Hearts

Players and equipment

Four players, each for themselves, and a standard 52-card deck with no jokers. There are no trumps; aces are high and twos low. Three or five can play by removing cards so that everybody holds the same number: the two of diamonds for three, the two of diamonds and the two of clubs for five.

The deal

Deal the whole pack out one card at a time, thirteen each. Before play, every player passes three cards face down to another player, and the direction rotates: to the left on the first deal, to the right on the second, across on the third, and no pass at all on the fourth, then the cycle starts again. Choose and pass your own three before you pick up the three coming to you, so nobody passes on a card they have just received.

Play

Whoever holds the two of clubs leads it to the first trick, and play goes clockwise. Follow suit if you can; if you cannot, play anything you like, with two restrictions. No penalty card — a heart or the queen of spades — may be played on the first trick unless you hold nothing else. And hearts may not be led until they have been broken, which means somebody has already played a heart on an earlier trick when unable to follow suit; a player whose hand is nothing but hearts may lead one anyway. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick and leads the next one. Tricks are kept face down, because only the penalty cards in them count.

Scoring

They are penalty points: the lowest score wins.

Each heart

1

Thirteen in the deck

Queen of spades

13

The card the game is about

A deal

26

Every point is taken by somebody

Take all 26 and you have shot the moon, which scores you nothing and gives every other player 26. Some tables let the shooter subtract 26 from their own total instead — agree which before the first deal, because it decides the game when somebody is near 100.

A worked deal

Four players. When the tricks are turned over, Alice took five hearts and the queen, Ben took six hearts, Cara took two, and Dev took none.

Alice

18

Five hearts and the queen

Ben

6

Six hearts

Cara

2

Two hearts

Dev

0

Nothing

The four numbers add up to 26, which is the check to make before anybody writes them down. On the next deal Dev takes every heart and the queen and shoots the moon: Dev scores 0 and the other three score 26 each, so after two deals the totals are Alice 44, Ben 32, Cara 28, Dev 0. A moon is worth 78 points of difference in one deal, which is why the whole table watches for it.

Ending

Play until somebody reaches 100 or more at the end of a deal. Whoever has the fewest points at that moment wins. If two players tie for fewest, play another deal to settle it.

Passing

Pass what will hurt you, not what looks ugly. The ace and king of spades are the dangerous cards, because whoever holds them can be made to take the queen; pass them unless you hold four or more spades to hide them behind. The queen herself is safe to keep with plenty of small spades beside her and a liability without them. Keep the two of clubs, since leading the first trick is worth knowing about. If a suit is down to two cards or fewer, pass it away to make a void: a void lets you throw the queen or a high heart on the first trick of that suit somebody else leads.

Leading and following

Lead low cards in your long suits early, while everybody can still follow and no penalty card can land. Once hearts are broken, lead a suit somebody is void in only when you are sure the queen cannot come back to you. When a trick is plainly lost to somebody else, follow with your highest safe card: the trick is theirs, and you are unloading a card that would have won a later one.

The queen

Count the spades. Once the ace and king have gone, whoever holds the queen can lead her without fear; until then, never lead a spade above her, and do not lead spades at all if you hold her with fewer than three others. If you are going to take the queen anyway, take her early. A queen on the fifth trick is thirteen points; a queen on the thirteenth may come with a handful of hearts.

Shooting the moon

Try it when you hold a long, high run in one suit and the top hearts, and only when you hold the lead or can take it. It is off the moment any other player has taken a heart, so it is a bad bet late in a deal. Watching for it matters as much as trying it: if one player is winning every trick and looking pleased, take a heart. One heart costs you a point and saves you 26.

The jack of diamonds

The jack of diamonds is a bonus card worth minus ten to whoever takes it, which makes the deal total 16 rather than 26. Say out loud that it is on before the first deal, because it changes what you pass: the jack becomes a card worth keeping.

Black Maria

Black Maria is the British form, usually three-handed. The king of spades costs ten and the ace seven beside the queen's thirteen, a heart is still one, and the pass is always three cards to the right. It has its own page and its own scorecard here.

The moon, other ways

Some tables let the shooter choose between scoring nothing and subtracting 26; some refuse the subtraction when it would end the game in the shooter's favour. Omnibus Hearts adds the jack of diamonds and lets a player take all fourteen penalty cards and the jack together — shooting the sun.

No pass

Play with no passing at all, or pass to the left on every deal. With no pass the deals are quicker and luck counts for more.

A different finish line

Play to 50 for a short game, to 150 for a long one, or a fixed number of deals — four, one round of the passing cycle, is common. Agree it before you start. Keeping score on SquareScores, set it as the target and the app ends the game at the line.

Three and five players

With three, remove the two of diamonds; with five, remove the two of diamonds and the two of clubs, and whoever holds the three of clubs leads. Some tables instead deal the spare cards face down as a kitty that goes to whoever takes the first heart.

Can you lead hearts on the first trick?

No. Hearts cannot be led until they have been broken — played by somebody who could not follow suit on an earlier trick — and no penalty card may be played on the first trick at all. The one exception is a player whose hand is nothing but hearts, who may lead one.

What is shooting the moon?

Taking every penalty card in one deal: all thirteen hearts and the queen of spades. The shooter scores nothing and every other player scores 26. Some tables let the shooter subtract 26 from their own score instead. Miss by a single heart and you have simply taken 25 points.

Can you play the queen of spades on the first trick?

Not under the standard rules: no penalty card may be played on the first trick, and the queen is one. If you cannot follow the two of clubs and hold nothing but penalty cards, you may play one.

Does the lowest score win?

Yes. Every point in Hearts is a penalty. The game ends when somebody reaches 100, and the player with the fewest points at that moment wins.

How many players can play Hearts?

Four is the game. Three or five can play by removing a card or two from the pack so the deal comes out even, and six can play in three pairs or with two decks. Two-player Hearts exists but plays as a different game.

What is the pass for?

It gives you a say in the hand you were dealt. You get rid of the cards most likely to cost you points and, if you are planning to shoot the moon, keep the cards that will win tricks. On the fourth deal of the cycle nobody passes.

Is the queen of spades a heart?

No, but she is a penalty card and scores thirteen, as much as all the hearts together. Playing her does not break hearts; only a heart does.