Hearts♠

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History and selected rules

Hearts is documented from the late nineteenth century; these sources do not establish an individual inventor. Select American individual Hearts for 4 with the queen of spades. Tricks are not the objective: avoid penalty cards. Use 52 cards without jokers, A high then K–Q–J–10–9–8–7–6–5–4–3–2, no trumps.

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Setup and deal

Choose the first dealer randomly and rotate clockwise thereafter. Deal singly, 13 each. Before play, everyone selects 3 cards to pass face down: first deal left, second right, third opposite, fourth no passing; repeat the cycle. Commit your outgoing cards before inspecting incoming cards. Any cards may be passed.

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Playing a hand

Holder of 2♣ must lead it. Proceed clockwise, following suit; when void discard anything, except the first trick forbids hearts and Q♠ when any nonpenalty card is available. With only penalty cards, discarding one is allowed. Highest led-suit card wins and leads next.

Do not lead hearts until a heart was discarded on a previous trick, unless holding only hearts. Here Q♠ does not break hearts; it may be discarded later or led after the first trick. You need not overtake. Keep each player’s tricks separate until all 13 are scored.

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Complete scoring

Each captured heart scores 1 penalty, Q♠ scores 13, normally totalling 26. If one player captures every penalty card, score 0 for that player and 26 for each opponent: our moon rule offers no subtraction option. After a complete deal, if anyone reaches 100 or more, lowest total wins. Tied lowest scores share victory. Other tables let Q♠ break hearts or subtract a moon; those changes do not apply here.

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Worked example

After the first trick, K♣ is led. You have no clubs and discard Q♠. If 4♣ and A♣ follow, the ace captures Q♠ and its 13 points; the queen is not trump. Hearts remain unbroken unless a heart was discarded earlier.

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Common questions