Hearts 247 - How to Play Hearts

Most card games come from Whist or Bridge. However, Hearts is different. It doesn’t feel like any other card game because it’s unique.

Hearts emerged in the U.S. in the 1880s, evolving from the older European game of Reversis. People played it sporadically in casinos and the military until Microsoft added it to one of its early Windows operating systems, opening it up to more players.

This guide aims to teach you how to play Hearts with examples. We cover the game’s rules before working through an illustration round to help you better understand how to play.

The Objective Of Hearts

The goal of a round of Hearts is to avoid taking penalty points. The more points you have, the higher your score, and the closer you come to losing. (Players with higher scores in Hearts lose).

The winning player has the fewest points when the losing player reaches some cut-off threshold, usually 100 points. For example, if player 1 gets to 100 points, player 2 has 30, player 3 has 20, and player 4 has 15, then player 4 wins.

Players with cards from the heart suit or Queen of Spades at the end of each round will gain more points. Therefore, getting rid of these carefully is essential.

Because Hearts is so different from most other card games, learning how to play it for the first time can be confusing. However, the more you practice rounds, the easier it gets over time.

Understanding Hearts: What You Need To Know Before Your First Round

Before you play a round of Hearts, ensure you understand the following concepts:

Standard Pack Of Playing Cards

To play a game of hearts, you need a standard pack of playing cards, minus the jokers. Whether you remove additional cards depends on the number of players.

Dealing With different Player Numbers

In a three-person game of Hearts, each player receives 17 cards. The dealer should remove the two of diamonds before dealing.

Some three-person game variations deal 13 cards and put the remainder into the “kitty.” The player who takes the first trick must also take the kitty (we explain tricks more below).

In a four-person game, each player receives 13 cards – the equivalent of one suit each.

In a five-person game, the dealer should remove the 2 of diamonds and the 2 of clubs and deal each player 10 cards.

You can play Hearts with over five players, but dealing and gameplay are more challenging. Consider breaking into two separate games if you have more than seven people.

Card Rankings In Hearts

Cards in Hearts rank from highest to lowest, Aces high. The ranking order for each suit is as follows:

Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2. Sometimes the 2 of any suit might not be available. In this situation, the 3 is the lowest-ranking card.

Dealing Cards In Hearts

If you play Hearts in person, someone must deal. This individual rotates so every player has the opportunity to hand out cards.

Players cut the deck to decide who should deal. In Hearts, the player with the lowest cut deals first.

The dealer should shuffle the deck thoroughly before handing out any cards. When dealing cards, deal to each player clockwise, carefully placing cards face-down. Players should not see their hands initially.

Dealers should keep dealing clockwise, one card at a time on each player’s pile until they deal the whole pack.

Passing 3 Cards

Once players have their cards, they must choose three to pass to their opponents – a quirk of Hearts. Players must not look at their cards before passing them in real-life games but online games often allow pre-hand peeking (including 247 Hearts).

In four-person games, the three cards pass to the player to the right on the first deal, the left on the second, and the opposite on the third. In a three-person game, they pass right, then left, and then no passing occurs. In the following rounds, the sequence repeats.

Scorekeeping In Hearts

For many new players Hearts’ scorekeeping is the most challenging and counterintuitive aspect of the game. However, it should only take a few rounds to get used to it.

Here’s how it works: you get a penalty point for each card in the heart suit in your hand. Players with the Queen of Spades take a hefty 13-point penalty. Thus, the primary goal is to reduce ownership of these cards to a minimum at the end of each trick.

To summarize:

• 1 penalty point for each heart left in the player's pile of cards at the end of the round
• 13 penalty points for the Queen of Spades at the end of the round

Shooting The Moon

If a player receives all cards in the hearts suit and the Queen of Spades, they receive 0 points and all other players receive 26 points. This quirk of the game makes player strategy more interesting, forcing players to consider the hand of their rivals when placing cards. Sometimes, retaining some heart cards is better than allowing a single player to accumulate all of them.

