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Hearts is a four-player trick-avoidance card game played with a standard 52-card deck. Unlike most trick-taking games, the goal is to take as few penalty points as possible — every heart you capture costs one point, and the Queen of Spades costs thirteen. After a round in which any player reaches or exceeds 100 points, the player with the lowest cumulative score wins. The game combines the trick-following discipline of Bridge with the misère scoring of games like Reversis, and it rewards careful card counting and inference.

How to Play

  1. Four players sit around a virtual table. A standard 52-card deck is dealt evenly, 13 cards to each seat.
  2. Before play begins, each player selects three cards to pass to another player. The direction rotates left, right, across, hold each round.
  3. The player holding the Two of Clubs leads it on the first trick. Players follow suit if they can; if not, they may play any card.
  4. The highest card of the lead suit wins the trick. The trick winner leads the next trick.
  5. Hearts are worth one penalty point each and the Queen of Spades is worth thirteen. The goal is to take as few points as possible.
  6. Hearts may not be led until they have been "broken" by a discard onto a trick led in another suit, unless a player has only hearts. The default rule also blocks first-trick penalty cards when a safe alternative exists.
  7. If a single player captures every heart and the Queen of Spades in one round (shooting the moon), they score zero and every opponent scores 26.
  8. Play continues round after round until one player reaches or exceeds 100 points; the lowest total at that moment wins the match.

Strategy

Manage the Queen of Spades together with the rest of your spade suit. Several low spades can guard the Queen by letting you duck early spade leads. The Queen is much more dangerous when she is short or accompanied only by the Ace or King, so the Queen or those unguarded high spades are strong candidates for the pass. During play, track the Ace and King so you know when the Queen can be discarded safely.

Void a suit early. If you can empty your hand of one suit by the fifth trick, every subsequent trick in that suit becomes a free discard opportunity — and a chance to dump dangerous hearts onto an opponent. Pair voiding with careful spade management and you have an arsenal of penalty cards you can hand to anyone careless enough to lead a long suit.

Count hearts. There are exactly 13 hearts in play. Once seven or eight have fallen, you can often infer where much of the remainder sits. The same applies to spades — particularly the Queen and the high spades around her. The counting task is narrower than in Bridge because there is no bidding, contract, trump suit, or partnership information to layer onto the same 13 tricks.

Watch for shoots. If an opponent keeps winning tricks, protects high cards, and willingly takes penalty-rich tricks, they may be shooting the moon. The counter-tactic is to take at least one heart yourself before the shooter controls the remaining suits. One penalty point is far cheaper than the 26 points a successful shoot would charge you.

History

Hearts belongs to a much older European family of reverse trick-taking games. Card historians often connect it with Reversis, which was popular in Spain around 1750, although Reversis itself may have older Italian or French roots. Hearts was first recorded in the United States in the 1880s; the Standard Hoyle of 1887 said the game had been played there for only about five years. That early form penalized the heart suit but did not yet include the Queen of Spades. In 1909 a passing game called Discard Hearts or Black Lady added the Queen as a 13-point penalty, creating the rule set that eventually became the American standard. Shooting the moon appeared later, and related names such as Black Maria developed their own regional rules rather than serving as exact synonyms everywhere. A major digital milestone came in 1992, when Microsoft included The Microsoft Hearts Network with Windows for Workgroups 3.1. The program used the game to demonstrate NetDDE network play: up to four workstations could join, while the computer filled any empty seats. Later Windows releases kept Hearts widely visible through Windows 7.

Extended Guide

The deal distributes the entire 52-card deck evenly across four seats: thirteen cards per player. Before the first trick, each player selects three cards to pass to another player. The direction rotates every round in the cycle left, right, across, hold — the hold round has no pass, and after the hold the rotation repeats. The pass is a core strategic moment: it can unload the Queen of Spades or an unguarded Ace or King of Spades, create a void in a short suit, or preserve high cards for an attempt to shoot the moon.

Whichever player holds the Two of Clubs leads the first trick by playing it. Subsequent players must follow suit if they hold any card of the lead suit; if they cannot follow, they may play any card. The highest card of the lead suit wins the trick, and the winner leads the next trick. There is no trump suit in Hearts — the absence of trump is part of what makes the game an exercise in timing rather than raw card strength.

