Hearts Rules

 How to Play Hearts

Players: 3-6

Hearts is one the most well-known card games of all times. It Deal

Object of the game

The object of the game is to have as least points as possible. Each point you get is a penalty and when one player gets 100 points the player with the lowest wins!

Deal 

You will deal out the entire deck evenly to all players. This means that sometimes you many need to remove cards. Here's how it works:

• With 3 players remove the 3♦ and deal 17 cards to each player
• With 4 players deal out 13 cards to each player
• With 5 players remove the 3♦ and the 3♣ and deal 10 cards to each player
• With 6 players add in the two jokers and deal 9 cards to each player

Gameplay

1. The goal is to collect the least points possible during each round. Each heart you take gives you one point. Additionally, the queen of spades is worth 13 points if you take it. 
2. After your cards are dealt to you, you will pass 3 cards to another person. When playing with 4 people on the first round you pass your cards to the left, on the second you pass to the right, for the third you pass across the table and on the fourth there is no passing cards.
3. At the beginning of each turn one player will lay down any one of their cards, called leading. The suit of the card they put down determines the suit of that trick. (e.g. you play 8♠, the suit of the trick is spades.)
4. All other players will play one of their cards one at a time. If you have a card of the suit of the trick, you must play a card of that suit. If you don't have a card of the same suit you can play any card you want. (e.g. The suit of the trick is spades. If you have spades, you must play a spade.)
5. The player who plays the highest card of the suit of the trick takes all cards laid down and starts the next trick.
6. The player with the 2 of clubs starts the first trick and must lead with that card. If this card has been removed, use the 3 of clubs instead.
7. You cannot lead a trick with a heart until a heart has been played on another suit. This is called breaking hearts. (If you have nothing to play but hearts you can exceptionally play a heart during that turn)
8. You cannot play a point card on the first trick, even if you do not have any clubs.
9. Play continues until all cards have been played

End of Round

1. Each player counts up their points. Each heart is worth 1, Q♠ is worth 13. Add this to the score sheet.
2. Shooting the moon: Shooting the moon occurs when one player gets all 14 point cards (13 hearts + queen of spades). In this case, that player receives 0 points and all other players receive 26 points! This is risky to try to do because if you miss just one or two cards, you'll end up with a lot of points...
3. A new round starts. Remember that the person you pass your cards to (rule #2 above) changes.

Winning the Game

When one (or more) player gets 100 points or more, the player with the lowest score wins. If there is a tie, play continues until there is just one winner.