Hearts
How to Play Hearts
Hearts is a four-player trick-taking game with a nasty twist: you do not want the tricks. Each heart is 1 point. The queen of spades is 13. The round has 26 points in it. When somebody's running total hits 100, the lowest score wins. Think golf, not euchre.
This page is a kitchen-table first night. Deal a real pack, pass three cards, and finish a game. After that, the interactive hearts lessons and practice table on CardPractice are there so the Black Lady stops feeling like a jump scare.
What you need for game night
- Four people. Nobody has a partner. Everyone is trying to stay out of the way.
- A standard 52-card deck. No jokers. Twos through aces in all four suits.
- Paper for four running totals. First to 100 does not win. First to 100 ends it.
Deal thirteen, then pass three
Shuffle. Deal the whole pack clockwise until each player has 13 cards. There is no leftover kitty. Look at your hand, then pick three cards to pass before anyone sees what they are about to receive.
Passing rotates each round:
- Pass left.
- Pass right.
- Pass across.
- Hold. Nobody passes. You play the hand you were dealt.
Night-one throws: high cards in a short suit (so you can void it), the queen of spades if you do not have a pile of low spades to duck under her, and the ace or king of hearts if they look lonely. Keep low cards. A 2 or 3 is how you lose a trick on purpose.
The 2 of clubs starts, then you follow suit
Whoever holds the 2 of clubs leads it. That is the first trick, every round, no vote.
After that, the winner of a trick leads the next one. You must follow the suit that was led if you have one. There is no trump. The highest card of the led suit wins, even if someone dumped the ace of hearts on a club lead.
If you are void in the led suit, you may play anything. That is when hearts and the queen of spades leave your hand and land on somebody else's pile.
Two house calls before the first card
Most Midwest tables agree on these before they deal:
- No points on the first trick. You may not play a heart or the queen of spades on the 2-of-clubs trick unless those are the only cards you have left in that suit situation. This is very common, not a law of physics.
- Hearts stay locked until they are broken. You cannot lead a heart until a heart has already been discarded on a previous trick. If hearts are the only suit remaining in your hand, you may lead them anyway.
Some groups treat the queen of spades as the card that also breaks hearts. Say it out loud. Then play.
What the points actually are
| Card | Points |
|---|---|
| Each heart (2 through ace) | 1 |
| Queen of spades | 13 |
| Everything else | 0 |
| Whole round | 26 |
The ace of spades and king of spades are not worth points. They are still dangerous, because they often win the trick that contains the queen. Full chart: Hearts scoring.
Shooting the moon
If one player takes all 13 hearts and the queen of spades, they shot the moon. They score 0 for the round. Everyone else gets 26. That is the whole swing. Miss even one heart, and you keep the pile you collected.
First-night advice: do not try it unless the hand already looks like you will win a lot of tricks anyway. Stopping someone else is easier. Take one heart and their moon is dead. When a moon is actually on, read shooting the moon.
Walk through one first-night hand
You were dealt a pile of low clubs, three low hearts, the 9 of spades, and no diamonds. You pass left: ace of hearts, king of hearts, and a stray high diamond. You receive three clubs. You are now void in diamonds.
West has the 2 of clubs and leads it. You play a middle club and stay under. Later, someone leads a diamond. You have none. You dump a heart. Hearts are broken. The queen of spades is still out.
When spades get led, you play the 9 if that loses the trick. You are hunting zero, not style points. If the queen falls on a diamond trick because you were void, that is a good night.
Night-one strategy
- Void a suit in the pass if you can. Dumping points only works when you cannot follow.
- Keep low cards so you can duck under the queen and under hearts after they break.
- Do not lead a spade until you have a guess where the queen is sitting.
- Watch the player who is happily taking hearts. They might be shooting. Bleed one point onto your pile if you have to.
You know enough to play. Keep the cheat sheet nearby, then the hearts lessons and practice table. Seeing every hand is not cheating here. It is how the queen stops being a mystery.