How to Play Hearts: Card Game Rules
To play Hearts, four players each take 13 cards from a standard 52-card deck and try not to win tricks that hold penalty cards. The Hearts card game rules are short: every heart you take costs 1 point, the Queen of Spades costs 13, there is no trump suit, and when anyone reaches 100 points the lowest score wins.
- Before each hand, pass 3 cards: left, then right, then across, then a hold hand with no pass.
- The player holding the 2♣ leads it to the first trick. No hearts and no Q♠ may be played to that trick unless a player has nothing else.
- Follow suit if you can; if you can't, play any card. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick, and the winner leads next.
- Hearts can't be led until one has been discarded on an earlier trick ("breaking" hearts), unless you hold nothing but hearts.
- Take all 13 hearts and the Queen in one hand (shooting the moon) and each opponent takes 26 points instead of you.
Start with the pass
A hand of Hearts is often won or lost before the first card is played. Everyone picks three cards and passes them face down at the same time, and you only see what you receive once your own three are committed. Say this is your first hand, so you are passing to the left:
♠ A K 5 ♥ Q 9 4 ♦ K J 8 6 3 ♣ 7 2
Pass the A♠, K♠ and Q♥. The two big spades are the danger. With only the 5♠ to play under them, a couple of spade leads will force you to win a spade trick, and whoever holds the Q♠ will drop her on it: 13 points from one card. The Q♥ is a tall heart with little under it, the kind of card that wins a heart trick late in the hand. These are the same three cards our bots pass from this hand.
You could pass the 7♣ and 2♣ instead and be void in clubs from the start. That keeps both big spades, though, and it hands the 2♣ to your left, so they would lead the first trick instead of you.
Not every hand passes its high spades. With the Q♠ and four small ones (♠ Q 9 7 4 3) you have spades to follow with every time someone leads them, so nobody can force her out of your hand early. From ♠ Q 9 7 4 3 ♥ A 10 6 ♦ K 5 ♣ J 8 2, our bots keep the Queen and pass the A♥, K♦ and 10♥.
The direction changes every hand on a fixed four-hand cycle:
| Hand | Pass 3 cards | Who gets them |
|---|---|---|
| 1, 5, 9… | Left | The player on your left, who plays after you |
| 2, 6, 10… | Right | The player on your right, who plays before you |
| 3, 7, 11… | Across | The player sitting opposite you |
| 4, 8, 12… | Hold | Nobody: no pass, you play the hand you were dealt |
Online, you get 30 seconds to choose. If the clock runs out, your three highest cards are passed for you. That default can't tell a guarded K♠ from a bare one, so it is worth picking your own.
Then play the tricks
- The holder of the 2♣ leads it to the first trick.
- Play goes clockwise, and you must follow suit if you can.
- Out of the suit led? Play anything. This is how hearts and the Queen end up in other people's tricks.
- The highest card of the suit led wins. A card of another suit never wins, however high it is.
- Whoever wins the trick leads the next one. In Hearts, winning a trick usually means collecting whatever is in it.
No points on the first trick
Nobody may play a heart or the Q♠ to the first trick. The one exception is a hand with nothing else to play. Some tables allow points on trick one; ours don't (see house rules below).
Breaking hearts
You can't lead a heart until a heart has been discarded on an earlier trick. That first discard "breaks" hearts. If your hand is nothing but hearts, you may lead one anyway. On our tables the Queen of Spades does not break hearts: she can be led any time after the first trick, but heart leads stay locked until a heart itself has been played.
One trick, worked out
Mid-hand, West leads a low spade to flush out the Queen:
North wins the trick and takes 13 points. North kept the K♠ with nothing small to play instead, so a cheap spade lead forced it out while the Queen was still loose. That is the A♠ K♠ 5♠ hand from the top of this page if you don't pass the spades.
Then count the points
| Card(s) | Penalty |
|---|---|
| Each heart | 1 point |
| Queen of Spades | 13 points |
| Whole hand | 26 points, shared out by play |
| Shooting the moon (taking all 26) | opponents +26 each, shooter 0 (see below) |
Shooting the moon
Take every heart and the Queen in one hand and the scoring turns around: your three opponents take 26 points each and you take none. Miss a single heart and you have taken 25 points yourself. Our tables add one adjustment: if giving the others 26 would end the game with someone else winning, the shooter gets −26 off their own score instead. The app applies this for you, so you never have to choose. Our Shoot the Moon in Hearts guide covers when a hand is good enough to try and how to stop an opponent who is going for it.
When does a game of Hearts end?
At the end of any hand in which someone has reached 100 points. The lowest total wins. If two players tie for lowest, more hands are played until one of them is alone at the bottom. Nobody can take more than 26 points in a hand, so no game ends before the fourth hand.
