How to Play Hearts: Rules, Tips, & Strategies

Hearts is a trick-taking game of avoidance with the goal of having the lowest score once someone reaches 100 points. While you don’t avoid taking all tricks, you do need to dodge tricks with penalty cards. The game is named for the hearts suit because heart cards and the queen of spades are penalty cards to avoid.

Typically a four-player game, you need just a single deck of playing cards to play, but with some dealing adjustments, you can play with two, three, or five players. Playing with more requires more than one deck of cards, but competing online solo is simple—no cards required since you can play online Hearts for free at Solitaired.

To win requires strategy—to know what cards to pass, what tricks to take, and what to lead—so this post breaks down how to play hearts and what to keep in mind to win. You can practice your technique by playing Hearts on Solitaired!

Objective

Win by being the player with the lowest score once another player reaches 100 points. This requires you to avoid taking tricks with penalty cards.

Hearts Card Game Terminology

Like many types of card games, Hearts uses some unique terminology, and once you get familiar with those terms and phrases, you can better understand the rules.

• Rounds and tricks: You play a round (or hand) of 13 cards each (if you have four players). Within each round, you play a series of tricks where each player plays one card into the center. Each trick consists of four cards, and each round is 13 tricks. You play as many rounds as necessary until someone reaches 100 points.
• Leading: Throwing out the first card of the trick is called leading. The person with the two of clubs leads the first trick of each round. After the first trick is played, whoever wins the trick leads the next one.
• Breaking hearts: You cannot lead a heart until hearts are broken, which happens when a heart is played in a trick where the player cannot follow suit. For example, if a player led diamonds and another player doesn’t have a diamond, they can play a heart. This breaks hearts, which allows other players to then lead a heart if they choose.
• Following suit: You must follow suit of the card that led if possible. If spades led, you must play a spade. If you don’t have the suit that led, you can throw any card of any other suit. So if spades led but you have none, then you can play another off-suit card. The exception is the first trick, during which no penalty cards can be played.
• Winning the trick: A player wins the trick (takes the trick) if they play the highest card of the suit that led, and aces are always high. The game of Hearts has no trump suit, so a high-ranking card from an off-suit will not take the trick even if it’s the highest card played. For example, if a five of clubs led, followed by a nine of clubs, three of hearts, and jack of diamonds, the nine of clubs is the highest card of the leading suit and wins the trick.
• Penalty cards: Also called point cards, you only score points if you take penalty cards (or scoring cards) with a trick. Only the queen of spades and all of the hearts are penalty cards, with the queen of spades worth 13 points and each heart card worth 1 point, regardless of rank. Point cards cannot be played in the first trick.
• Shooting the moon: If any player takes all the penalty cards—all the hearts and the queen of spades—in one hand, they have shot the moon, and all other players receive 26 points each. They receive zero points that round.

Rules for How to Play Hearts

You only need a standard 52-card deck to play Hearts with two to five players. We’ve included set-up modifications in the following game rules so you can play with two, three, or five players.

1. Deal all the cards to each player—13 cards each.

For games with more or fewer than four players, follow these modifications:

• If you play with two players, remove all the threes, fives, sevens, nines, jacks, and kings of all suits. The first card dealt is considered a dead card (unused), and then 13 cards are dealt to each player.
• If you play with three players, take out the two of diamonds and deal 17 cards to each player.
• If you play with five players, remove the two of diamonds and the two of clubs, and then deal ten cards to each player.

2. Pass cards before you start most rounds.

Each player will pass three cards to another player. Passing high cards, such as aces and kings, can help you avoid taking tricks during gameplay. The passing of cards follows this pattern.

• First round: Pass to the player to the left.
• Second round: Pass to the player to the right.
• Third round: Pass to the player across from you.
• Fourth round: Do not pass to anyone; keep the cards you’re dealt.

Every four hands, you just repeat the pattern and continue repeating until the end of the game.

If you’re playing with three or five players, just pass left, pass right, and then don’t pass at all—because of the odd number of players, you skip passing to the player across from you. You don’t pass cards with just two players.

3. Begin the first trick of the round with the two of clubs.

The player with the two of clubs leads the first trick of every round. If you play with five players, the three of clubs will begin the hand since the two of clubs has been removed.

