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HOW TO PLAY THE CARD GAME HEARTS

HEARTS

Number of Players: 2 to 6, but almost always 4. Other forms of the game are preferred with more or less than 4: Draw Hearts for 2, Heartsette for 3, Domino and Cancellation Hearts for 5 or 6. Cards: Each receives 13 cards. When the cards cannot be divided equally, remove enough deuces from the deck to make the deal come out even. Aces rank highest, above Kings. The Play: The player at left of the dealer makes an opening lead and the cards are played in tricks. A trick is won by the highest card played of the suit led. There is no trump suit, though hearts are often miscalled "trumps." The winner of a trick leads to the next trick. Object of Play: to avoid winning any hearts, or to win all 13.

Scoring: To begin a game, equal numbers of counters are distributed to all the players. For each heart he wins, a player must pay 1 counter into a pool. If one player alone took no hearts, he wins the pool. If two or more players took no hearts, they divide the pool. But if all players took hearts nobody wins the pool; it stays on the table as a jackpot and becomes part of the pool for the next deal. If one player takes all 13 hearts, nobody pays. (In this last case, it is customary for all players to ante 2 or 3 counters, as agreed, to form a jackpot for the next deal.) If you do not want to use counters, score with pencil and paper. Each heart taken counts 1 against the player. A game can be ended at any agreed time, and the player with the lowest total score is the winner. The usual method is to charge a player 13 if he wins all the hearts. A good alternative is to deduct 13 (or 26, as agreed) from his score, preserving the principle that a player with a bad hand should have a chance to save himself (or gain) by taking all the hearts.

Related terms include war card game and speed card game online.