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Rules
& Hearts Basics
The Layout
Passing
Leading a card
Object of Hearts
Rule Variations
Hearts is a 4-player, trick taking
card game. The object is to finish the game with the least amount of points.
It's an easy game to learn, but a hard one to master.
The
Layout: TOP
 Each
player is dealt a hand of 13 cards from a 52 card deck. The hand is sorted by
suit, then rank; Clubs, Diamonds, Spades, Hearts. Cards that are out of play are
darkened, notice that as you move over available cards with your mouse those
cards are highlighted.
The
Pass: TOP
 After the cards
are dealt, each player evaluates their hand for 3 cards they wish to discard.
The cards are then passed to the player on the Left, Right, Across, or not
passed. The type of pass is displayed in the center of the playing board. You
will either pass to the left, right, across or not at all.
As each card for the pass is selected, they will stick out a bit in the hand.
When 3 cards have been picked, click on the center of the board to pass them.
The
Lead: TOP
The player with the 2 of clubs will lead (start out) the trick. Next the
player to the left will play a card of the same suit, as will the 3rd and 4th
player. If a player doesn't have a card in that suit they may play any other
card barring a point card. ( A player may not play a point card on the 1st
hand.) The person with the highest card in the lead suit will "take the
trick" that is, take all four cards.
Now the player winning that trick will lead, they can play any card
they wish, except a point card. (a Player can't lead with a point card until
hearts have been broken.) Every player must then play a card of the same suit as
the lead card. If they don't have any cards in that suit they can play any suit,
including hearts since it's no longer the 1st hand.
Once a heart (point) card has been played, the following hand a
player may lead with hearts. If a player takes a trick with a heart card, each
heart card they took is worth one point. This is how players get points.
The
Object of Hearts: TOP
Players try to finish the game with the least amount of points. You get
points by taking tricks that have point cards in them. Points cards consist of
the entire Hearts suit, (one point for each card) and the Queen of Spades which
is worth 13 points.
The game ends when at the end of a hand, one of the players reaches a certain
number of points chosen prior to the start of the game.
And that's the basic play. Players keep playing until they run out of the
cards in that hand, then the deck is dealt out again and they play until someone
reaches that predetermined point level, at which time the game is over.
Shooting the moon: If a player takes every point in a hand, they receive no points, and everyone
but the Shooter gets 26 points. This is called, Running or Shooting the Moon.
It's risky to try, but the rewards are great. Safety
Shoot If you
are going to cause the game to end and you are not going to win the points will
be deducted from your total instead of adding to the others. That's called a
SAFETY SHOOT. It give you a chance to make a comeback and take 1st next
hand.
Ties for 1st:
The game does not allow ties for first place. In the case of a tie for first,
the game will continue until there is a clear winner. This is true of both games
ending at a point value and timed games.
Rule
Variations: TOP
JD Rule:
The Jack of Diamonds is worth -10 points. This adds a lot to the strategy of
the game. As you are trying to not only stay clear of the QS (Queen of Spades)
but now are trying to take the JD. The JD is not needed to shoot the moon.
Spot Hearts:
The hearts cards are worth their face value. 3 of hearts = 3 points, 10 = 10,
J = 11, Q = 12, A = 14, etc. The QS is worth 50 points. Shooting the Moon is
worth 150, and if you play with the JD rule, the JD is worth -40.
Timed Game:
In a timed game, the game ends after so much time has elapsed instead of a
particular point value. The player picks the time before playing. When that time
elapses, you will finish the current hand, then the game will be finished.
Shoot the Sun:
A player shoots the sun when they have taken every card in the hand, not just
the point cards as it is when Shooting the Moon. When you've done this, every
other player gets 52 Points (300 in Spot hearts)
Always Pass:
With this option, the "No Pass" round of passing is skipped, so
that 3 cards are always passed. The pass sequence then is Left, Right, Across.
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