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HOW TO PLAY THE CARD GAME OMNIBUS HEARTS

Many regard this as the most interesting game of the Hearts family. It is the same as Black Lady with one addition—the 10 of diamonds is a "plus" card, counting 10 for you if you win it. Consequently, each suit has its own character—clubs are neutral, diamonds contain the plus card, spades contain the worst minus card, and all the Hearts are minus cards. A player who makes a "take-all" by winning all 13 hearts, the Queen of spades, and the 10 of diamonds, scores 26 plus. Skillful Play: The most dangerous cards to hold are high spades—Ace, King, Queen—without enough lower cards to guard them. Pass such high spades when you are dealt less than three lower spades. Pass high hearts if you can afford to, and if they look dangerous, but two low hearts are usually enough to guard them. Any suit outside of spades is dangerous if you have four or more without any card lower than, say, a six. Even a single very low card, two or three-spot, may not be a sufficient guard. Pass one to three cards from the top or middle of such a suit, if you do not have more pressing troubles. If you do not have any high spades after the pass, lead spades at every opportunity. You can never gather Black Maria by a lower spade lead! You want to try to force her out by spade leads so as to save yourself from winning her by discard. If you have her yourself, usually lead your shortest side suit so as to void your hand of this suit and get a chance to discard Black Maria. If you are dealt the 10 of diamonds, usually pass it if you can afford to. The 10 is much easier to catch than to save. It is not often caught by higher diamonds—and even then mostly by accident. It usually falls to the winner of the last trick. The hand with which you may hope to catch it has some Aces and Kings, adequately guarded by lower cards, in two or more suits. Of course, if you hope to catch the 10, don't pass any higher diamonds, and don't ever lead diamonds if you can avoid it. But put a high diamond on any diamond lead that might be won by the 10 if you were to play low. Don't attempt a take-all without a very powerful hand. Certain holdings are fatal no matter how strong you are in other suits—low hearts (not at the end of a long solid suit), the 10 of diamonds (without enough diamond length and strength to save the 10 even if you do not go for take-all). However, such a holding as one or two middling-high hearts is not fatal. You may be able to win the tricks simply by leading these hearts. The players holding higher hearts may shrink from taking the tricks. When your chief ambition is to avoid taking minus cards, which is most of the time, get rid of your high cards early rather than late. Thus, if you have A-J-2 in clubs, put the Ace on the first club lead and the Jack on the second, saving your 2 to escape having to win the more dangerous third lead. The more often a suit is led, the more likely it becomes that Black Maria or hearts will be discarded on it.

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