Hearts Variants
The Hearts variants you are most likely to meet each change what a card is worth: Omnibus Hearts makes the J♦ worth minus 10, Spot Hearts charges each heart its face value, and the British game Black Maria adds penalties to the A♠ and K♠. Below are those and the smaller house rules, starting with the pass, and for each one whether our tables play it.
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Passing rules
| Rule | Where you'll see it | Our tables |
|---|---|---|
| Left, right, across, hold, repeat | The usual American cycle | Yes |
| No hold hand: left, right, across, repeat | Some home games | No |
| Scatter: one card to each other player | Some home games, added to the cycle | No |
| Always pass three to the right | Black Maria in the British books (some players pass left) | No |
| No passing at all | Dame de Pique, the French Canadian game | No |
On our tables the pass is three cards, all at once, face down, and you see what you got only after your own three are in. In online games you have 30 seconds to choose.
Rules about the play
Does the Queen of Spades break hearts?
At some tables she does, so hearts can be led once she has been played. Our tables play the classic rule: only a heart breaks hearts.
Can hearts be led at any time?
That was the original rule, and Black Maria still plays it. In the USA nearly everyone now makes you wait until hearts are broken, and so do our tables, unless your hand is all hearts.
Can points be played on the first trick?
pagat.com's standard rules allow it and list the ban as a variation. Our tables ban it: no hearts and no Q♠ on trick one unless a hand has nothing else.
Who leads first?
Usually the holder of the 2♣, who must lead it. The original rule, still used in Black Maria, has the player to the dealer's left lead any card. Our tables use the 2♣.
Scoring variants
| Variant | What changes | Our tables |
|---|---|---|
| Omnibus Hearts | The J♦ (at some tables the 10♦) is worth minus 10 to whoever takes it. | No |
| Spot Hearts | Each heart costs its pip value (jack 11 up to ace 14) and the Q♠ costs 25: 129 points a hand, games to about 500. | No |
| Black Maria spades | A♠ 7 and K♠ 10 beside the Q♠'s 13: 43 points a hand. | No |
| Exactly 100 | Landing on exactly 100 drops you back to 50, or to zero. | No |
| Moon: shooter chooses | The shooter picks 26 off their own score or 26 onto everyone else. | No: +26 to the others unless that hands someone else the game |
Other numbers of players
With three players the 2♦ comes out and everyone gets 17 cards; with five, the 2♦ and 2♣ come out, ten cards each, and the 3♣ leads. Two and six players are covered too. Our tables are four seats. If you have only three people, start a private room and a bot takes the fourth seat. Details on Hearts for 2, 3, 5 and 6 Players.
What our tables play
- Classic 4-player Hearts, 52 cards, no partners, no jack of diamonds bonus.
- Passing goes left, right, across, then a hold hand, repeating.
- The 2♣ leads the first trick, and no points may be played on it.
- Hearts must be broken before they can be led, and the Q♠ does not break them.
- Moon: the other three take +26, unless that would end the game with someone else winning; then the shooter takes −26 instead.
- The game ends at the end of the hand in which someone reaches 100, and the lowest score wins. A tie for lowest plays on.
Small glossary
- Breaking hearts
- The first heart discarded on another suit. From then on hearts may be led.
- The Lady, Black Maria
- The Queen of Spades, 13 points to whoever wins her.
- Shooting the moon
- Taking all 26 points in one hand so they go to the other players instead.
- Ducking
- Losing a trick on purpose by playing under the winning card.
- Hold hand
- The fourth hand in the cycle, played with no pass.
Keep reading
- How to Play Hearts: the full rules, starting with the pass.
- Hearts Strategy: what to pass and how to dodge the Queen.
- Hearts Scoring: points, the Queen and worked examples.
- Shoot the Moon in Hearts: how to do it and how to stop it.
- Black Maria and Black Lady: the British game and the old name.
- Hearts for 2, 3, 5 and 6 Players: how the rules change when there are not four.