Hearts
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Hearts is a card game of trick-taking, played with a standard 52-card poker deck, that bears some resemblance to Spades.
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[edit] Requirements
- 3 to 5 players, ideally four
- a 52-card poker deck of playing cards (no jokers)
- pen and paper for scorekeeping
[edit] Game play
All the cards are dealt out to each player evenly; if there are three or five players, one or two cards are left face down in the middle as a "kitty" so that each player ends up with the same number of cards.
Whoever has the 2 of clubs leads the first "trick", or round of play, by laying that card face up in the center of the table. The player to his left then follows by playing a card of the suit that was led (in this case, a club), if she has one. If she has none, she may play any other card (however, many tables forbid the playing of hearts or the queen of spades on the first trick; see Variants.) Once each player has played a card, the player who laid the highest card of the suit led takes the trick and lays it aside, face down. (If there is a kitty, he takes one or all of the cards from it as well.) He then proceeds to lead the next trick with a card of his choice from his hand. However, no player can lead with a heart until "hearts have been broken," i.e. until hearts have been played and taken in a trick. Play continues in this way until everyone's hand has been exhausted. Points are tallied, the deck is reshuffled, and the player to the left of the previous dealer deals a new hand. Usually, the game ends when one player's score exceeds some predetermined limit such as 100 or 200 points.
[edit] Object
The object of the game is to be the player with the least amount of points in the end (when a player reaches a pre-determined score, usually 100). Every heart taken in a trick is one point. In addition, the queen of spades (the "Black Lady") carries 13 points. In a common variation, the jack of diamonds subtracts ten points. However, if one player can succeed in getting all the cards that carry points - all the hearts plus the queen of spades -- that player gets no points, and every other player gets 26 points. This is known as "running" or "shooting the moon".
[edit] Variants
Hearts is a game with several variations, any of which can be combined to form a number of variants. To avoid disputes, the question of which of these rules are in effect should be decided before starting a game.
[edit] Passing
After a hand is dealt, but before the first trick is played, each player passes three cards to another player in the following order:
- Three players:
- Pass to the left
- Pass to the right
- "Hold hand" (do not pass)
- Four players:
- Pass to the left
- Pass to the right
- Pass across the table
- "Hold hand" (do not pass)
- Five players:
- Pass to the left
- Pass to the right
- Pass two places to the left
- Pass two places to the right
- "Hold hand" (do not pass)
At which point, the cycle begins again.
[edit] The Kitty and the First Trick
If there aren't four players, there will be a "kitty" containing the remainder of the cards after the deal. These cards are taken with the first few tricks. At some tables, the first trick takes one card, and the second trick takes the next, until the kitty is exhausted. At others, the first trick takes all the cards in the kitty.
Also, some tables regard the first trick to be "safe"; that is, no one can play hearts on that trick. However, this does not prevent the player who takes the first trick from taking ("eating") a heart, or even the queen of spades, if she takes one from the kitty.
Alternately, if there are three or six players, the two Jokers can be added to the deck so there is no kitty. If five people are playing, a third joker from another deck can be used. Jokers in this game are usually played as valueless cards that always follow suit, but cannot win a trick and do not count as points even if they would technically count as a heart when played.
[edit] Shortened deck variant
In some variants the 3 of clubs is disgarded in three player games and the 3 of clubs and diamonds in five player games. In this variant the first trick is always safe.
[edit] The Queen of Spades and the Jack of Diamonds
In addition to hearts counting as points, the Queen of Spades, known as the Black Lady, is virtually always a penalty card, costing the player who wins the trick in which it is played 13 points. Thus there are 26 penalty points to be given out each hand, half of them on a single card. Optional, but still common, is to make the Jack of Diamonds a bonus card; the player winning the trick containing this card subtracts ten penalty points from their score.
[edit] Strategy
Here are strategies for winning at Hearts.
[edit] Passing cards
One of the most important parts of hearts is knowing what cards to pass. You want to get rid of the most dangerous parts of your hand and if possible short suit yourself. Shortsuiting yourself means having no cards in one suit. You should never try to short suit yourself of spades below the Queen. If you have five or more low spades then you do not have to worry if you have any of the high spades and should concentrate on discarding another suit.
[edit] Keep track of the cards played
[edit] Count hearts
On the first hearts trick after hearts are broken, somebody will most likely lead a low heart, like 4, 3, or 2. If you are leading, lead low. The other players will use up their low hearts trying to lose the trick. If you lead a middle card, it is likely you will get the hearts. On the second heart trick, it is usually safe to lead a middle card, like 5, 6, 7, 8 because the lower cards have been used up. To get rid of the high hearts, discard them on other tricks.
[edit] High cards and low cards
[edit] Avoiding the Queen
The two and most apparent rules to avoid the Queen are to either avoid having the King and Ace of spades or to get rid of them as quickly as possible by either discarding or playing them when all the other players have already played. You will not have to worry about them if you have a long suit of spades or you have the Queen of Spades though it may still be useful to get rid of them as they are high cards. In the passing you should never throw away spades below the Queen of Spades.
However, there is one thing you need to watch out for. If people are dealt or passed the QS short (i.e. with few other spades,) they will try to shortsuit and play the Queen when someone leads the suit. This is probably the main reason to not lay high if possible unless you are shooting the moon and want the Queen or are the last person in the lineup and the QS hasn't been played.
[edit] Getting the Jack
To get the Jack of Diamonds, which subtracts 10 points from your score, you should keep your high diamonds. If you have the Jack, you should not pass it away. While playing, when someone leads a diamond, play one of your lower diamonds. If the Jack appears, you should take it with one of your higher diamonds. If you have the Jack, do not lead it unless all of the higher diamonds have already been played. You will not get the Jack by leading other suits because the holder of it will obviously not discard it unless he is forced to, on the last trick.
[edit] Shooting the Moon
Shooting the moon is when you to win all the hearts and the Queen of spades. If you succeed you gain no points that round and every other player gains 26 points. It is extremly diffcult to shoot the moon without most of the high hearts, the Queen of Spades and possibly a long suit. A variant is Shooting the Sun, when you win all of the tricks, then the other players get 52 points.
[edit] Cheating at Hearts
It is not easy to cheat at hearts due to the common practice of dealing each card one at a time. However there are two main methods, the first being to look at the cards that are passed to you before you discard your cards. The second is to shuffle low hearts to the top of the pack and then deal them to yourself. You should be wary of anyone who collects low hearts at the end of a round or who shuffles so that they can see the faces of the cards.