House rules players argue about
Everything above is what our tables play. Hearts has been played at home for well over a century, and these are the places where the rules you grew up with may differ.
Does the Queen of Spades break hearts?
At some tables she does: once the Q♠ has been played, hearts may be led. Ours keep the classic rule, where only a heart breaks hearts. The Queen can still be led any time after the first trick.
Can you play points on the first trick?
The standard rules on pagat.com allow it and list the ban as a variation. Other rule sets ban it, and so do our tables: no hearts and no Q♠ on trick one unless your hand holds nothing else.
Does a moon give everyone else 26, or take 26 off the shooter?
Under the rules pagat.com gives as standard, the shooter chooses. Other tables fix it one way or the other. Ours add 26 to each opponent unless that would end the game with someone else winning, and then take 26 off the shooter instead. The app does the sum for you.
Timers and table manners
- Each card has a 15-second timer in online games. If it runs out, your lowest legal card is played for you.
- Pass in good time. The hand can't start until all four passes are in.
- Everyone's points for the current hand are shown at their seat. Watching them is part of the game, and it is how you catch a moon early.
- No gloating when the Queen lands on someone. She might be yours next hand.
Three habits that save points
- Count the spades. Thirteen of them, one Queen. Once you know where she is, you know which spade tricks are safe to win.
- Get void in a suit. When a suit you don't hold is led, you can throw away the Queen or a high heart.
- Take a small trick on purpose. Winning two points now to get the lead and steer the hand can save you fifteen later.
More in Hearts strategy.
Frequently asked questions
Who leads the first trick?
Whoever holds the 2♣, and they must lead exactly that card. Play then goes clockwise.
Can I play a heart on the first trick?
Not on our tables. No hearts and no Q♠ on trick one, unless your hand holds nothing else; then you may play them.
When can hearts be led?
Once a heart has been discarded on an earlier trick, which is called breaking hearts. A hand of only hearts may lead one anyway.
Is there a trump suit?
No. The highest card of the suit led always wins, and a card of another suit never does. That is why being void in a suit is so useful: it is your chance to throw points away.
What happens at 100 points?
The game ends after the hand in which anyone reaches 100, and the lowest score wins. If the lowest scores are tied, more hands are played until the tie breaks.
What should I pass?
Bare high spades and tall hearts with little under them, as in the hand at the top of this page. With three or more small spades you can keep the A♠ and K♠, or even the Queen herself.
Why did someone take a trick full of hearts on purpose?
Damage control (two points now instead of ten later), taking the lead to steer the hand, or the start of a moon. Watch what they do next.
Why is it called Black Lady?
Black Lady was the name for the version that made the Queen of Spades a 13-point card, in the early 1900s. That version is the Hearts almost everyone plays today.
Is this the same Hearts as the old Windows game?
Windows shipped Hearts from Windows 3.1 to Windows 7, and it was the Black Lady version with the 13-point Queen. If you played it at work, you already know how this game goes.
How long is a match?
It runs to 100 points. Nobody can take more than 26 in a hand, so a match lasts at least four hands, and most run longer.
How many points is the Queen of Spades?
Thirteen penalty points, the same as all thirteen hearts together. That one card decides most hands, which is why the game is also called Black Lady. Full breakdown in Hearts scoring.
How do you score Hearts?
Each heart is one penalty point and the Queen of Spades is thirteen, so a hand holds 26 points. You want the lowest score, and the game ends when any player reaches 100. See Hearts scoring for worked examples.
What is the difference between Hearts and Spades?
Hearts is about avoiding tricks and has no trump suit or partnerships; Spades is about bidding for tricks with spades permanently trump and fixed partners. Low score wins Hearts, high score wins Spades.
Glossary
- Black Lady
- The Queen of Spades, worth 13 points, and an old name for the game.
- Breaking hearts
- The first heart discarded, which allows hearts to be led.
- Discard
- A card thrown when you are void in the suit led. This is how points change hands.
- Ducking
- Playing under the current best card to avoid winning the trick.
- Hold hand
- Every fourth hand, when no cards are passed.
- Shooting the moon
- Taking all 26 penalty points on purpose. Miss one heart and you keep 25 of them.
- Smoking out the Queen
- Leading low spades to force the Q♠'s holder to play her.
- Void
- Holding none of a suit, which lets you discard when it is led.
Keep reading
- Hearts Strategy: what to pass, when to duck and when to take a trick.
- Hearts Scoring: points, the Queen and worked examples.
- Shoot the Moon in Hearts: how to do it and how to stop it.
- Hearts Variants: Omnibus, Spot Hearts and other house rules.
- Hearts for 2, 3, 5 and 6 Players: how the rules change when there are not four.