How to Play Competitive Hearts

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By Joe Andrews
eHow Contributing Writer

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(9 Ratings)

Pallas - Her Royal Majesty

Hearts is a "cut throat" game in which everyone plays for himself. The person with LOW score at the end of a pre-determined game limit (usually 100 points) is the winner. Hearts rewards the ability to count cards, and to collude or work with other players in order to aim for "low man." This seemingly simple game has plenty of strategy and technique. Read on to learn more.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

A well-lit room with good ventilation
One card-size table for 4 players
A pen or pencil
A score sheet or piece of paper
Two standard decks of cards
Four players who understand the finer points of Hearts
(Alternative) An internet game site, featuring Hearts

Hearts Strategy and Technique for Advanced Players

Step 1

PASSING--Do not keep the Queen of spades unless you have at least four other spades accompanying her (some players will gamble and keep the spade Queen in their hand if they have three spade high guard cards--AKJ, KJ10, AJ9 and K109). The idea is to be able to stop Spade leads.
Step 2

PASSING - Always remember the three cards which you passed to your opponent (whomever that is). And don't forget the cards which you receive. (The idea is to play those cards as soon as you can). In this way, your opponent will not be able to "throw you in" at the end of the hand with a card he knew he passed to you! And you may be able to take advantage of an opponent who did not play a card you passed to him!
Step 3

PASSING--Rarely, if ever, pass a spade lower than the Queen. There are some unusual exceptions, which occur if one has a long solid hearts suit, lots of high card winners in the club or diamond suits, and a good chance for the "Moon."
Step 4

PASSING--If you can (it depends on the nature of your hand), pass your second highest heart. This has a "dampening" effect on "Moons"! Another reasonable, (and sometimes risky) pass is three cards of a bad club or diamond suit. (Voiding a minor suit provides discarding opportunities.)
Step 5

PASSING--Remember, you are passing to improve your hand, and not necessarily, to "burn" a particular opponent. However, passing three high cards in the same suit may clear the path for an enemy Moon!
Step 6

THE PLAY--If you hold the Queen of spades after the pass, try out dump or unload her as soon as possible. If your hand is absolutely safe, and you have sufficient "backing" spades, then you can hold her for the "low man" (low score at the time).
Step 7

THE PLAY--Do not play for slam (the Moon) unless your hand contains the right combination of cards. If you have a losing heart, after the pass, forget about the Moon! Of course, all the TOP cards in hearts make life so much easier!
Step 8

THE PLAY--It usually does not pay to take more than eight points to stop a Moon. However, it may become necessary to take many more points, if it prolongs the game (and you are not in First Place at the time). When someone reaches 100 points, the game is done....
Step 9

THE PLAY--If you pass a middle or low heart to an opponent, and he leads THIS card after he has been burned with the spade Queen, you should try to win this trick (rather than hope that someone else may take it). Four points is cheap insurance against a Moon!
Step 10

MISCELLANEOUS--"Ducking and dumping" high cards, and refusing to take a heart trick with an otherwise safe hand will incur the wrath of your opponents. This is especially true if YOU passed the "stopper" heart, and then ducked!
Step 11

MISCELLANEOUS--Count those suits which are important to your hand, and be leery of unusually low discards (deuces and threes) early in the play by a particular player. Drop a heart (called "breaking" hearts) as soon as you can, in order to disrupt a Moon attempt.
Step 12

MISCELLANEOUS--When a "keeper" or "hold" hand is in play, remember that suits tend break more evenly. You might be able to cash one or two high card winners in the club or diamond suits at the beginning of the hand, and "clear" your hand of possible dnager cards.

Comments

cherryjeany34 said

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on 9/25/2009 Hi Joe: I watched your how to videos and want to say ty for good tips. I just learned how to play hearts 3 days ago and have been playing in the newbienook on yahoo games. I wanted to say that I can't believe how vicious people are when you make a mistake or get rid of your queen to someone who is not the low man. I have been called so many names and told I was an idiot and a moron not to mention the profanity. Why are people so cruel. They have even followed me into other rooms. I'm actually not doing to bad for a first timer, and have managed to win a few. You say the following: THE PLAY--If you hold the Queen of spades after the pass, try out dump or unload her as soon as possible. If your hand is absolutely safe, and you have sufficient "backing" spades, then you can hold her for the "low man" (low score at the time).
and I have to say that I did this in my last game... a...

HonestAbe said

on 12/6/2008 The Pass: Never pass a bare A K or Q of spades in front of lowman. On the cross pass, A K or Q should be passed with support behind lowman. Three spades can be passed on cross pass unless a moon would give player the moon. An expert player will not violate the trust pass of three spades.

If you are lowman, good idea to pass Ac on left hand pass so player will probably lead to you. Pass 2c on right hand pass so player cannot lead through you on first lead.

ClassicCardMan said

on 1/17/2008 Hi Abby -

Thanks for the kind words. Hearts can be a tough game. I suggest that you get a copy of my book "The Complete Win At Hearts" from Amazon.com It will really help you with the game. Good luck!