Hearts Card game: how to play, what strategy, setup, instructions and rules. Online

Hearts is a trick-taking game, usually played with a standard deck of 52 cards, in which the object is to avoid taking certain cards in tricks. Hearts is usually played with four players, but can be modified for other numbers of players.

How to play

Getting started

Hearts requires only:

four players,
a deck of standard playing cards, and
a pen and paper for scorekeeping.

Variants for other numbers of players exist, and are described in the "Variants" section.

The deck

Hearts is played with one standard deck of playing cards. As in Bridge, the rank-order is (from high to low) A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2. There is no trump suit.

The object

The object of Hearts is to avoid scoring points; when one person scores a pre-specified amount (usually 100) the game is over, and the winner is the person with the lowest score.

Play overview

Hearts is played in rounds, each of which includes a deal, a player-to-player pass, the play of tricks, and a scoring phase. Players continue at rounds indefinitely, until the game's end.

The deal

Which player deals has no effect on play, but dealership is normally rotated left with each new hand. The deck is dealt to exhaustion.

Passing cards

In most rounds, each player passes any three cards from his or her hand to another player, and receives 3 to replace them. Players must select which cards they will pass before viewing the cards passed to them.

The pass sequence, repeating every four rounds, is as follows:

Rounds 1, 5, 9... : Pass Left.
Rounds 2, 6, 10... : Pass Right.
Rounds 3, 7, 11... : Pass Across.
Rounds 4, 8, 12... : Holding hand; no passing occurs.

Trick-play

Play is standard no-trump trick-taking. The 2♣ is a round's initial lead: the person holding this card, after the pass, leads it to the first trick. Players, if able, are required to follow suit.

All hearts and the Q♠ are penalty cards which players desire to avoid winning in tricks.

"Gentleman's Rules"

There are some rules of Hearts, known as "Gentleman's Rules", that are sometimes included in hearts regarding the play of penalty cards. Three more notable gentleman's rules are:

No player may lead a trick in the heart suit until a penalty card has been played (or until forced by having nothing else). This is called the "breaking of hearts" or "breaking the ice", and usually occurs either when the Q♠ is played to a spade trick, or a heart is ruffed out-of-suit.
No player may play a penalty card ("blood") on the first trick, unless the player has nothing else (an extremely unlikely situation).
A player holding the Q♠ must play it at the first legal opportunity where it cannot win the trick (for example, if the A♠ were led, or if this player were afforded a ruffing opportunity.)
On rare occasions you will encounter groups who forbid certain cards to be passed (most commonly the 2♣ or the Q♠).

The second rule listed is a relatively modern addition, and the third is rarely used today. All of these rules are controversial within the hearts community, and it is a good idea, before play, to verify with the other players which rules are to be used.

Scoring

At the end of a round, penalty points are assessed according to the cards taken in tricks. Each heart gives 1 point to the person taking it, and the Q♠ carries a penalty of 13 points. Therefore, 26 points are assessed each round. However, if a player takes all the penalty cards (known as shooting the moon, going for control, or simply running hearts) he or she takes no penalty points, and the other players take 26. Alternatively, some players allow this individual to subtract 26 points from his or her score. This has no effect on relative totals but slows the pace of the game.

Finally, the scores are checked against the game-ending condition, and the game ends or a new round begins.

Variants

Having existed for centuries, and widely played in North America, Hearts is one of the most varied card games, second perhaps only to Poker in the number and diversity of variants. Hundreds, if not thousands, exist on the Internet.

We present some of the more notable variants. Play variants are variations where the game itself is different. Scoring variants are variations where the game's rules are no different, but objectives and scoring are altered: this may only slightly alter the game, or (via emergent effects) make it utterly different.

Open lead

Some players prefer to have the first lead determined according to dealership instead of the 2♣, because having the 2♣ denies its holder one trick's worth of strategic liberty; otherwise, they could lead something more appropriate to their strategy. Instead, the first trick is led at dealer's left, and this player may lead any card not in the heart suit. In this variant, players are required to keep track of dealership.

