How to Play the Card Game Hearts
Hearts is a popular trick taking card game for four players that can be played with a standard 52-card deck. The objective in Hearts is to keep your score as low as possible by avoiding taking points. Below we provide a guide to playing Hearts:
Setting Up the Game
- Determine the number of players: Heart is typically played with four players, but you can also play with more players.
- Shuffle the cards: All players should shuffle the deck and deal out the cards clockwise, giving each player 13 cards.
- Choose the starting player: The player to the left of the dealer will go first.
Playing the Game
- Lead the trick: The player to the left of the dealer will lead by playing a card from their hand.
- Follow suit: The other players will have to follow the suit of the card led by the first player, if able.
- Win the trick: The player with the highest ranked card of the same suit as the card led wins the trick.
- Score the round: The round is won by the player who has collected the most points. Points are collected depending on which cards were taken in the trick. The Hearts card is worth 1 point and the Queen of Spades is worth 13 points.
- Reshuffle the cards and start a new round: Once the points have been tallied, the cards are re-shuffled and the player to the left of the dealer will lead the next trick.
Winning the Game
The game of Hearts is won by the player who has the lowest score at the end of the game. The game is typically played until one player has 100 points or more. At this point, the player with the lowest score is declared the winner.
