How to Win at Hearts: Passing & Play Strategy
Hearts is a game of avoiding points, and the lowest score wins when someone reaches 100. Each heart costs 1 point and the queen of spades costs 13, so one bad trick can ruin a hand. Playing against three computer opponents, you win by passing well, ducking dangerous tricks and spotting a moon attempt early.
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Pass with a plan
You pass three cards before most hands, to the left, right or across, and every fourth hand there is no passing. Good passes get rid of danger: the queen of spades if you lack low spades to protect it, the ace and king of spades, and high hearts. Passing all the cards of a short suit is also strong, because it leaves you void and free to discard.
Handle the queen of spades
If you hold the queen with several low spades, keep it: you can usually play low spades safely and wait to drop the queen when another suit is led and you are void. Without that protection, the queen is a liability. Holding the ace or king of spades is risky too, since you may have to play it on a trick where someone dumps the queen.
Get void early
Once you have no cards in a suit, you can throw away anything when that suit is led, including the queen of spades or high hearts. Lead or play your short suits early to empty them. Points cannot normally be played on the first trick, so it is a safe moment to get rid of a high club.
Lead low and duck
When you lead, play low cards in suits where others are likely to win the trick. When following, play the highest card that still loses the trick, keeping your low cards for later. Hearts cannot be led until one has been played, so the early tricks are a good time to clear high cards in other suits.
Shoot the moon, or stop it
Taking every heart and the queen of spades gives everyone else 26 points instead of you. Try it only with many high hearts and strong control of the other suits. More often, watch for an opponent who is taking every point. Once someone has most of the hearts, taking just one heart yourself breaks the moon and costs you only a point.
Questions
- Does the queen of spades break hearts?
- No. Only playing a heart breaks hearts, which then allows hearts to be led.
- Are aces high or low?
- Aces are high, so the ace is the strongest card of each suit.
- Can I play points on the first trick?
- No. If you cannot follow suit on the first trick, you must discard a card without points if you have one.
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