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Hearts Rules

Hearts is a card game where the objective is to avoid certain cards, particularly hearts and the queen of spades, which carry penalty points. Players aim to have the lowest score when one player reaches a predetermined point total or at the end of a set number of rounds.

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Objective: The goal of Hearts is to have the fewest points at the end of the game, which is achieved by avoiding certain cards that carry penalty points.

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Setup:

  1. Hearts is typically played with 4 players.

  2. Use a standard 52-card deck.

  3. Choose a dealer. The dealer rotates clockwise in subsequent rounds.

  4. Suit strength (Strongest to weakest)

    1. Spades​

    2. Hearts

    3. Diamonds

    4. Clubs

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Instructions

Step 1

The dealer shuffles the deck and deals the entire deck, one card at a time, to each player. Each player should have 13 cards

Step 2

Before each hand/round, players pass three cards to an opponent: in the first hand, pass to the left; in the second hand, pass to the right; in the third hand, pass across the table; in the fourth hand, do not pass. The direction repeats itself after the fourth hand

Step 3

The player with the 2 of Clubs plays it to start the first play. Each player must follow suit if possible; if not, they can play any card.

  • The player with the highest card of the leading suit wins the hand and leads the next one.

Step 4

At the end of each hand, players receive penalty points based on the cards they captured in play: hearts are worth 1 point each, and the queen of spades is worth 13 points.

 

The goal for players  is avoid capturing heart suit cards and the queen of spades

Step 5

The game typically consists of multiple rounds, and the player with the fewest points at the end of the agreed-upon number of rounds or when someone reaches the predetermined number of points is the winner

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Have fun! :)

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