How to Play Heart
Here are the rules to the card game of
Hearts — a fun game to play on Valentine's
Day, or any day!
The object of the game:
Players don't want to end up with tricks
containing hearts or the queen of spades,
but they do want to end up with the jack
of diamonds.
How many can play:
Three to seven players (four players is the
best!)
The cards:
You need a standard deck of 52 cards. Each
player is dealt the same number of cards.
So, if you have 4 players, each receives 13
cards (13 x 4 = 52). If you have 3 players,
deal each 13 cards, then add the leftover
cards to the kitty. The person who takes the
first trick will take the kitty, too. In each
suit, the cards are ranked from the Ace,
with the highest value, on down: K, Q, J, 10,
9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2.
How to deal:
The players cut for deal. The lowest cut is the first to deal. The whole pack is dealt out
clockwise, one card at a time, each placed face down.
After the cards have been dealt, each player chooses three cards to pass to an opponent.
Players pick their cards after they've looked at them, and before they've received cards
from their opponents. Cards are passed to the right at the first deal, to the left with the
second, and across with the third. At the fourth deal, players keep their own cards.
Note: after each hand, the deal passes to the player on the dealer's left.
How to play:
The player to the left of the dealer leads first. (Or the person holding the 2 of clubs card can
start first.) Each player after the lead must follow suit if he can. If he can't, he may play any
card he wants.