How to Play Hearts

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Hearts is a trick-taking card game for 3 to 6 players in which the goal is to avoid winning certain cards rather than to collect them. Every Heart taken in a trick costs you 1 point, and the Queen of Spades costs a painful 13. Because points are bad, players spend the game ducking trouble and offloading dangerous cards onto rivals.

The game's appeal lies in its tension between caution and aggression: a player who collects every single penalty card in one hand scores zero while everyone else scores 26, a dramatic reversal known as Shooting the Moon. It needs no special equipment beyond a standard deck and plays well at a kitchen table, making it a staple at family gatherings and among card-game regulars across the UK and beyond.

A little history

Hearts belongs to the Whist family of trick-taking games. Its precise origins are unclear, but it is widely documented as having developed in the United States during the latter half of the nineteenth century, with early printed references appearing in the 1880s. The passing mechanic and the Queen of Spades penalty are refinements that became standard over time; the variant with those features is sometimes called Black Lady or Black Maria. It spread internationally throughout the twentieth century and remains one of the most widely played card games in the English-speaking world.

Setting up

1. Agree on the score limit before play begins; 100 points is standard.
2. For 4 players, deal the entire deck: 13 cards each. For 3 players, remove the 2 of Diamonds, then deal 17 cards each. For 5 players, remove the 2 of Diamonds and 2 of Clubs, then deal 10 cards each. For 6 players, remove the 2 and 3 of Diamonds and the 2 and 3 of Clubs, then deal 8 cards each.
3. Players sort their hands by suit.
4. Before the first trick, each player selects 3 cards from their hand and passes them face-down to their left-hand neighbour simultaneously. No player may look at received cards before passing their own.
5. On the second hand, pass to the right. On the third hand, pass across (in a 4-player game). On the fourth hand, there is no pass. This rotation then repeats.

How to play

1. The player holding the 2 of Clubs leads it to the first trick. In variants where the 2 of Clubs has been removed, the lowest Club held leads.
2. Play proceeds clockwise. Each other player must follow suit if able. If a player has no card of the led suit, they may play any card from their hand.
3. The highest card of the led suit wins the trick. There are no trumps.
4. The winner of each trick leads to the next trick.
5. Hearts may not be led until the suit has been 'broken': that is, until a Heart or the Queen of Spades has been discarded on a trick where the player could not follow suit. Once broken, Hearts may be led freely.
6. On the very first trick of a hand, no penalty card (Heart or Queen of Spades) may be played unless the player has no other option.
7. Play continues until all cards have been played (one hand = 13 tricks for 4 players).
8. Score the hand: each player counts the penalty cards in their won tricks. Each Heart = 1 point. Queen of Spades = 13 points.
9. If one player has taken all 13 Hearts and the Queen of Spades (all 26 penalty points), that player Shoots the Moon: they score 0 and every other player scores 26 instead. Some groups allow the shooter to choose to deduct 26 from their own score rather than add 26 to everyone else's.
10. Record scores. Deal passes to the left and a new hand begins.
11. When any player's cumulative score reaches or exceeds 100, the game ends after that hand is fully scored. The player with the lowest score wins.

Winning and scoring

The player with the lowest cumulative score when any player hits 100 points (or the agreed limit) wins. Each Heart is worth 1 penalty point and the Queen of Spades is worth 13 penalty points, for a total of 26 penalty points per hand. Shooting the Moon, taking all 26 penalty points in a single hand, results in 0 points for the shooter and 26 points added to every other player's score. If two or more players are tied for the lowest score at game end, those players share the win or play a further hand to break the tie, as agreed beforehand.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns leading Hearts before the suit is broken. The standard ruling is that a player may not lead a Heart until a Heart or the Queen of Spades has been played on a previous trick as a discard. However, if a player's entire remaining hand is Hearts, they may lead one even if the suit has not been broken. Whether the Queen of Spades alone counts as breaking Hearts varies by house rule; most experienced players agree it does.

A second frequent issue arises when a player inadvertently plays out of turn or leads when it was not their turn to do so. The standard remedy is to require the card played in error to be taken back and the correct card played, with no penalty beyond any information revealed. If a player revokes (fails to follow suit when able), the standard ruling is that any penalty cards won in that trick and all subsequent tricks in that hand are awarded to the revoking player, and the trick itself may be replayed from the point of error if the mistake is caught immediately.

How to win more often

• Pass your three most dangerous cards: the Queen of Spades, the Ace and King of Spades (which may force you to win the Queen), and high Hearts are usually the first to go.
• Keep a low Spade if possible. Holding the 2 or 3 of Spades gives you a safe discard if the Queen of Spades is ever led at high level.
• Count Hearts as they fall. If most Hearts have already been played, leading them late in the hand is far less risky and can strip a Shoot the Moon attempt.
• Watch for a player collecting every penalty card. If someone appears to be shooting the moon, every other player should try to take at least one Heart or the Queen of Spades to stop them, even at cost to themselves.
• In the endgame, if you are already carrying many points, consider whether Shooting the Moon is achievable. Holding all the high cards and controlling the lead can make it viable; attempting and failing is very costly, so only commit when the path is clear.

Variations

Black Maria

The British variant most closely associated with the name Black Maria adds further penalty cards: the Ace of Spades scores 7 points and the King of Spades scores 10 points, in addition to the Queen of Spades at 13 and each Heart at 1. This significantly increases the danger of holding high Spades and makes the passing phase more critical. The game is otherwise played by the same rules as standard Hearts.

Omnibus Hearts

In Omnibus Hearts, the Jack of Diamonds is introduced as a bonus card worth minus 10 points (that is, it reduces the winner's score by 10). This single addition changes the strategy considerably: players now compete to win one specific trick rather than avoiding all penalty cards, adding a layer of aggression to an otherwise defensive game.

Spot Hearts

Rather than each Heart scoring a flat 1 point, in Spot Hearts each Heart scores its pip value: the 2 scores 2, the 10 scores 10, the Ace scores 14 (or 1, by agreement). This makes high Hearts considerably more dangerous to take and shifts passing strategy toward shedding Aces and court cards of the suit.

Partnership Hearts

With exactly 4 players, partners sit opposite each other and combine their penalty card totals at the end of each hand. Passing still goes between individuals rather than partnerships. The teamwork element requires partners to signal holdings through their choice of lead and discard, adding a cooperative layer absent from the standard game.

Hearts: frequently asked questions