Hearts

Avoid hearts and the queen of spades. Or take them all.

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How to play — Hearts

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  1. In short

    Hearts is a card game for four players, each playing alone. You win tricks, taking the cards played, but it is best to avoid hearts and the queen of spades because they score penalty points. The lowest score wins.

  2. The deal and tricks

    Four players play with a full deck, 13 cards each. A trick is four cards, one played by each player in turn. Avoid taking hearts and the queen of spades, because they score penalty points.

    An example trick with no penalty cards: 7♦ is led, the others add 2♦, K♦ and 9♦. K♦ takes the trick as the highest card of the suit led.

  3. Passing cards

    If passing is on, before the tricks begin you choose three cards to give away. The direction changes each deal: left, right, across, and then one deal without passing. You receive your cards only after everyone has confirmed their choices.

  4. Playing the tricks

    The holder of the two of clubs starts and must lead it. Follow suit if you can. Otherwise you may discard another suit. There is no trump. The highest card of the suit led takes the trick, and the winner leads the next one. The ace is highest, the two lowest.

  5. Heart restrictions

    In the first trick you may not play hearts or the queen of spades if there is a legal card without penalty points. Do not lead a heart until hearts are broken, that is, until someone has discarded a heart on a trick of another suit. The exception is a hand made up only of hearts.

  6. Points and winning

    Each heart taken scores 1 point and the queen of spades 13.

    Penalty cards: the queen of spades (13 points) and every heart (1 point).

    If you take all 26 points in a deal, you score zero and the others get 26 each. With the jack of diamonds option on, it subtracts 10 from its taker's score. After a deal in which someone reaches the set threshold, the match ends and the lowest total wins. So reaching the threshold does not mean winning.

  7. When someone leaves

    There is no resigning. Leaving a game in progress, or running out of time, is a forfeit by that player and ends the game for the whole table. The others win.