How to play Hearts
How to play Hearts
- Four players each receive 13 cards. Aces are high, twos are low, and there is no trump suit. Lowest score wins.
- Choose three cards to pass left, then right, then across on successive hands. The fourth hand has no passing. Repeat this cycle. Everyone commits before receiving cards.
- The holder of 2♣ leads it first. Follow suit whenever possible. The highest card in the led suit wins the four-card trick and leads next. On the first trick, hearts and Q♠ are forbidden unless no alternative is available.
- You cannot lead hearts until a heart has been played, unless your hand contains only hearts. Q♠ does not break hearts.
- Each captured heart adds 1 penalty point; Q♠ adds 13. Capture all 13 hearts and Q♠ to shoot the moon: you score 0 and everyone else adds 26. There are no other bonuses.
- After all 13 tricks, add the hand scores. If anyone has at least 100 points, the match ends. The lowest total wins; tied lowest scores share the win.