Discover How to Play Hearts with 5 Players: A New Twist on a Classic Game

Generally speaking, a Game of Hearts is played by three or four players. This typically allows for the most efficient gameplay, which is why we opted for a four-player game when curating 24.7 Hearts.

However, what happens when you are a party of five? Or, when you’re hosting a games night and don’t want to leave players out?

Fortunately, it is entirely possible to play Hearts with five players. Read on to discover how to adapt your game and bring another player into the mix!

Setting Up The Game.

The Cards.

A game of Hearts is always played with a standard 52-pack of cards. However, the number of cards each player is dealt changes as the number of players increases.

• 3-Player Game: 17 Cards
• 4-Player Game: 13 Cards
• 5-Player Game: 10 Cards

Heart cards are worth 1 point each. The Queen of Spades is worth 13 penalty points.

Dealing the cards.

When playing with five (or more) players, the dealer must remove the 2 of diamonds and the 2 of clubs. This makes it easier to ensure that each player receives a balanced hand so that your game is as fair as possible. The cards are then shuffled thoroughly and dealt clockwise. All cards should be dealt face-down on the table.

Once the cards have been dealt, the game of Hearts continues as normal. This means that there are no major adjustments to be made.

Tips for playing with 5 players

If you’ve decided to play Hearts with 5 (or more) players, you’ll be pleased to hear that the rules and objectives remain the same. No matter how many opponents you may be facing, you can win by ensuring your score stays as low as possible.

With that in mind, here are some tips that you may find useful when playing with five players!

Passing Cards Strategically.

Once all of the cards have been dealt, players have the opportunity to pass on three cards to the opponent sitting on their left. Generally speaking, this is done before the player actually looks at their cards - meaning they select three cards at random from their hand.

However, if you were looking to make things a little more competitive or want to encourage strategic gameplay, then you may want to allow players to view their hands beforehand. (Note: You are allowed to view your hand when playing 247 Hearts online).

If you are going to pursue this, however, ensure that you do not impact the trajectory of your game based on the cards you pass on. For example, while you may feel a need to get rid of any heart cards you have, it may be useful to keep lower-value heart cards for later on in the game.

Avoiding the Queen of Spades.

If you receive the Queen of Spades cards during a trick, thirteen points will automatically be added to your score. This is not insignificant when you consider that reaching 100 points ends the game, and you want to keep your score as low as possible.

While luck does play a role in whether or not you’re able to avoid the Queen of Spades entirely, you can deploy certain strategies in order to protect yourself. For example, you could play high-value cards to avoid winning the trick where the Queen is played.

It is also worthwhile to keep track of the cards that have been played. This way, you can anticipate when an opponent may be reaching for the Queen of Spades. This is particularly important if you think they are going to shoot for the moon (collect all of the Heart cards and the Queen of Spades).

Keeping track of points

As mentioned above, a game of Hearts will typically end when a player earns 100 points. At this point, the scores are tallied, and the player with the lowest number of points wins. As such, it is crucial that you keep track of points and scores when playing - especially if your group tends to be a little competitive.

As a general rule, it's useful to write down points as they accumulate on a scoreboard so that all players can see them. This gives people a chance to challenge what is written down and avoids accusations of cheating or miscalculation.

Fortunately, if you are opting to play Hearts online, you don’t have to worry about keeping score. This is done automatically on your behalf so that you can focus on your next move!

Winning strategies

While it may seem complex to begin with, Hearts is a relatively straightforward game. This means that there are many different strategies that you can use to your advantage during gameplay, increasing your chances of winning.

For example, you may want to start by researching the different Hearts playing styles, which include:

• Low-Layer (Focusing on passing off any cards equal to or above Jack)
• Voider (Attempting to empty their hand of a particular suit)
• Equalizer (Focusing on passing point cards to opponents)
• Shooter (Attempting to shoot for the moon)

As mentioned above, you should also pay close attention to the game at large, keeping track of which cards have yet to be played. Doing so will make it easier to anticipate your opponent’s next moves so you can protect yourself (and your score) as much as possible.

On a similar note, you should try to be as strategic as possible when you feel as though you are about to lose a trick. For example, this is a great time to get rid of a high-value card so that it cannot be used against you later.

No matter what strategies you choose to deploy, remember that Hearts is supposed to be fun - especially when playing in larger groups. While a bit of competition can be fun, don’t let it go too far, and keep things as light as possible!

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.