. This is Wisconsin, after all. Keep your rockets in your pocket and go all in with sheepshead.

Brad Vogel ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science and journalism.