What Three Cards Should I Pass in Hearts?

The goal of Hearts is to score as few points as possible, so the best three cards to pass are most often the King and Ace of Spades and any cards of a suit you have few cards in.

Hearts is a complex game, and there are endless dissections of best practices. Now that it’s so easy to play Hearts online, more and more players are interested in these dissections!

This article will look at the rules of the game and some basics to consider when passing cards. With this as a starting point, you can grow your strategy and start to see which techniques work for you.

The Rules of the Game

Each player is dealt thirteen cards. Unlike some other trick taking games, like Bridge, Hearts is played by four individuals each competing for themselves.

Once the hands are dealt, each player studies their hand and chooses three cards to pass to an opponent. During each round of plays, the passed cards move in a different direction.

First, players pass three cards to their left. When that round is done and cards are dealt for the next round of the game, players pass three cards to their left. In the next round, players pass across the table, and in the fourth round, players pass no cards. This rotation starts again at the beginning (passing to the left) until the game is over.

The player holding the two of Clubs goes first, leading with the two of Clubs. Going clockwise, each player must play a Club-suited card. If a player has no Clubs, they may play any other card, except for the Queen of Spades or a Heart-suited card. The player who played the highest-ranking card wins the trick.

The winner of each trick keeps the pile and leads the next round. Hearts may not lead until a Heart-suited card of the Wueen of Spades has been played. Players may lead with Hearts if they won a trick and, at the start of the next round, hold only Heart-suited cards.

Scoring

Once all cards have been played, players count the cards they took. Each Heart-suited card is worth one point, and the Queen of Spades is worth thirteen points. Games are most often played until one player reaches one hundred points. Then, the player with the fewest points is declared the winner.

Which Three Cards to Pass

Just as not every game of Solitaire is winnable, there is no surefire way to make the best choice of which cards to pass. However, here are some passes that are usually good:

• The King of Spades: Holding onto the King of Spades means you risk winning the round in which the Queen of Spades is played, costing you thirteen points.
• The Ace of Spades: This is the same as the King of Spades, putting you in a position where you can take the Queen of Spades.
• Any suit you have few cards of: When a player has no cards of a suit in their hand, it is said that they are void in that suit. This allows them to get rid of Heart cards and manipulate starting suits whenever the suit they are void in is led. If you are able to try and have zero cards in a suit after passing, it can be a powerful strategy.

Passing the Test

Passing cards is one of the most interesting aspects of Hearts. Not only does it add a layer of strategy as players attempt to set themselves up for success in the coming game, the complexity becomes richer the more you play with the same people.

If you have a regular playgroup, you will begin to see the strategy behind other player’s passes, and you’ll learn to read what they have left in their hand or what their approach to the next round will be. This keeps Hearts interesting and volatile in a way few card games are!

Ready to try your hand at Hearts and practice your strategy? Play for free now at Hearts.co! If you’re looking to learn more about card game strategy, be sure to check out our article on Rummy versus Bridge.