Hearts rules: the complete guide

Hearts at a glance

If you only remember one thing, remember this: in Hearts, points are bad. You win by taking as few hearts as possible and staying away from the Queen of Spades — unless you can take every single one of them.

Setting up the game

Four players each play for themselves. Choose a first dealer any way you like; after that, the deal passes one seat to the left each hand.

The dealer shuffles and deals the whole deck, one card at a time, clockwise, so everyone gets 13. Within each suit, cards rank from Ace (high) down to 2 (low). There is no trump suit at all — that’s one of the key differences between Hearts and games like Spades.

Keep a score sheet with a column for each player. Scores carry over from hand to hand until the game ends.

Passing cards

Before the first trick of each hand, every player chooses three cards and passes them face down to another player. The direction changes every hand in a four-hand cycle:

Everyone chooses their three cards before picking up the cards passed to them. You can’t pass back cards you’ve just received.

A worked pass. You’re passing to the left, and you hold ♠ Q 7 · ♥ A J 6 2 · ♦ K 9 4 3 · ♣ A 10 5. The Q♠ with only one small spade to protect her is a liability — she’ll probably be forced out early and land on your own trick. The A♥ is a near-certain point-taker. The A♣ will likely win a trick you’d rather not win. A good pass is Q♠, A♥, A♣. You keep your low hearts, which are safe, and your middling diamonds.

Playing the hand

The first trick

Whoever holds the 2♣ after the pass leads it to the first trick. Everyone else must follow suit with a club if they can.

On the first trick, nobody may play a heart or the Queen of Spades — even if they have no clubs — unless their hand holds nothing else. This keeps the first trick from being a point-dumping free-for-all before anyone has had a chance to play.

Every trick after that

1. The winner of the last trick leads. They may lead any suit, with one restriction (below).
2. Follow suit if you can. If you have a card of the suit led, you must play one.
3. If you can’t follow suit, play anything. This is your chance to discard a heart or the Queen of Spades onto someone else’s trick.
4. Highest card of the suit led wins. Off-suit cards never win, no matter how high. Whoever wins the trick takes any hearts and the Q♠ in it.

Breaking hearts

You may not lead a heart until hearts have been broken — that is, until someone has discarded a heart on an earlier trick because they couldn’t follow suit. The only exception is a hand with nothing but hearts left.

The Queen of Spades is a spade, not a heart. You can lead her any time spades are allowed, and under standard rules playing her doesn’t break hearts.

A sample trick. Hank, on your right, leads the 2♣. You’re next, holding the A♣ and the 4♣. Point cards can’t be thrown on the first trick (unless a player holds nothing else), so it’s almost always the safest trick of the hand to win — you play the A♣ to get rid of it. Rose follows with the 8♣. June has no clubs; she’d love to dump the Q♠, but it’s the first trick, so she must play a non-point card and throws the 10♦. Your A♣ wins a trick with no points in it, and you lead next.

Scoring

At the end of each hand, every player counts the penalty cards in the tricks they won.

There are always 26 points in each hand. Add each player’s points to their running total.

A worked scoring example. At the end of a hand, you took 3 hearts. Rose took the Q♠ and 4 hearts. June took 6 hearts. Hank took nothing. Scores for the hand: you 3, Rose 17, June 6, Hank 0 — 26 in all.

The game ends after the hand in which someone reaches or passes 100 points. The player with the lowest total wins. Many groups play to 50 for a shorter game.

Keeping score over a game

Write each player’s points for the hand in their column and keep a running total underneath.

How a game ends. After six hands the totals are: you 61, Rose 92, June 74, Hank 85. In the seventh hand Rose takes the Q♠ and 2 hearts (15 points), you take 4 hearts, June takes 7 and Hank none. The new totals are you 65, Rose 107, June 81, Hank 85. Rose has passed 100, so the game is over — and you win with 65, the lowest score. Notice that Hank, who took no points at all in the last hand, still finishes behind you.

Because the game ends the moment anyone passes the target, the leader often wants to push points onto whoever is closest to 100, while the player in trouble does everything possible to stay under it.

Shooting the moon

There’s one big exception to “points are bad.” If a single player takes all 13 hearts and the Queen of Spades in one hand, they’ve shot the moon. Instead of taking 26 points, they score 0, and every other player takes 26.

