Hearts: The Game that Aims for Nothing!
The game of Hearts has its origins in mid-eighteenth century Spain. The game which preceded it was called “Reverse” – in that game the Jack and Queen of Hearts took points off of a player’s score. As with Hearts, the object of “Reverse” was to avoid points rather than acquire them.
Many years ago, I spent an entire week at a Tibetan café in Kathmandu, drinking chai, eating mo-mos (dumplings,) and playing hearts with friends. When I reminisce about my time in Asia, those days of camaraderie and endless hearts games rank right up there with hiking in the Himalayas, a hippo safari from atop an elephant and fording a river in an ox-drawn cart! What’s so great about hearts, you ask? It’s got heart!
How to Play Hearts: in life, we don’t all play with a full deck, but Hearts requires it! During those days in Kathmandu we had four players, which is ideal, but you can play Hearts with as few as three players and as many as seven. Everyone should be dealt the same number of cards, so if you are not playing with four players and have leftover cards, just toss them in the “pot.” As with many games, two is the lowest ranking card in the game of Hearts, while the Ace is the highest. Cards are picked from the deck: whoever picked the lowest card deals first. Cards are dealt face down. After checking his hand, each player chooses three cards that he’d like to pass to another player. These cards are passed to the right after the first dealing of the cards, to the left after the second, and to the opponent across the way at the third. At the fourth deal, there is no passing. Some hold that the player with the two of clubs goes first, while others start with the player to the left of the dealer and continue clockwise. Each player must follow the suit that has been established, but if he can’t, he can toss out any card that he wants. If he realizes that he did indeed have the established suit after all, he can “revoke,” or swap the card that he tossed out for one in the established suit, but only if the trick has not yet been completed. If he’s too late, it’s assumed that he cheated and he’s penalized: all of the hearts in that deal are added to his score and no other player is penalized. So, at least when it comes to playing Hearts, crime doesn’t pay! The player who threw the highest card during the trick gets to lead the next trick, but he cannot lead with a heart, unless a heart has already been played. The first heart is played (or broken) when a player lacks a card within the established suit.
Players count their tricks after all of the cards have been played. Remember, the goal is to have as few points as possible at the end of the round. Each heart costs a player one point, while getting stuck with the nasty Queen of Spades adds a whopping thirteen points to a player’s score. The Jack of Diamonds is every player’s friend: he takes 10 points off of a score. When one of the players reaches fifty points, or some other agreed upon score, the game is over, and the player with the least amount of overall points wins.
