Trick-taking classic · 4 players
Hearts
Keep your score low, pass your danger cards, and never get caught holding the queen.
Round complete
Round complete
Avoid points.
Break hearts.
Follow an illustrated round of the version played above. The complete rules and their historical context are below.
Illustrated guide
See how a round unfolds.
These examples are separate from the live game.
Complete rules
These are the rules used by the playable four-player game above.
Origin & history
Hearts was recorded in the United States in the 1880s. The early game penalised hearts alone. A 1909 development added the Queen of Spades and the practice of passing cards, creating the Black Lady form that many players now simply call Hearts. Shooting the moon became a later addition. This page plays that modern form.
Objective
Finish with the lowest total of penalty points. Usually you try to avoid winning tricks containing hearts or the Queen of Spades. Deliberately taking every penalty card is a risky alternative called shooting the moon.
Equipment & setup
Four players each receive 13 cards from a standard 52-card deck, without Jokers. Cards rank from Ace high to Two low. There are no trumps or partnerships in this version.
Before the first round, each player passes three cards to the player on the left. In successive rounds the direction changes to right, then across, then no passing; repeat this four-round cycle. The cards passed to you enter your hand before play begins.
Gameplay
The holder of 2♣ leads it to the first trick. Play proceeds clockwise. Each player must follow the led suit if able; otherwise they may play a card of another suit. The highest card of the led suit wins the trick, and its winner leads the next one. There is no trump suit.
On the first trick, a player unable to follow clubs must avoid playing a heart or Q♠ if they have another legal card. If their only alternatives are penalty cards, they may play one. A heart cannot lead a later trick until a heart has been played off-suit, thereby “breaking hearts”, unless the leader holds only hearts.
Scoring & points
The winner of a trick collects all four cards. Each collected heart adds one penalty point; Q♠ adds 13. There are 26 penalty points in a round. Other cards score nothing.
If one player takes all 13 hearts and Q♠ in a round, they shoot the moon: they score zero for that round and each of the other three players scores 26. Otherwise, players add the penalty points they collected to their running totals.
End of game & winning
After 13 tricks, score the round and deal again. When any player's running total reaches at least 100, the match ends. The player with the lowest total wins; equal lowest totals share the win in this online version.
Variants
This playable version uses the Queen of Spades as a 13-point penalty and rotates the passing direction. Original Hearts counted only hearts. Black Maria adds further dangerous spades, while Omnibus Hearts adds a positive diamond card that can offset penalties. Other tables may change the first-trick restrictions, passing pattern, moon score, or target score. These variants are described here for comparison and are not selectable in the game above.
Category
Trick-Taking · Reverse · Avoidance
Also known as
Copas · Rickety Kate
Documented countries
United States · United Kingdom · Australia · Portugal