A common alternative is to subtract 26 from the shooter’s score and leave everyone else unchanged. Both versions are widely played; agree on one before you start.

Moon example. Hank takes every heart and the Q♠. Under the usual rule, Hank scores 0 for the hand and you, Rose and June each score 26. Under the subtract version, Hank’s total drops by 26 and nobody else’s changes.

Shooting the moon is all or nothing. Take 25 points and miss a single heart, and you keep all 25. For when to try it and how to stop someone else, see How to Shoot the Moon in Hearts.

Rule questions people argue about

What if you have no clubs on the first trick and only hearts and the Queen of Spades? Then you may play one of them — the first-trick rule only applies when you have something else to play.

Can you lead hearts before they’re broken if that’s all you have? Yes. If your hand is all hearts, you may lead one.

Does playing the Queen of Spades break hearts? Not under standard rules. Some tables treat it as breaking hearts; agree on it in advance.

What happens if the 2♣ was passed? Whoever holds it after the pass leads it. Passing it away is perfectly legal.

Can the shooter choose how the moon is scored? At some tables, yes: the shooter picks whichever version helps them more, which matters when adding 26 to everyone would push a player over 100 and end the game while the shooter isn’t in the lead.

What if two players tie for the lowest score at the end? Rules vary. Some tables share the win; others keep playing hands until one player is alone in the lead.

Can you pass the Queen of Spades? Yes. Any three cards may be passed — the Q♠ is one of the most common choices.

Common variations and house rules

• Jack of Diamonds (Omnibus Hearts). Whoever takes the J♦ subtracts 10 points. Some tables use the 10♦ instead.
• Black Maria. A British cousin in which the A♠ and K♠ are penalty cards too, worth 7 and 10 points.
• Spot Hearts. Each heart counts its face value, with face cards and Aces worth more, so the high hearts become real dangers.
• Hearts can be led any time. Older rules didn’t require hearts to be broken.
• Points allowed on the first trick. Some tables allow the Q♠ or hearts on the first trick if you can’t follow.
• Shooting the sun. Taking every trick, not just every point card, earns a bigger bonus at some tables.
• Three-player Hearts. Remove the 2♦ so the deck divides evenly and each player gets 17 cards.
• Partnership Hearts. Partners sit across and combine their scores.

Playing Hearts on BieGames

On the Hearts page you play against three computer players, Rose, June and Hank. In Settings you can change:

• Game ends at: 50 or 100 points.
• Shooting the moon: everyone else +26, or the shooter −26.
• Jack of Diamonds −10: off or on. When it’s on, the J♦ still counts for whoever takes it, even in a hand where someone shoots the moon.
• Computer players: Easy, Normal or Hard.

The game uses the standard rules on this page: the 2♣ leads, no points on the first trick, only a heart breaks hearts, and a tie for the lowest score means another hand is dealt.

Hearts terms

• Trick — one round of four cards.
• Pass — the three cards you give away before each hand.
• Hold hand — a hand with no passing, every fourth hand.
• Breaking hearts — the first time a heart is played, after which hearts may be led.
• Discard (or slough) — playing a card of another suit when you can’t follow.
• Void — having no cards left in a suit.
• Duck — playing a card lower than the one currently winning, so you don’t take the trick.
• The Queen (or the Black Lady, Black Maria) — the Q♠, worth 13 points.
• Shoot the moon — take all 26 penalty points in one hand.
• Smoking out the Queen — leading spades to force the Q♠ out of an opponent’s hand.

Quick questions about the rules

How many cards do you pass in Hearts? Three, every hand except the fourth in each cycle, when nobody passes.

Who goes first in Hearts? The player holding the 2♣ after the pass. They must lead it.

Can you play a heart on the first trick? Only if you can’t follow suit and have nothing but hearts (and possibly the Q♠) left.

How many points is the Queen of Spades in Hearts? Thirteen — as many as all the hearts together.

Do you want a high or low score in Hearts? Low. The lowest score when someone reaches 100 wins.

Is Hearts played in teams? Normally not. Each player keeps their own score. For how it compares to a team game, read Spades vs Hearts.