4. All players follow suit for the first trick, if possible.

When the two of clubs is led, then all players must play a club into the middle. If they don’t have a club, they can play any card except a heart or the queen of spades because penalty cards are not allowed to be played during the first trick. So no one can score penalty points in the first trick.

5. The winner of the trick leads the second trick.

Whoever played the highest ranking club in the first trick wins the trick and will lead a card for the next trick. They can lead any card except for a heart because hearts will not be broken by the second trick.

6. All players follow suit of the lead card, if possible.

Although hearts cannot lead the second trick, any other card that is not a heart can be led. If a five of diamonds leads the second trick, then all players are expected to play a diamond unless they have none. If a player does not have the suit that led the second trick, they can play any card, even a penalty card. If a player cannot follow suit and plays a heart, then hearts are considered broken.

7. The winner takes the trick and leads the next trick.

Whoever played the highest ranking card for the suit that led, takes the trick and leads the next trick. If any penalty cards were played, lay them face up to be counted at the end of the round. If hearts are broken, then any card of any suit can lead. If hearts are not broken, then any card of any suit except hearts can lead. Continue playing in this fashion until all the cards have been played.

8. Count the points at the end of each hand.

After all the cards have been played. Count the points of any penalty cards a player took in. Remember that if one player took all penalty cards, all the other players get 26 points each (only 20 points if you’re playing with just two players).

9. Declare a winner as soon as someone reaches 100.

Continue playing rounds, counting the points at the end of each. As soon as a player scores 100 points, the game is over and the player with the fewest points wins the game.

Strategies to Win Hearts

Unlike other trick-taking games like euchre, Hearts is fairly straightforward. You follow suit, ranks follow a normal order (with aces high), and you don’t have to worry about someone trumping your trick out of nowhere.

That doesn’t mean you don’t need a strategy. In fact, the straightforward nature of the game makes using strategies for Hearts much more effective and helps you win!

Know What Cards to Pass

In Hearts, you don’t have facedown cards that change your strategy as they get revealed like in Solitaire. But passing cards at the start can have the same effect. So knowing what cards you should pass helps you make fewer adjustments when you get cards passed to you. Consider passing these cards:

• Two of clubs: You should always pass the two of clubs. The two of clubs leads the first trick of every round, and if you need to get rid of higher clubs or other high-ranking cards in that first trick, you certainly don’t want the lead. Even if you think your hand is safe from winning tricks led with clubs, you could be given a high-ranking club during the pass, and you lose the chance to get rid of it if you have to lead the two. Simply put—keeping the two of clubs wastes a turn.
• Aces: Because the highest card of the suit led wins tricks, you should also pass aces. Aces guarantee you will take a trick if you must follow suit. For example, if someone leads the five of diamonds and you only have the ace, you’ll take the trick and any penalty cards that were played. But if you passed the ace to another player, you can play another card to avoid the trick.
• Queen, king, and ace of spades: The queen of spades sticks a player with the highest amount of points—13. So pass the queen as well as the ace and king of spades. Those two cards will win tricks if spades leads, and you don’t want to get stuck with the queen, especially if you already passed that card off to another player!

Know What Cards to Keep

If you discover that you have more than three cards you should pass, don’t fret. You can keep hearts, high-ranking cards, and even the queen of spades if you keep cards strategically. Just as important as it is to know what cards you should pass, knowing when you can keep certain cards—even penalty cards—helps you pass the right cards and still avoid points when taking tricks.

It can be shocking to see a long line of hearts, the queen of spades, and high-ranking cards in your hand, but if you know what to look for, you can successfully navigate rounds even when your hand is bleeding hearts. You can keep hearts, aces, or the queen of spades if you have four or more mid- to low-ranking cards (eight and below) of the same suit. These other cards guard the high-point or high-ranking card in your hand.

For example, if you have the ace of diamonds but also have the three, four, seven, and eight of diamonds, you have a good chance of playing lower diamonds when that suit is led. Then you can shed the ace and higher ranks as an off-suit play in another trick. Because each suit has 13 cards and you have 5 of those cards, chances are good that the 8 remaining cards of that suit won’t draw out your ace.

You can follow this strategy for hearts in your hand as well as the queen of spades. As long as you have enough cards of that same suit to play when that suit is led, you have a great chance of playing high ranks or penalty cards in an off-suit trick. Plus, it’s not wrong to get a little glee at keeping a card like the queen of spades and then unfurling it on another player!

