Hearts

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup (4 players)
4. Passing cards
5. Playing a deal
6. Scoring
7. Winning the game
8. Other numbers of players
9. Tips for beginners
10. Variants

Overview

Hearts is a trick-avoidance game: instead of trying to win tricks, you try not to win the wrong cards. A trick is one card from each player; the highest card of the suit led wins all of them. Every heart you win costs you 1 penalty point, and the Queen of Spades costs 13. Before each deal you may pass three unwanted cards to another player. The game ends when someone reaches 100 points – the player with the fewest points wins. But beware: whoever takes all the penalty cards "shoots the moon" and turns the tables.

• Players: 3–6, best with 4. Everyone plays for themselves.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers, paper and pencil.

The cards

In every suit the cards rank from high to low: A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2. There are no trumps – only the suit that was led can win a trick.

Penalty cards:

In one deal there are exactly 26 penalty points.

Setup (4 players)

1. Dealer: choose the first dealer at random; after each deal the next player to the left deals.
2. Deal: shuffle, and deal all the cards one at a time, face down and clockwise, starting with the player to the dealer's left. Everyone gets 13 cards – their hand.

For 3, 5 or 6 players, see Other numbers of players below.

Passing cards

After looking at your cards, choose three cards and pass them face down to another player. The direction changes every deal:

Then the cycle starts again. Put your three cards down before you pick up the ones passed to you.

Passing is your chance to get rid of dangerous cards – the Q♠, high spades (A♠, K♠, which can catch the Queen), and high hearts – or to become void in a suit (have no cards in it), so you can later throw penalty cards away.

Playing a deal

1. First trick: the player holding the 2♣ must lead it (play it as the first card).
2. The others play one card each, clockwise. You must follow suit – play a card of the suit that was led – if you can. If you can't, you may play any card; this is the moment to discard (throw away) a heart or the Q♠.
3. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick. Cards of other suits never win, however high they are.
4. The winner puts the trick face down in front of them and leads to the next trick.

Special rules:

• No penalty cards on the first trick. Even if you have no clubs, you may not play a heart or the Q♠ to the first trick – unless you have nothing else.
• Breaking hearts: you may not lead a heart until a heart has been discarded on an earlier trick (this is called breaking hearts). Exception: if you have only hearts left, you may lead one.
• The Q♠ and other spades may be led at any time (after the first trick).

Play all 13 tricks. Then everyone counts the penalty points in the tricks they won.

Example: Anna leads the 5♦. Ben plays the K♦, Carla the 9♦. Dan has no diamonds and discards the Q♠. Ben played the highest diamond, so Ben wins the trick – and 13 penalty points.

Scoring

Everyone writes down their penalty points: 1 per heart, 13 for the Q♠. Points add up from deal to deal.

Shooting the moon: if one player wins all 13 hearts and the Q♠, they score nothing for them. Instead the shooter chooses: either 26 points are subtracted from their own score, or each other player gets 26 points.

Example: At the end of a deal, Anna has 3 hearts, Ben 1 heart, Carla the Q♠ and 5 hearts, Dan 4 hearts. Scores: Anna 3, Ben 1, Carla 18, Dan 4 – total 26. Next deal, Dan wins every heart and the Q♠. He chooses to give Anna, Ben and Carla 26 points each; his own score does not change.

Winning the game

The game ends when at least one player has 100 points or more at the end of a deal. The player with the fewest points wins. If there is a tie for the lowest score, play more deals until there is a clear winner.

Other numbers of players

Remove the cards below so that everyone gets the same number; the rest works as for four players.

Passing: with 3 or 5 players, pass to the left, then to the right, then not at all, and repeat. With 6 players, pass to the player 1, 2, 3, 4 and then 5 seats to your left, then not at all.

Tips for beginners

• Keep low cards: a hand full of 2s, 3s and 4s rarely wins tricks.
• If you don't hold the Q♠ yourself, lead low spades to "smoke out" the Queen – whoever holds it may be forced to play it.
• A void is valuable: once you can't follow suit, you can discard the Q♠ or high hearts.
• Watch for a moon shot: if one player is collecting all the hearts, make sure someone else takes at least one.

Variants

• Fixed moon scoring: at some tables the shooter always subtracts 26, or the others always get 26 – unless that would end the game without the shooter in the lead; then the shooter subtracts 26 instead.
• Omnibus Hearts: the J♦ counts −10 points (a bonus) for whoever wins it.
• Hearts can be led any time – the older rule, without breaking hearts.
• Penalty cards on the first trick are allowed in some circles.
• Black Maria (British version): usually 3 players with the 2♣ removed, 17 cards each; cards are always passed to the right; the player to the dealer's left leads anything, and hearts may be led at any time. Some also count the K♠ as 10 and the A♠ as 7 penalty points.
• Spot Hearts: each heart counts its face value (2 to 10, J 11, Q 12, K 13, A 14), the Q♠ 25 – play to 500.
• Papayoo style (after the French game Papayoo, Gigamic 2010, which has its own deck): hearts count their face value as in Spot Hearts, but the Q♠ counts nothing. After passing, roll a die – 1–2 spades, 3–4 diamonds, 5–6 clubs: the 7 of that suit counts 40 points this hand. Everyone passes 5 cards to the left with 3 or 4 players, 4 with 5 and 3 with 6; the dealer leads, and anything may be led at any time. No shooting the moon; play an agreed number of hands.