Barbu-King

Polish Hearts with varied contracts.

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How to play — Barbu-King

Barbu-King online for 4 players — free, in your browser, no sign-up needed (you play as a guest right away). Join a table or open your own.

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  1. In short

    Polish Hearts is a card game for four players, each playing alone. A match is made of successive deals, and each deal has different scoring rules. The highest total wins.

  2. Common rules

    Four players play alone, 13 cards each from a full deck. In a trick everyone plays one card. Follow suit if you can, otherwise you may play any card. With no trump, the highest card of the suit led wins, in order from ace to two. The winner of a trick leads the next.

  3. Seven negative deals

    The penalties apply in turn: no tricks, minus 20 per trick; no hearts, minus 20 per heart; no queens, minus 60 per queen; no kings or jacks, minus 30 each; no king of hearts, minus 150 for that card; no seventh or last trick, minus 75 for each; robber, all the previous penalties combined. The player taking the trick receives its card penalties.

    Cards from the penalties: the king of hearts (−150), the queens (−60 each), and the kings and jacks, the “gentlemen” (−30 each).

  4. Leading restrictions

    In the deals with no hearts, no king of hearts, and in the robber, you may not lead a heart if you hold a card of another suit. This restriction applies to leading, not to following in a trick already started.

  5. Trump deals

    If enabled, after the negative part come four deals at plus 25 points per trick. The dealer chooses the trump after seeing only the first five cards, and gets the rest later. The highest trump takes the trick, but if you cannot follow suit you do not have to play a trump.

  6. The lottery

    The lottery, if enabled, adds a final deal with laying out sequences instead of tricks. The dealer lays down any card, setting the shared starting value for all suits. Add the card directly below or above at the end of a sequence of the same suit, or open another suit with a card of the starting value. With no legal card, your turn is skipped automatically. The first player out of cards gets 800 points, the second 500, and when the third goes out the deal ends.

  7. The end of the match

    After all enabled deals, the highest score wins. An equal top score gives a shared win. 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, and the others win.