Contents
Hearts Basics
How to Play Hearts
Basic Hearts Strategy
Hearts Variations
Hearts with Scoring the
Jack of Diamonds
Hearts with Shooting the Sun
Cancellation Hearts
Domino Hearts
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How to Play Hearts
Number of Players
Though hearts may be played by 3–7 players, the game is usually best when played with four players. Some variations on the basic game of hearts allow you to play with different numbers of people: two players may play domino hearts, while six or more players may play cancellation hearts.
Cards
Hearts is played with a standard deck of 52 cards. Within each suit, the cards are ranked from highest to lowest:
The card ranking determines which card wins a trick: the highest card played in a trick takes the trick. In addition to card rankings, certain cards have particular importance because they’re worth points.
- Hearts: The most important suit in hearts is, not surprisingly, hearts. Each heart is worth one point.
-
The queen of spades: Also called
the black maria (though pronounced “mariah”), the
is worth 13 points. Because it’s worth so many points,
the is generally considered to be
the worst card in the deck. 
Because the goal of hearts is to end up with as few points as possible, players usually try to avoid winning tricks that contain any hearts or the . The sole exception is when a player tries to shoot the moon, a tactic described later in this section under “Scoring in Hearts.”
. The sole exception is when a player tries to shoot the moon, a tactic described later in this section under “Scoring in Hearts.”The Deal
Dealing in hearts involves a few steps: determining the dealer
for the first round, cutting the cards, dealing the cards, and then passing the deal in each subsequent round.
- Determine the dealer for the first round: Before play begins, each player draws a card from the deck. Whoever draws the lowest card deals the first round.
- Cut the cards: The player to the dealer’s right cuts the cards.
- Deal the cards: Beginning with the player to the dealer’s left, the dealer deals the cards face down, clockwise around the table. An equal number of cards are dealt to each player. With four players, all of the cards are dealt (each player gets 13 cards). With any other number of players, any extra cards are placed face down in a separate pile called the kitty. For example, in a three-player game of hearts, 17 cards are dealt to each player, and the one remaining card is placed in the kitty.
- Pass the deal in subsequent rounds: After the first round, the deal passes clockwise around the table.
Passing Cards
After the cards have been dealt, each player gets to look at his or her cards, identify the three worst, and pass on those three cards to an opponent. Depending on the round, the three cards are passed to a different person:
- Pass left: For the first round, each player passes the three cards to the player on his or her left.
- Pass right: For the second round, each player passes the three cards to the player on his or her right.
- Pass across (four players only): For the third round, each player passes three cards to the player directly across the table. If you’re playing with fewer or more than four players, skip this type of pass and move on to the “keeper” round.
- Keeper: For this round, players pass no cards.
This cycle is repeated until the end of the game. For instance,
if you’re playing with four people and want to play a fifth round, that’s a pass left round.
Hearts Game Play
A game of hearts includes a number of rounds—the exact number varies by the game. Each round is made up of a number of tricks (the exact number depends on how many people are playing) and follows the same basic pattern:
- Lead
- After the lead
- Winning the trick
- Playing the next trick
- End of the round
Lead
A trick in Hearts begins when a player leads. A player leads by placing a card from his or her hand face up in the middle of the table. For the first trick only, the player with the two of clubs must lead. Subsequent tricks are led by the winner of the previous trick. Until someone has played a heart on a previous trick, hearts may not be led.
After the Lead
Play then proceeds clockwise around the table until every player has played a card. Each player places a card face up next to the led card, following these rules:
- If you have one or more cards of the same suit as the led card, you must play that suit.
- If you don’t have a card of the same suit as the led card, you may play any card.
On the first trick only, you may not play a heart or the unless these are your only cards.
unless these are your only cards.Winning the Trick
The highest card played of the led suit wins the trick. Whoever wins takes all of the cards in the trick and places them face down at his or her side. If there is a kitty, the player who wins the first trick must first show the cards in the kitty to all the other players, then take those cards as well as the cards from the first trick.
Playing the Next Trick
The player who wins the trick then leads the next trick. Play once again proceeds clockwise, with each player following the rules about which card to play (outlined in “After the Lead,” earlier), until all players have played a card and a winner is determined. Then play moves into the next trick, and so on.
End of a Round
A round of hearts is complete when all cards have been played. At the end of the round, each player tallies up the points that he or she has won during the round. Then the deal passes clockwise, and a new round begins.
Scoring in Hearts
At the end of each round, all players’ scores are tallied, with each player trying to score as few points as possible.
Scoring a Round
When a round is completed, each player looks at all of the cards he or she has won during the round and scores them as follows:
- Hearts: 1 point per card
- Queen of spades: 13 points
The total points for each player are then recorded. Points from later rounds are added to previous rounds for a
grand total.
Shooting the Moon
There is one exception to the general scoring rules of hearts. If a player manages to win all of the hearts and the during a round, he or she is said to have shot the moon. Rather than being stuck with 26 points, a player who successfully shoots the moon can select one of two options:
during a round, he or she is said to have shot the moon. Rather than being stuck with 26 points, a player who successfully shoots the moon can select one of two options:- Subtract 26 points from his or her own score.
- Add 26 points to the score of every other player.
Shooting the moon creates a great deal of the excitement in hearts. It’s a bold and high-risk tactic: successfully shooting the moon can be devastating to your opponents, but trying and failing to shoot the moon can be devastating to your own score. For instance, if you end up with the queen of spades and 12 of the 13 hearts, rather than having shot the moon, you’ve just tacked 25 points onto your score.
Winning the Game
As soon as at least one player’s score reaches 100 points, the game is over. Whoever has the lowest score at this point is declared the winner. If two or more players are tied for the lowest score, the game has multiple winners.
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