Split Pass

The most common variant involves a single extra passing phase, just before the players hold. The series of passes usually go Left, Right, Across, Split, Hold. The split pass requires players to pass one card to the Left, one card Across, and one card to the Right.

Dealer's choice

Another kind of passing variant is where the dealer has the authority to determine the round's passing structure. There is usually a limit to the number of cards that may be passed, and the dealer may have cards passed in a unconventional manner (e.g. "pass two left, one right"). The dealer should make this determination before viewing his or her own hand.

Three players

Kitty Hearts The dealer deals a well-shuffled 52 card pack out to exhaustion, however, during the process he places one card face down in the middle, known as the "kitty", and the three players receive 17 cards each (17*3 + 1 = 52). Whoever takes the first trick (or, in some circles, the first trick with a penalty card) takes the kitty as well, and only that player may see what it is. With this rule, often the first player is not required to play the 2♣, as getting the kitty can be advantageous, and some other variation of starting play is used. Another variation, the 3♣ or 2♦ is removed from the deck, and hands of 17 cards are dealt. For all these variations, the "Across" passes are removed from the passing cycle.

High-Low Joker Hearts Two Jokers are added to the deck so that there are 54 cards to deal out. There is no Kitty in the middle of the table. Each player gets 18 cards (18*3 = 54). The Jokers count as hearts, with the first Joker played being high and ranking above the Ace, and the second Joker played being low and ranking under the Deuce. With regards to scoring, the value of the Queen of Spades (in the Black Mary variant) is frequently raised to 15 points because there are now 15 points worth of Hearts. The exact values have to be decided on at the start of the game, as is usual with Gentleman's Rules. High-Low Hearts is also known as Hello Hearts.

Five players

The 3♣ and 2♦ are removed from the deck, and hands of 10 cards are dealt. The passing cycle, then, is L1-R1-L2-R2-Hold, where "L2", for example, represents a pass two players to the left. Also, as is similar with one of the three player variations, two kitties can be used, either the player who gets the first trick takes both kitties, or one kitty is given out on the first and second tricks.

Cancellation hearts

This is used when a large number (6+) of people is present. Two decks are used, yielding 52 penalty points. If two identical cards appear in the trick, they cancel and are unable to win the trick; the highest uncanceled card of the suit led will win. If all cards of the led suit cancel, the person leading to that trick also leads to the next, and the winner of that trick gets credit for that trick as well as the previous unclaimed trick(s). Cancellation only applies to trick-winning; canceled cards still maintain their penalty points.

Each player is dealt an equally-sized hand—any remainder cards are left face-up and any penalty points assigned to the winner of the first trick. For example, with 7 players and two decks (104 cards) each player would receive a 14-card hand, and 6 cards would be left face-up for this purpose.

Shooting the moon, analogously, earns 52 points to all players but the shooter. However, this is an extremely rare phenomenon in Cancellation Hearts.

Passing cycles must also be modified in large Hearts games.

If many more players are present (11 or 12+), it becomes necessary to use 3 decks. The cancellation rules outlined above still apply, but if all 3 identical cards appear in a trick, only the first 2 played get cancelled out. The third is still valid. This would mean that to shoot the moon gives out 78 points, and will usually either end the game or bring it very close. However, this is even rarer than with 2 decks. A similar cancellation strategy applies for 4 or more decks, but it is very unlikely that that many decks will be needed.

Scoring variants

Omnibus: This is a very popular scoring variant; Hearts is played almost as often with this addition as without. The J♦ is a bonus card players desire to take in tricks, worth -10 points (or -11). However it is not normally required to shoot the moon. In some books, this card is the 10♦. Because this slows the progression of scores, Omnibus hearts is normally played to a lower threshold score of 52, 61 or 75. Some people also play that taking no tricks is worth -5 points. Shooting the moon may require taking all of the hearts and J♦ and Q♠. Also shooting the moon may be with either -13 (to the winner) or +26 (to the other players) - winner's choice. Note with J♦ = -11, and Q♠ = +13 and 13 hearts, the total score for each turn is 15, making adding up the score easier if only one player has taken the majority of the tricks.