How To Play Hearts: A Step-By-Step Guide

Okay, let’s get down to business: how do you play hearts? This section presents a step-by-step guide on playing the game with worked examples from 247 Hearts.

Step 1: Select Your Difficulty Level

247 Hearts lets you select your difficulty level. Choose from Easy, Medium, Hard, or Expert.

Step 2: Deal The Cards

The first step is to deal. 247 Hearts does this for you automatically in seconds.

Step 3: Pick Three Cards To Pass Across

The next step is to pick three cards to pass across. With 247 Hearts, you can see the cards before you pass.

Consider which cards will make it harder to win tricks when passing on cards. Discard the card with the lowest rankings if possible. Some players prioritize passing on hearts. Do this if you have a high-value heart card in your hand.

Remember, winning non-heart-containing tricks reduces your supply of non-hearts cards, allowing you to play your hearts cards sooner.

Step 4: Play The First Trick

Once you pass cards along, 247 Hearts will play the first trick. Other players will place their cards and wait for you to select an eligible card from your hand.

You can see that 247 Hearts highlights the cards you can place. In this example, you can only lay the 4 or Queen of Clubs on the table since the originating suit is clubs.

Selecting the Queen of Clubs means we win the trick.

We didn’t score any points because we didn’t concede a Hearts of the Queen of Spades (also in our hand).

Step 5: Continue Playing Rounds Until You Cannot Match The Originating Suit

Winning the previous trick lets you start the new one by placing a card. You can place a card from any suit except hearts (unless you have no other suits in your hand).

In Hearts, you continue playing rounds until you cannot match the originating suit with a card from the same suit. For example, another player might place the 8 of clubs, which you can’t match with another club suit card.

When this happens, it is an opportunity for you to lay down your hearts and pass them over to other players. But it also risks you receiving their hearts.

Here is an example of one of the players lacking a card from the spades suit in their hand. In this situation, they must place a card from another suit – the ten of diamonds.

Once this happens, players can place their heart cards or cards from another suit. Here, we selected the four of hearts because it is a low-value card in the suit. (It is impossible to lose the trick with this card in a four-person game).

The other player, Betsy, lost the trick in this round, causing them to gain four heart cards and, therefore, four points.

In the next round, the originating suit was diamonds (from Betsy). Therefore, we can only place diamonds (if they are available).

In the following round, Donald placed the 4 of clubs. Only the 5 of clubs was in our hand, so we had to place it.

Betsy placed the highest-ranking card in this round, so she won the trick, including the 3 of hearts, bringing her score up to five.

In the next round, Betsy made spades as the originating suit. Our only choice is to place the Jack of Spades to win the round.

Fortunately, the trick had no hearts, so we didn’t incur any points penalties.

During the next trick, we placed the 5 of diamonds. At this late stage of the game, some players might be able to place hearts. Therefore, choosing a low-ranking card is a wise choice.

Betsy and Donald had diamonds in their hands, but Leroy could only play a heart. Donald placed the highest-ranking card from the originating suit (diamonds), so he won the trick including the 9 of hearts.

In the following round, Donald placed the Jack of Clubs. This opportunity meant we could place any heart from our hand in the trick (since we don’t have any clubs). The obvious choice is the Queen of Hearts since it is a high-ranking card.

Betsy won the trick in this round by placing the highest-ranking card of the originating suit – the ace of clubs – incurring two penalty points from the 8 and Queen of Hearts.

In the next round, Betsy placed the 4 of clubs. However, no other players had any cards from that suit. Therefore, they could each eliminate the hearts from their hands. Following their lead, we got rid of our highest-value card from the suit – the 6 of hearts.

In the following round, Betsy placed the 5 of clubs. The other players, including us, took this opportunity to eliminate the rest of our cards, including our hearts.

Here you can see we placed the 5 of hearts. Betsy won the trick by placing the highest-value card from the originating suit and receiving two penalty points from the 2 and 5 of hearts.

Step 6: Calculate The Scores

247 Hearts calculates the scores for you. Despite receiving nearly all the hearts cards, Betsy still did better than Donald. Donald got 14 points for accumulating one card from the hearts suit, and the Queen of Spades (worth 13) while Betsy only collected 12 points.

