It is the second highest ranking suit in Contract bridge.
Hearts is a popular trick-taking game, played with a standard deck of cards, in which the goal is to have the lowest number of points. The game is normally played with four players, but can also be played, sometimes with small modifications to the rules, with a different number of people.
Each hand consists of the following steps:
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The dealer position is rotated counterclockwise with each new hand. In a four-player game, the dealer deals out all the cards. If the number of players is different, and all the cards can not be evenly distributed, then two possible variations can occur:
In some variations of the game, the dealer has the choice of how many cards are passed and to whom.
In some variations of the game, the player to the right of the dealer starts play.
Taking a trick does not give a player any points unless there are point cards in the trick. Each heart counts for one point (for a total of 13 points), and the Queen of spades by itself counts for another 13 points. Thus 26 points are distributed among the players each hand. The goal is to avoid taking points, and the fewer point cards taken, the better. However, if a player takes all 26 points in the hand (known as shooting the moon), the reverse situation occurs; he or she subtracts 26 from their point total (a variation of this rule is to have the player who shoots the moon receive zero points and all the other players get 26--in either case, shooting the moon is a very positive outcome for a player).
The game is played until one or more players has passed a predetermined point threshold (usually 100 points). The player who holds the fewest points at the end of that hand is declared the winner.
The element of risk involved in shooting the moon is one of the appeals of the game, since a player may attempt to get all 26 points and fail by only getting 24 or 25, in which case the player is stuck with a large number of points. This element provides much of the appeal of the game, along with the cutthroat aspect associated with a player holding the queen of spades possibly having the option of dropping it on another player's trick. Often the player who has the fewest points (and is thus leading) is the one people try to give the queen to; however, there is always the risk of giving it a player who then uses it as part of shooting the moon. Players must always be on the lookout for another player trying to shoot the moon, in the hopes that they can stop it. In addition, the element of passing cards allows players to attempt to control their destiny and influence the that of their fellow players.
When playing cancellation hearts, it is key to remember what cards are no longer cancellable, as they are dangerous to play. For those unwilling to memorize each card played, you can sort your hand and then move a card to the left side of your hand when its counterpart is played. If you are not in the lead or near the lead, you should consider leading the ace of hearts or queen of spades, knowing that the person holding the matching card will gladly cancel it. Of course, this play is risky.
Interesting positions Some obscure positions can arise. For example, suppose you are dealt
S AK H AKQJ D AKQ2 C AKQ
And an opponent holds
S 32 H 65432 D JT98 C 32
When you play off all your cards except the queen of clubs and deuce of diamonds, your opponent will hold the six of hearts and jack of diamonds. When you play the queen of clubs, your opponent is squeezed. If he discards the jack of diamonds, you will win the last trick with the deuce of diamonds. If he discards the six of hearts, he will win the last trick with the jack of diamonds, but all the points will be gone and your moon will be successful.
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