Shed One Suit

The fewer suits you have in your hand, the more chances you have to play off suit. For example, if someone leads diamonds but you have none, that is your opportunity to play high-ranking off-suit cards or off-suit penalty points you don’t want to be stuck with.

Shedding a suit isn’t always possible, but even if you whittle a suit down to just one card, you’re in great shape. Follow these steps to get rid of as much of one suit as possible:

1. Look for a suit with just three or fewer cards. You can possibly shed one suit of four cards if you don’t have many other cards that need to be passed.
2. See if you have other cards that need to be passed. You can’t shed a suit if you have a lot of other cards that need to be passed. However, when you have just a few cards of one suit, that typically means you have a lot of cards in another suit, which could guard against playing high-ranking cards.
3. Pass as many cards from that suit as possible during the three-card pass. Passing all the cards from that suit would be best, but if you can’t, pass the highest ranking cards during the pass to reduce the number of cards for that suit.
4. Play the highest card remaining of that suit in the first few tricks, if possible. If you haven’t completely shed the suit, you can play the last card in one of the first few tricks.

Remember that you will also be passed three cards and may end up with more cards of the suit you’re trying to shed. So passing as many cards as possible helps guard against this.

Play a Lower Card Than Your Opponents—Not the Lowest

The object of the game is to get the lowest score by avoiding tricks with point cards, and the only way to take a trick is to play the highest ranking card of the suit that led. So to avoid the trick, you do the opposite—sort of. You need to play a lower-ranking card of the suit that led but not the lowest card of that suit.

You want to keep low cards in your hand longer than high-ranking cards because you have less of a chance at taking a trick with those, especially if you have to lead. So if you must follow suit, do so by playing the highest card possible that is lower than the rank that led but not the lowest.

For example, if a player led with the nine of spades and you have the four, eight, and jack of spades, you should play the eight. The eight is lower than nine, so you won’t take the trick. But you leave yourself the four, which you might need if someone leads a six of spades in the future or if you need a low-ranking lead to flush out higher-ranking cards. You wouldn’t play the jack so you don’t take the trick, and then you can play it as an off suit in later tricks.

Keep Track of Cards That Are Played

The game of Hearts is straightforward. You know what cards are dealt, and you know what you have in your hand. Better yet, you can even see what cards get played. So if you keep track of the cards, you don’t have to wonder whether you should play the king of spades because you’ll know if the queen of spades is still out there.

Each suit has 13 cards, ranking from one to ace, and tracking them becomes important when you have a mid-ranking card late in the game and wonder whether you should lead it. While an eight of diamonds may not seem all that bad, leading it could cause you to rake in penalty cards if the top-ranking diamonds have been played. If you know that all the diamonds from nine through ace have been played, you know you now hold the highest diamond, which is like holding an ace. So you’ll want to play it as quickly as possible when another suit leads, rather than lead it yourself.

Watch what people play so that you’re aware of how it affects your hand. You’ll know not only if you’re now holding the highest ranking card for a suit, but you’ll also know if you’re holding the only card for a suit. When determining what to lead, a four of spades may seem like a safe bet unless it’s the only spade left. Then you risk taking penalty points and having to lead again.

Watch for Moon Shots

Shooting the moon is hard to do, but it can often be easy to spot. You’ll notice someone gladly raking in tricks and leading with high cards to keep winning tricks. If possible, ruin that player’s chance for shooting the moon by not giving in when they try to lure out penalty cards.

For example, they may try to control the lead by leading the ace of spades and then the king of spades, all in an effort to have the queen played. If you have the queen, play lower-ranking cards. Even if you get stuck with the queen, you’ve ruined their moon shot and only took 13 points rather than 26.

Another tactic is to saddle a different player with a point card. It may seem heartless, but if you notice player two trying to shoot the moon, playing that four of hearts on player three guarantees that no one else gets the 26 penalty points. Taking 1 point for the heart is much kinder than 26! You ruin player two’s chance of shooting the moon and make them take every point possible for every penalty card they have already won.

Break Hearts on Solitaired

This trick-taking card game is not only fun to play, but it also gives you a great way to practice game strategy and build your technique. Because you can set it up with some flexibility, you can play it with friends and just one deck of cards or play Hearts online for free without downloads at Solitaired.