Some players allow hearts to be led at any time. This could result in a player getting their own cards back. They simply pass on the cards that were passed to them without looking at them. Some play that players are not required to pass any cards if they do not wish to. If you play with a kitty, this can be shuffled in too, so that the new kitty can contain some of the discards. Another passing method that can be included in the cycle is 'mix': everyone discards three cards to a pile in the centre, which is shuffled and then redealt to the players.both scatter and hold hands are played (the cycle is left, right, across, scatter, then hold).scatter instead of hold (players pass one card to every other player).pass left, pass right, pass across, then repeat (no hold hand).Passingĭifferent passing cycles may be used, for example: A kitty can also be used to cope with the fact that the cards cannot be dealt evenly when there are more or fewer than four players. During the deal, four cards are dealt to a face down kitty, which is added to the tricks of the first player who takes a penalty card. Some play that only 12 cards are dealt to each player. The person with the lowest score is then the winner. The game continues until one player has reached or exceeded 100 points at the conclusion of a hand. However, if you manage to win all the scoring cards (which is known as a slam or shooting the moon), your score is reduced by 26 points, or you may choose instead to have all other players' scores increased by 26 points. Each heart scores one point, and the queen of spades scores 13 points. Normally, each player scores penalty points for cards in the tricks which they won. This is sometimes known as smoking out the queen. In fact it is a normal tactic to lead lower spades to try to drive out the queen. Players are permitted to lead spades to any trick after the first. In general, discarding a penalty card on a trick is called painting the trick.Ī player whose hand consists entirely of hearts may lead any heart, thereby breaking hearts, even if hearts have not previously been broken. Discarding a heart, thus allowing hearts to be led in future, is called breaking hearts. It is illegal to lead a heart until after a heart has been played to a previous trick, unless your hand contains nothing but hearts. The person who played the highest card of the suit led wins the trick and leads to the next trick. If they do not have a card of that suit, they may play any card. The other players, in clockwise order, must play a card of the suit which was led if possible. The person who holds the 2 of clubs must lead it to the first trick.

The cycle then repeats until the end of the game. On the fourth hand no cards are passed at all. On the third hand each player passes three cards to the player sitting opposite. On the second hand each player passes three cards to the player to their right, in the same way. When passing cards, you must first select the cards to be passed and place them face-down, ready to be picked up by the receiving player only then may you pick up the cards passed to you, look at them and add them to your hand. On the first hand, after the deal, each player passes any three cards face-down to the player to their left. All the cards are dealt out one at a time, so that everyone has 13. The game is ended by someone reaching or going over 100 points, and the winner is the player with the lowest score at this point.ĭeal and play are clockwise. There is no trump suit.Įach heart is worth one penalty point and the queen of spades is worth 13 penalty points. There are no formal partnerships, though there are times when players will find it in their interest to help each other.Ī standard 52 card deck is used, with the cards in each suit ranking as usual from ace (high) down to two (low). Hearts is most commonly played by 4 people. Da Nasty Fix (Dirty Nasty Filthy Hearts).

Online playing card game hearts