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PLaying Hearts

Hearts is a trick-taking card game for four. A standard deck of 52 playing cards is used. What distinguishes Hearts from other trick-taking games is that points are negative, and so the objective is to have the lowest score when the game ends. Points are scored for winning a trick to which any hearts and the Queen of spades are played, and thus players attempt to avoid capturing those tricks.

The deal and passing

The entire deck is dealt out; all four players receive 13 cards each. Each player is able to pick three cards and pass them either to the player to the left, the right, or across from them, in the "passing" phase. They will likewise receive three cards from another player. Players must pick which cards to pass before they can see what other players give them.

The pass sequence rotates, with one of every four rounds a "hold round", where no cards are passed. The pass sequence, repeating every four rounds, is as follows:


Trick play

This phase plays like most other trick-taking games; however there is no trump suit. The player left of the dealer leads to the first trick. (A variant is that whoever has the Two of clubs must begin by leading this card.) The other players play in clockwise sequence, and each player must follow suit (play a card of the same suit as the leader) if they can. The player who plays the highest card of the led suit takes the cards and leads off for the next trick.


If a player does not have a card of the led suit, he or she may play any card from another suit; this is often used to play penalty cards so as to force them to be taken by another player. A common rule is that hearts♥ may only be led after the first time a heart has been discarded to the lead of another suit (this is called "bleeding" or "breaking" hearts). Once all tricks have been played, the play round ends and the scoring phase begins.


Scoring

There are various point-counting systems, commonly each trick won containing a heart earns a penalty score counting 1 point against the person taking it, and The Queen of spades is a penalty card worth 13 points,

Strategy

Winning Hearts is dependent on several factors, in addition to sheer luck. An important element is choosing the right cards to pass on.

The pass is often used to void a suit (begin play with no cards of the suit). However, this is not always the best strategy; for instance, a player may pass off all his spades just to get passed the Queen; this will force that player in all likelihood to "eat his own queen", that is, play the Queen on the first round spades are led and take it himself (also known as "taking it to the grave"). For this reason, low spades should always be kept in case one is passed the Queen, since the other players will often lead spades to try to force the player holding the Queen to take it.

The Ace and King of spades are equally dangerous, since if a player is forced to play one or the other, the player with the Queen can get rid of it if it happens to be held by someone who has not yet played to the trick.


Another important aspect of Hearts is teamwork. As there is typically one leader and all the other players trailing, the most advanced strategy appears when the trailing players team up to give the leader points. Playing the queen and other point cards only when the player with the lowest score can take them, passing favorable cards to trailing players, and setting up the leader all require teamwork and unselfish play.


Knowing whether to try to take all the point cards ("shoot the moon") or not is also important, as a botched attempt could end up giving the player all but one heart. The term "covering" is used to describe the common practice of a player passing their second highest heart in order to prevent anyone else from shooting the moon. This player is responsible for playing the higher heart to stop a player if they attempt to shoot the moon. Passing the highest heart (thus making it possible one player has all the high hearts) or not playing the cover card is called "dodging" or "ducking" and is considered poor sportsmanship by many players.


When the rule of beginning with the 2♣ is played, some players opt to pass this card, since having the Two does not allow you to play a high club on the first trick. (Players with high cards generally want to play them as soon as possible, before players become void and can throw penalties on them.) With this rule, the A♣ is considered by many a great card, and is generally not passed, since having the A♣ enables a player to start the next trick with whatever suit they desire. This can be especially useful if the player only has one card in a suit left. Passing a high club is generally considered pointless, as it will just be played on the first trick.


When point cards are allowed on the first trick, however, many players adopt aggressive passing strategies to void themselves in clubs, or in other words engage in "club-dumping" so that they can play high hearts or the Q♠ as soon as possible. (But club-dumping can backfire if you pass away your dangerous clubs only to receive worse ones back.)


Passing high diamonds generally indicates an attempt to short them. This is a common strategy, as there is very little risk in shorting diamonds. Hearts may also be shorted if a player starts with only a few high ones; as with spades, passing on low hearts is risky in case one receives back high ones.

Shooting the moon

Generally, the player attempting to shoot will keep high cards, and keep a long suit, so that they may keep playing that suit when others have run out. In order to make sure that a player does not save a card specifically to foil a moon shot, most players must deceive their opponents as to their intentions, for example playing lower cards until they are confident they can take and hold possession of the lead.
This is important, especially during pass rounds, as receiving a pass of low cards is a red flag that the other player is attempting to shoot the moon. Usually it is in a player's best interest to stop the other person from shooting, as they will take 26 points, but that must be weighed against the potential consequences of stopping the shooter, which may include taking many points. An advanced player holding the Q♠ and other high cards, but aware that others will prevent them from shooting, may clear out their other suits by playing high cards and then pass the lead to someone else with a low card played late in the hand, hoping that they will then be able to discard the queen on a trick in the suit they have created a void in. Other players, fearing the moonshot, will keep high cards to prevent it, which may garner them the queen on the last few tricks if the Queen was not smoked out earlier. The player in second place may be wary of preventing a moon shot by a higher player, since if the higher player successfully shoots the second-place player may still be in second place (or nearly) since both their score and that of the leader increases by 26 points, whereas if the second-placed player stops the moonshot they may take many points for their pains, putting them further out of reach of first place.


Players with "long suits" (five or more of a single suit) have a high advantage to shoot the moon; similarly, those without hearts also have a higher chance of being successful in a moon shoot. A long suit allows the player to force others to play their highest of that suit, then switch to another suit before the leading player has run out of that suit; this means that even low cards, if other players do not have that suit, can be used to shoot the moon.


Successful shooting often requires players to count cards, seeing which cards have been played to see if a moon shot is possible or which player has which card. A player leading off with A♠ either means he or she is shooting the moon, or has the Q♠ and is not afraid to retain possession. Generally, if a player has a long suit including low cards, it is important to count cards in that suit as they are played, since their low cards may cease to be exits once the rest of the suit is exhausted. It is entirely possible to lead a Two in a long suit and receive the Q♠ when no-one else has that suit anymore.

Source:Wikipedia
Playing hearts

Where to play Hearts