How to Play Hearts
How to Play Hearts
Hearts is a clever four-player card game where you try to avoid taking unwanted points. You need a normal deck of cards, and you can find a regular deck of playing cards from Playmore. This guide uses one common Classic Black Lady version; house rules can vary, so agree on differences before you begin.
Quick facts
| What to know | Classic Black Lady rule |
|---|---|
| Players | 4, playing individually |
| Cards | One standard 52-card deck |
| Cards per player | 13 |
| Goal | Finish with the fewest points |
| Penalty cards | Each heart is 1 point; the queen of spades is 13 |
| Usual finish | Stop after a hand leaves someone at 100 or more points |
What you are trying to do
Your goal is to have the lowest score when the game ends. Hearts are penalty cards, meaning they add points you would rather avoid. The queen of spades, often nicknamed the Black Lady, is especially dangerous because it adds 13 points by itself.
During each hand, players play cards into groups of four called tricks. A trick is one card played by each person. You usually do not want to win tricks containing hearts or the queen of spades. That sounds simple, but you must follow the suit led whenever you can, so you cannot always choose which trick you take.
What you need
Use a standard 52-card deck with four suits: clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. There are no jokers and no trump suit. A trump suit would beat the other suits, but Hearts has none.
You also need a way to record scores. Paper and a pencil work well, but a notes app is fine too. Give each player a name or initials and leave room to add the points from every hand.
Set it up
Choose a dealer. Deal all 52 cards one at a time, face down, going clockwise. Each player receives 13 cards. Everyone may arrange their hand by suit, then by rank. In each suit, ace is high and two is low.
Before the first trick, each player chooses three cards and passes them face down to the player on the left. Select and place your three cards before looking at the three cards coming to you. On the next hand, pass three cards to the right. On the third hand, pass three cards across the table to the opposite player. On the fourth hand, nobody passes. Repeat this left, right, across, hold cycle for later hands.
How to play
- Find the opening card. After the pass, the player holding the two of clubs leads it to the first trick. “Lead” means playing the first card in a trick.
- Follow the suit. Going clockwise, each player plays one card. If clubs were led and you have a club, you must play a club. If you do not have one, you are called void in clubs, which simply means you have none, and you may play a card from another suit.
- Remember the first-trick restriction. In the opening trick, a player who cannot follow clubs may not discard a heart or the queen of spades. This keeps the first trick from becoming an easy dump of the most dangerous cards. If those are the only cards you can play, show that you are forced to use one.
- Resolve the trick. The highest card in the suit that was led wins. For example, if diamonds were led, the highest diamond wins, even if another player played a high spade or heart. The winner gathers the four cards face down and leads the next trick.
- Watch for broken hearts. You may not lead a heart until a heart has been discarded on an earlier trick. Discarding a heart is called breaking hearts. The queen of spades does not break hearts in this version. If your hand contains only hearts when it is your turn to lead, you may lead a heart anyway.
- Lead carefully. After the first trick, you may lead any suit except hearts until hearts are broken. You may lead the queen of spades at any time, but it is usually wise to wait until you can place it on a trick someone else must win.
- Finish the hand. Continue until all 13 tricks have been played. Keep your collected tricks together so everyone can count the penalty cards accurately.
How you win
At the end of the hand, each player counts the hearts in their tricks. Each heart is worth 1 point. Whoever took the queen of spades adds 13 points. The other cards are worth nothing. Write each player’s hand total beside their running score.
A special move is called shooting the moon. If one player captured all 13 hearts and the queen of spades, that player took all 26 penalty points. In this version, the shooter subtracts 26 points from their own running score instead of adding them. This can make a bold hand worthwhile, but it is difficult and should not be attempted casually.
Deal another hand, using the next passing direction, unless someone has reached or passed 100 points. When that happens, the game ends after the hand is scored. The player with the lowest total score wins. If two players tie for the lowest score, play another hand to settle it.
Easy first-game tips
High cards are not automatically good or bad. A high card can win a trick, while a low card can help you avoid winning. Try to get rid of suits in which you have only a few cards. Once you are out of a suit, you can discard a heart or the queen of spades when another suit is led.
Pay attention to which hearts and spades have already appeared. The queen of spades is safer when the ace and king of spades are gone, or when you are void in the suit someone leads. When passing, consider sending away high cards that might force you to win tricks. Also remember that every player is trying to avoid points, so do not assume another person will rescue you.
For a first game, focus on following suit correctly and counting points carefully. Strategy will become much easier after you have seen a few hands.
Quick questions
Can I play any card if I do not have the led suit?
Yes, you may play any card from another suit, except that in this version you cannot discard a heart or the queen of spades on the first trick unless you have no legal alternative.
Who wins Hearts?
The player with the lowest score wins when another player reaches or passes 100 points at the end of a hand.