Hearts

PLAY

All 52 cards are dealt out to 4 players. The object of the game is to avoid winning tricks where hearts are played. The player with the 2 of clubs leads the first trick. Moving in a clockwise direction, all other players must follow the lead suit or discard any card if they don't have the lead suit in their hand. The player who lays the highest card in the lead suit wins the trick and leads the next trick. Hearts cannot be lead until they are broken or when a player has no cards of other suits to lead. Hearts are broken when a player discards a heart on a previous trick. Each Heart is worth 1 point.

GAME VARIATIONS

Black Lady - The Queen of Spades is called the Black Lady. It is worth 13 points to the player who takes it. If a player tries taking all 13 Hearts and the Queen of Spades it's called Shooting the Moon. If successful the player receives 0 points while all other players receive 26 points.

Black Maria - The Queen of Spades is worth 13 points, the King of Spades is worth 10 points and the Ace of Spades is worth 7 points.

Omnibus - This is the same as Black Lady except the 10 of Diamonds is a bonus card and is worth -10 points. To shoot the moon you also need to take the 10 of Diamonds.

Red Jack - This is the same as Omnibus except the Jack of Diamonds is the bonus card instead of the 10 of Diamonds.

SCORING

Standard - Hearts are worth 1 point each, Black Lady is worth 13 points, Omnibus and Red Jack are worth -10 points, Shooting the Moon is worth 26 points for all other players. When any player reaches 100 points the player with the lowest score is the winner.

Spot/Greek - Hearts are worth their face value in points, Ace of Hearts 14 points, King 13pts, Queen 12pts, Jack 11pts, Black Lady is worth 50 points, Omnibus and Red Jack are worth -10 points, Shooting the Moon is worth 150 points for all other players. When any player reaches 500 points the player with the lowest score is the winner. Black Maria cannot be played in this scoring mode.

PASSING CARDS

No Passing - Cards are not passed at the beginning of each round.

Left - 3 cards are passed to the left at the beginning of each round.

Right - 3 cards are passed to the right at the beginning of each round.

Across - 3 cards are passed across at the beginning of each round.

Alternating - 3 cards are passed to the left in the first round, 3 cards are passed to the right in the second round, 3 cards are passed to the player across the table in the third round and then no passing is performed in the fourth round. This cycle repeats in the following rounds.