The Ace of Diamonds was the highest card played, but it was not of the suit led. Denise has clubs, so she plays the 10 of Clubs. Charles has no clubs, so he may play any card he likes. She selects the Queen of Clubs, and plays it. Betsy has clubs in her hand, so she must play one. For example: Adam leads to the first trick with the 2 of Clubs. That player then leads to the next trick. The player who plays the highest card of the suit led wins the trick. If a player holds no cards of the lead suit, he may play any card in his hand, of any suit 1. So on the first trick, the 2 of Clubs being led, each player in turn must play a club if at all possible. From that player, play proceeds clockwise.Įach player must, if he holds any, play a card of the same suit as the first card played to the trick (the lead card). The first trick of a hand always begins with the player who holds the 2 of Clubs leading it. The Playing PhaseĪfter all players have passed (or not passed, if it's the fourth dealer's turn), play begins.Ī hand of Hearts consists of 13 tricks. Players may not confer with one another during the passing phase or otherwise indicate which cards they would like to receive.Īn easy way to remember which way to pass is to bear in mind that in a four-player game, the direction of the pass will always be the same when it is a given player's turn to deal. Players must not look at the cards they have been passed until they have selected the cards they themselves are passing and placed them face-down in front of their recipients. The sixth hand is again a pass to the right, and so on. With the fifth hand, the rotation starts again by passing to the left. In the fourth hand, players do not pass, but keep their original 13 cards. In the third hand, each player exchanges three cards with the player opposite him. In the second hand of the game, each player passes three cards to the player on his right. The Passing Phaseīefore play begins, each player selects three cards from his hand and passes them to the player on his left. The cards in each suit rank: Ace (highest), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9. At the beginning of each hand, the entire deck of 52 is dealt out one card at a time, so that each player has 13 cards in his hand. In each successive hand, deal passes to the left. Players randomly determine who will deal first. The only equipment required for Hearts is a standard 52-card deck of playing cards and a pencil and paper for keeping score. Hearts can be played by any number of players from three to six, but four is the traditional number, and these rules presume four players. Thus, most hands tend to have a big loser and no clear big winner.
This in itself sets Hearts apart from most games, in which players seek to acquire certain cards or combinations. The principal objective of this most popular version of Hearts, is to avoid winning tricks which contain hearts or the Queen of Spades (the Black Lady). Black Ladyīlack Lady is the version of Hearts principally described in this Guide entry. Thus, a strong Hearts hand is generally one which will enable you to force your opponents to win many tricks. This too has been supplanted in some places by Omnibus Hearts, which is listed here as an accepted variant.Īll variants of Hearts have one thing in common: Players seek to avoid winning 'point cards', as the player with the fewest points at game's end is the winner. This version has fallen out of favour, however, and the variant most commonly played today is known as Black Lady. All players who managed to take zero hearts split the pot evenly. Originally, Hearts was a betting game in which players attempted to win money by avoiding winning tricks containing hearts. Few hands in Hearts are so good that one finds oneself sitting on a sure thing, and few are so poor that one is inclined to suggest a friendly round of poker instead. Of the games played with a standard deck of 52 playing cards, Hearts ranks near the top in terms of depth of strategy, and the opportunity for skilled players to regularly defeat lucky players.
0 kommentar(er)
