How to Play Hearts, the Card Game

You're hanging out with three friends on a Friday night and looking for a card game to play. You've played too many games of Bridge, Euchre, and Canasta to count. But what about Hearts?

This fast-paced, trick avoidance game is beloved for its easy setup and deceptively simple gameplay. In this guide, we'll walk you step-by-step through how to play Hearts card game from dealing out cards to winning the game.

How to Play the Hearts Card Game Step-by-Step

Whether you're new to card games or an old hand, Hearts is an easy game to get into and a rewarding game to master. Let's jump into how to play the game!

Setup and Goal of the Game

Hearts is a card game where the goal is to have the lowest score. You can do this by avoiding certain cards that carry penalty points, like those with the Heart suit and the Queen of Spades. The game will end when any player hits 100 points; the lowest-scoring player wins.

For the classic version of the game, bring four people together and grab a standard 52-card deck without Jokers. There are also variations for Hearts games with 2-11 players, where you'll respectively remove or add different ranks of cards (including Jokers) from and to the deck.

Dealing and Card Passing Rules

With the standard four-player Hearts game, you will shuffle and deal out 52 cards face down clockwise to each player until everyone has 13 cards. Next, you'll enter a passing phase which happens after you deal before each round begins.

Here's how each passing phase works for each deal:

• First deal: player selects three cards from hand and passes them face down to the player on the left. Replace those with cards received by the person to the right of you.
• Second deal: Three cards are passed to the right.
• Third deal: Three cards are passed to the player opposite you
• Fourth deal: No passing, each person must play with the original dealt cards
• Repeat this cycle until one or more players hit 100 points.
• When passing, prioritize losing high-ranking cards or the Queen of Spades to improve your hand and raise other players' scores.

Trick-Taking Rules and How to Score

Hearts may be slightly more complicated than your favorite card games, but we'll help make sense of it. Let's go through the steps of a trick after the deal.

1. Whoever is holding the 2 of Clubs after the pass will start the trick. A trick is a term for a single round of play in which each player .
2. Each person must then play cards of the same suit. If they are void (don't have one) of the suit led, a card of any other suit may be played. A common exception is that no player can play a Heart card or the Queen of Spades on the first trick unless the player who leads has no alternative, or the only alternative, the Queen of Spades. Otherwise, you have to wait until the suit is "broken." That is when the first heart card is played in a trick where another suit was led.
3. After each player puts down a card, the highest-ranking card in the led suit will win the whole trick.
4. That player will then remove any penalty cards (any card of the heart suit and the queen of spades), laying them face-up, and discard the rest of the cards face-down into a waste pile.
5. That player will then lead the next trick after shuffling and going through another passing phase.

And here's how scoring penalty points at the end of a hand works:

• Each Heart card = 1 point
• Queen of Spades = 13 points
• Shooting the Moon = If a player wins all of the penalty cards (13 hearts and Queen of Spades), that player scores zero, and all opponents add 26 points.

How to Win at Hearts — Beginner Strategies

In this next section, we'll discuss beginner strategies for winning at Hearts, including what cards you should pass and which ones you should keep, how to avoid points, and when you should shoot the moon.

What to Pass and What to Keep

You may wonder what you should pass and what you should keep, and it will depend on what you have in your hand. But here are a few helpful tips about which individual suits and cards to pass/keep, and even in some cases, when to do so.

What to Pass

• All (or all high) cards of a suit you want to void.
• High-ranking heart cards if you don't have many low cards.
• King of Spades, Ace of Spades
• Queen of Spades (unless you have at least four spades) - When passing to the right (during the second deal)
• Aces of any suit - When passing left (first deal),

What to Keep

• Ace of Hearts - A way to shoot the moon or stop someone else's shot
• Ace of Clubs - Guarantees that you will win the first trick
• Low-ranking Hearts - You'll need them
• Low cards in common suits unless you can void those suits
• Balance of different suits for flexibility.

Avoiding Points During Play

In contrast with many other card games, winning in Hearts requires avoiding points. That can be hard to understand at first, but by carefully watching the game, you'll know the best times to avoid penalty points. Here are a few examples:

• Use low-ranking cards to avoid winning tricks
• Pay attention to the suits being voided and respond when passing
• Don't lead with Hearts until they've been broken
• Discard unwanted cards when it's safest, especially if another player is dominating.

Recognizing When to Shoot the Moon

One of the highest-risk, highest-reward moves you can make in Hearts is to Shoot the Moon. This is when a player captures all heart cards and the Queen of Spades in a single round. It's a big, very uncommon move, and one that could help you win. But you can almost instantly lose if you can't capture all of them. Here are a few tips about when you should try and when to abort shooting for the moon:

Best Times to Try

• You have most of the high-ranking hearts cards (10-A) and a long suit (7+ cards in one suit besides hearts), including an ace or one or two other high-ranking cards
• You're being passed useful cards

When to Abort

• Not enough high-ranking hearts cards
• No long suit
• Not guaranteed to win every trick you lead
• You sense someone blocking you (Repeatedly passing low cards or leading with high cards of one suit is a tell)

Do you want to play a less risky, but equally rewarding game? Try 24/7 Solitaire.

Mastering Hearts Starts with the Basics

Armed with all this knowledge, you should now be able to confidently join any Hearts game. You might not be shooting the moon in your first game, but you can begin mastering this challenging, exciting card game by practicing passing, trick-avoidance, and reading the other players.

In the meantime, you can work on your strategic instincts by playing online Solitaire. There's no need to download apps or set up accounts. Instantly, you can play nine types of Solitaire, including Freecell, Spider, and Wasp, on an intuitive platform with real-time stats.

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