Target scores: Hearts is sometimes played with positive bonuses applied to attaining certain exact scores: it is sometimes played that any player able to score exactly 50 points is reset to zero, and any player scoring exactly 100 is reset to 50.

Ten of clubs: Sometimes, the 10♣ is played as a penalty card, doubling a player's take for the round. In the Omnibus variant, the 10♣ may be either a penalty or a benefit card, depending upon other cards taken by that player. This rule is rarely observed today.

Shooting the sun: Some hearts players assign a premium to the accomplishment of taking all tricks, doubling the 26-point bonus to 52.

Spot hearts: This is a hearts variant where higher-ranking hearts carry greater penalty values than lower-ranked hearts. Specifically, each heart is worth its numerical value in points (2♥ = 2, ..., K♥ = 13, A♥ = 14). The Q♠ is then worth 25 penalty points. There are now 129 penalty points assessed each round, and the threshold score is usually 500. Shooting the moon may be worth either the sum of all the cards combined, or the rule may simply not be observed. In variations on this the points are as follows: 2♥ = 2, ..., 10♥ = 10, J♥ = 10,Q♥ = 10,K♥ = 10, A♥ = 15 and Q♠ = 25.

Complex hearts: This is a variant reportedly invented by Richard Garfield.

Complex hearts is a Hearts variant using the complex number system for scoring. Play rules are no different than those of conventional Hearts. Hearts earn their captor 1 point a piece, the Queen of Spades earns $13 i$ , and the Jack of Diamonds earns -10 points. The 10♣ provides a $2 i$ multiplier on a player's score for the round.

The loser of a game is the first player whose score, in absolute value, exceeds 100. The winner is the player whose absolute value is smallest. (The absolute value of a complex number $a + bi$ is $\sqrt{a^2 + b^2}$ .)

This means that the J♦ is not always a benefit card, nor are the traditional penalty cards always undesirable. For example, netting the 10♣ and Q♠ together will result in a score change of -26, possibly counteracting some unwanted Hearts. Likewise, a player with a negative score (in terms of the real part) would be penalized for taking the Jack of Diamonds, but rewarded for taking Hearts.

The Queen of Spades is especially dangerous in this variant, because the only way to counteract its effect is to capture the J♦-10♣ combination, which produces a score change of $- 20 i$ .

Complex analogues of "shooting the moon" vary, but one possibility is to allow a person who accomplishes this to add $\pm 13 \pm 13i$ to each player's score, the signs chosen at the shooter's discretion.

Strategy of hearts

Hearts is classified, in references such as Hoyle's Rules of Games, as a children's game, but, in fact, there is depth to the game.

Heart's strategic element first appears in the 3-card player-to-player pass. Intuitively, the function of this pass is to rid one's hand of undesirable cards, or to get a head start on clearing a suit. However, this is not always the best strategy.

As there is only one winner and three losers in hearts, the most advanced strategy appears when the three losing players team up to give the leader points. Playing the queen and other point cards only when the player with the lowest score can take them, passing favorable cards to trailing players, and setting up the leader all require teamwork and unselfish play. Second place is no better than fourth place, and thus it profits a player nothing to give points to the player with the highest score(high) ending the game while sitting in second place.

Spades

Imagine a hand containing the 3, 4, and King of Spades. It would seem that to pass these spades would be a great decision; it would rid the hand of a usually undesirable card (the King) and open a void in the spade suit. Yet in fact, most Hearts players would consider this a poor decision; were this player passed a Queen, and no other spades, he would now hold a singleton Queen, one of the worst hand configurations in the game. Holding the Queen of spades is considered desirable if the Queen is "protected" by at least three (ideally four or more) other spades. If this is not the case, the Q♠ is a liability and should be ruffed at the first possible opportunity.

If a player is dealt only high spades (Queen, King and/or Ace) the player will generally pass them, as the odds are in their favor they won't be passed the remaining spades, however it occasionally happens that one will be passed the remaining high spades.

If a player has several low spades (lower than Queen) and a King and/or an Ace, these cards are generally high priority to pass, unless passing to the right. When a player has several spades and a high spade and is passing to the right, generally they will have an opportunity to get rid of the high spade (or choose to use a lower card to avoid the Queen) when the player to their left starts a trick.

