Hearts for 2, 3, 5 and 6 Players
To play Hearts for 3 players, take the 2♦ out of the deck, deal 17 cards to each player, and pass three cards left, then right, then hold. The 2♣ still leads the first trick, a heart is still 1 point, the Queen of Spades is still 13, and the lowest score still wins when someone reaches 100.
Hearts is usually played by four, but it can be played with other numbers too. This page covers 3 players in full, then 2 players and 5 and 6 players.
| Players | Cards each | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 16, plus a dummy hand | A home version with a dummy hand (see below) |
| 3 | 17 | The 2♦ comes out |
| 4 | 13 | The standard game, and the only one our tables deal |
| 5 | 10 | The 2♦ and 2♣ come out, and the 3♣ leads |
| 6 | 8 | Four low cards come out |
On this site: our tables deal the standard four-player game. If there are only three of you, start a private room and a bot takes the fourth seat. The rules below are for three-handed Hearts with a real deck.
Passing with three
There is no "across" with three players, so the cycle is shorter:
| Hand | Pass |
|---|---|
| 1 | Left |
| 2 | Right |
| 3 | Hold: no passing |
| 4 | Back to left |
Some groups drop the hold hand and just alternate left and right. Either way it is still three cards, passed at the same time, and you commit before you see what arrives.
♠ A Q 3 ♥ K J 6 ♦ A 10 8 7 5 ♣ Q 9 6 4 3 2
Seventeen cards, first hand, passing left. Pass the Q♠, A♠ and K♥. The Queen has only the 3♠ to play before her, so a couple of spade leads will force her out. Pass her but keep the A♠, and the ace is the card that catches her. The K♥ is the card most likely to win a heart trick late.
Long hands make voids harder to build. With 17 cards you rarely hold a suit short enough to empty with three passes, so the pass is mostly about the spades.
The deal
Fifty-two cards don't split three ways, so one comes out:
- Remove the 2♦ and deal 17 cards to each player. Nothing is left over.
- The 2♣ is still in the deck, so it still leads the first trick, as in the four-player game.
- Black Maria, the British three-handed game, takes out the 2♣ instead. There the player to the dealer's left leads any card. More on that game on Black Maria and Black Lady.
What actually changes
The rules barely move. The hands feel different.
- You hold 17 cards instead of 13. Longer suits mean more control and fewer forced discards.
- The same 26 points go to three players, not four. That is about 8.7 a hand on average instead of 6.5, so on average a game reaches 100 in about a quarter fewer hands.
- Defend against the moon earlier. With two opponents instead of three there is one fewer hand that might win a stray heart.
- No across pass. Your three cards always go to one of only two opponents, and on a left pass that player plays right after you.
Scoring
The same as four-handed. Each heart is 1, the Queen of Spades is 13, and 26 points go out every hand. A moon gives each opponent 26; on our tables, if that would end the game with someone else winning, the shooter takes 26 off instead. The game ends when a player reaches 100, and the lowest score wins. Full detail in Hearts scoring.
Hearts for 2 players
There is no standard two-player Hearts, and our tables do not deal it. One documented home version is Huse Hearts for Two, described on pagat.com's Hearts Variations page. It uses a dummy hand to stand in for the missing players:
- Deal 16 cards to each player and 16 face up as a dummy hand. The last four cards go face down as a blind.
- Each player passes three cards face down to the other, who may play them.
- On each trick the second player plays one card from their own hand and one from the dummy. The dummy never leads, and it never counts as the winner of a trick.
- The first player to win a trick with a penalty card in it picks up the blind.
- The game ends when a player reaches 100, and the lower score wins. A moon lets the shooter take 26 off their own score or add 26 to the other player's.
If there are only two of you and you want to play here, start a private room and share the code. Bots fill the other two seats, and the game is the four-player one.
Hearts for 5 and 6 players
- 5 players
- Remove the 2♦ and 2♣ and deal 10 each. The 3♣ leads. The points spread five ways, so most hands are gentle.
- 6 players
- Remove the 2♣, 3♣, 2♦ and 2♠ and deal 8 each. Very short hands, more luck than judgement, but quick.
Our tables are four seats, so these two are for a real deck. Agree who leads and how the pass works before the first hand.
Keep reading
- How to Play Hearts: the four-player rules.
- Hearts Scoring: points and worked examples.
- Shoot the Moon in Hearts: worth reading before a three-handed game.
- Hearts Variants: Omnibus, Black Maria and more.