Hearts may not be led until they have been "broken." A heart is considered broken when somebody discards one on a trick led in another suit because they could not follow. Until that happens, no player may lead a heart unless their hand contains only hearts. The first-trick rule extends this protection further: the default rules forbid playing a penalty card on the opening trick when the player has a non-penalty alternative.

Scoring uses a misère structure — low total wins. At the end of each round, players count the penalty cards they captured. Each heart is worth one point, and the Queen of Spades alone is worth thirteen. The maximum penalty in a single round is therefore 26 points (13 hearts plus the Queen). Play continues until any player reaches or exceeds 100 cumulative points, at which point the match ends and the player with the lowest total wins.

The single dramatic exception to the misère rule is "shooting the moon." If one player captures every heart and the Queen of Spades in a single round — all 26 penalty points — they score zero for the round and every other player is charged the full 26 points instead. Shooting the moon is a high-risk, high-reward play that experienced opponents will work hard to stop by taking a single heart on purpose when they spot the attempt forming.

Hearts has several popular regional variants. Spot Hearts assigns each heart its rank value rather than one point apiece, so the Ace of Hearts costs 14 points and the deuce costs only two; the Queen of Spades is commonly worth 25. Omnibus Hearts adds the Jack of Diamonds as a bonus card worth minus 10 points. Cancellation Hearts uses two decks for larger tables, where identical cards played to a trick cancel each other for trick-taking purposes. Black Maria is a British relative usually played three-handed with the Two of Clubs removed, though its scoring and passing rules vary. This page describes the modern American standard — one point per heart, 13 for the Queen, three-card pass with rotation, and no first-trick penalty cards.

The table keeps your own hand at the bottom and shows the four cards of the current trick in the center. Pass selection happens on the same surface — tap to highlight three cards, then confirm. Chat is off until each player opts in, and anyone can mute an individual seat at any time. The table state is server-authoritative: every move is validated on the backend before it shows up on anyone's screen.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the goal of Hearts?

Hearts is a trick-avoidance game. You want the lowest cumulative score across multiple rounds. Hearts cost one point each and the Queen of Spades costs thirteen, so the round is spent dodging penalty cards while still being forced to follow suit.

What does "shoot the moon" mean?

If you manage to capture every single penalty card in a round — all thirteen hearts plus the Queen of Spades — you score zero for the round and every opponent is charged the full 26 points. It is a high-risk, high-reward play that experienced opponents will work hard to stop by deliberately taking a single heart when they spot the attempt forming.

Can I lead a heart on the first trick?

No. The player holding the Two of Clubs must lead it. Under the default first-trick rule, nobody may discard a heart or the Queen of Spades on that trick while they have a non-penalty alternative.

When are hearts "broken"?

A round starts with hearts unbroken, meaning no player may lead a heart until somebody discards one on a trick led in another suit. Once that happens, leading hearts is fair game. You may discard a heart when you cannot follow suit even before they are broken, subject to the opening-trick penalty restriction.

Do you support passing cards before each round?

Yes. Each round starts with a three-card pass: left, right, across, then hold (no pass). The rotation repeats. Pass selection is a core part of strategy: you can unload the Queen or unguarded high spades, or create a void in a short suit.

What are the most common variants?

Spot Hearts scores hearts by rank (Ace = 14, two = 2) and commonly makes the Queen of Spades worth 25. Omnibus Hearts gives the Jack of Diamonds a minus-10 bonus. Cancellation Hearts uses two decks and cancels identical cards for trick-taking. Black Maria is a British relative, usually for three players with the Two of Clubs removed. Our default tables use modern American scoring.

Is the play here free and ad-free?

Always. Cards4.net runs no advertising, no tracking pixels, and no upsells. You can join casual or private Hearts tables as a guest without creating an account; ranked play requires sign-in.

What happens if I lose my connection mid-round?

On a casual table, your seat is reserved for ninety seconds. It is shown as disconnected for the first thirty seconds; after that a bot temporarily takes over so play can continue. Return within ninety seconds to reclaim the seat. Ranked tables hold the seat the full ninety seconds before a bot steps in, and a disconnect inside the first two minutes of a ranked match is treated as an abandon and forfeits it.

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