247 Hearts calculates the score after each round for every player. When one player reaches 100 points, the game ends and a winner is announced.

What Rule Variations Are There In Games Of Hearts?

Like most other card games, Hearts has various rule variations. These can make the game more interesting to experienced players or fairer to newbies.

Please note that 247 Hearts does not use these variations.

• Reverse scoring. Players attempt to collect hearts and the Queen of Spades to earn points and avoid reducing their scores.
• Two-card pass. Players only pass two cards at the start of the game (or some other arbitrary number up to the number of cards in their hand).
• Breaking hearts. Players must play another card – usually the 2 of clubs – before they can play hearts.
• Cancellation hearts. Playing cards of the same rank cancel each other out, reducing the number of cards taken in a trick (including hearts).
• The Jack of Diamonds. Players receiving the Jack of Diamonds in a trick get an additional 10-point penalty.
• Double deck. Standard decks only allow between 5 and 7 players. However, double-deck game versions allow eight or more players to join.
• Deal cards face-up. 247 Hearts effectively deals cards face up. This alternative approach to hearts allows players to see their cards before passing them on to the next player.
• British Hearts. Players incur additional penalties for receiving cards in a trick, other than the Queen of Spades, including 10 for the King of Spades, and 7 for the Ace of Spades. These games end faster.

Tips To Play Hearts Better

Like other classic card games, Hearts gets more intriguing the more you play it. Over time, you begin to see new patterns and features.

Even so, learning hearts-playing tips can help you improve your game.

Play For Voids – Getting Rid Of All The Cards In A Suit

Voiding yourself – getting rid of all the cards in a suit – enables you to discard cards in more subsequent rounds. For example, if you can eliminate all your clubs, you can place hearts in the trick whenever another player chooses clubs as the originating suit.

Hold Onto Your Low Hearts

Holding only low hearts early in the game is another powerful strategy. If other players need to place heart cards later on, you can avoid being the highest-scoring player and taking penalty points.

Pay Attention To Other Players’ Cards

Watching to see which cards other players play is also a tactic you should adopt. It can provide insight into their voiding strategy at the start of a game, and the high-value cards they might have toward the end.

Be Careful Of The Queen Of Spades

The Queen of Spades is the most dangerous card in the game, so prioritize avoiding it, even if that means conceding a few hearts.

If you see another player placing the Queen of Spades in the trick, don’t try to beat it with the King of Spades. Ideally, be the last player to place high-value cards from the spades suit in any round, including the Ace and King.

Use The Shoot For The Moon Strategy

Shooting for the moon is a high-risk strategy, but it can help you make up lost ground in a match. Here, you accumulate the Queen of Spades and all the other hearts.

If you see another player receiving a heart, abandon this strategy immediately.

Use High-Value Cards When Losing A Trick

If you know you are going to win a trick, use it as an opportunity to eliminate a high-value card. This approach leaves more low-value cards for use later.

Hearts FAQs

Do you always have to play to 100 points in Hearts?

No, you do not always have to play Hearts games up to 100 points. Some players prefer playing to 50 to finish the game faster.

What does the term “hand” mean in Hearts?

The term “hand” refers to the time it takes for each player to play all the cards they hold.

What does “trick” mean in Hearts?

The term “trick” refers to one round of play where each player plays one card. Sometimes, people also refer to the pile of cards as a trick.

When can I play a heart in Hearts?

You can only play a heart as your lead card if another player has to play a heart first (if they don’t have a card in the trick’s originating suit).

• Match the suit of the leading card, if possible!
• Highest card of the suit played gets the trick.
• Points are given when you get a trick with hearts cards or the queen of spades.
• You do not want points in the hearts card game.
• Play hands until the first player reaches 100 points.
• The Hearts player with the lowest number of points wins!

DISCLAIMER: The games on this website are using PLAY (fake) money. No payouts will be awarded, there are no "winnings", as all games represented by 247 Games LLC are free to play. Play strictly for fun.