Hearts

Low (2, 3, 4) hearts are considered highly desirable, high hearts (Q, K, A) very undesirable. Starting with all three (QKA of Hearts), though is highly desirable, and generally a hand where a player will try to shoot the moon (as described below.)

The term "covering" is used to describe the common practice of passing the second highest heart (generally the 10 or lower) in order to prevent anyone else from shooting the moon. Occasionally, a player will pass a Jack or Queen as their cover card if they only have high hearts. This player is responsible for playing the higher heart to stop a player if they attempt to shoot the moon. Passing the highest heart (thus making it possible one player has all the high hearts), or not playing the cover card is called "dodging" or "ducking" and is considered poor sportsmanship normally.

Clubs

Since the 2 of clubs is always the first card played, some players opt to pass this card as if it were a high card. The reason being that having the 2 of clubs does not enable you to play a high club on the first hand. If the game is being played with the optional restriction on playing point cards on the first trick, the first trick must be safe and the player should try to use his high clubs immediately.

When point cards are not allowed on the first trick, the Ace of Clubs is considered by many a great card, and is generally not passed. Having the Ace of Clubs enables a player to start the next trick with whatever suit they desire. This can be especially useful if the player only has one card in a suit left. Passing a high club is generally considered foolish, because it will just be played on the first hand. The most dangerous clubs are the 9, 10 and J, as the 2, Q, K, and A generally see play on the first hand, thus making those three the highest three cards left.

When point cards are allowed on the first trick, however, many players adopt aggressive passing strategies to void themselves in clubs so as to play high hearts or the Queen of Spades on unsuspecting players following the strategies outlined in the previous paragraph. Under these rules, it is sometimes advisable to keep the 2 of clubs and pass higher clubs to cover the initial trick. When a player has all high clubs, it is advisable to pass them, especially if it is possible to get rid of all of them through passing and then begin laying points immediately.

Diamonds

Diamonds are generally passed in an attempt to short them. Generally passing all or the highest diamonds is the preferred strategy of most players as there is very little risk in shorting Diamonds. In some variations of the game, the 10 or J of Diamonds subtracts points, in which case high Diamonds are preferred.

Balanced hands

Balanced hands (4-3-3-3 suit split) are undesirable because they make it difficult to clear a suit.

Clearing a suit

During play, a common strategy is to attempt to clear or short a suit, or to make a void in it so that potentially dangerous cards can be ruffed to future tricks of that suit. One or two cards in a suit are relatively easy to clear; while a 3- or 4-card suit can be cleared, doing so may exhaust most or all of the cards in that suit, making the clearing useless.

Early in a round of hearts, players often try to take the lead when they believe they can do so safely, because of the liberty offered by having the lead. Sometimes a player holding a doubleton King or Ace of Spades (but not also the Queen) will attempt a "finesse" by playing the King or Ace if third to play to a spade trick, in the hope that the fourth player is not the one who holds the Queen. Later, as penalty cards begin to emerge, players try to lose tricks. Often a player taking the lead late in a round of Hearts will be stuck with it.

Shooting the moon

The above criteria of desirability, one should note, only apply to a player not desiring to "shoot the moon". Otherwise, many of these criteria are reversed. A hand that appears doomed may be excellent for the purpose of moon-shooting.

The element of risk involved in shooting the moon is one of the appeals of the game, since a player may attempt to get all 26 points and fail by only getting 24 or 25, in which case the player suffers a massive penalty. This element provides much of the appeal of the game, along with the cutthroat aspect associated with a player holding the queen of spades possibly having the option of dropping it on another player's trick (sometimes called Q-bombing in slang). Often the player who has the fewest points (and is thus leading) is the one people try to give the queen to; however, there is always the risk of giving it to a player who then uses it as part of shooting the moon. Players must always be on the lookout for another player trying to shoot the moon, in the hopes that they can stop it. In addition, the element of passing cards allows players to attempt to control their destiny and influence that of their fellow players. Receiving a pass of low cards is a red flag that the other player is attempting to shoot the moon.