Setup
With four players, deal the whole 52-card deck, thirteen cards each.
Three, five or six players
For other counts, strip low clubs and diamonds so the deal comes out even: remove the two of diamonds for three players (seventeen each), the two of diamonds and two of clubs for five (ten each), and the two and three of both diamonds and clubs for six (eight each). Some groups instead deal evenly and leave the spare cards face down as a kitty, claimed by whoever wins the first trick. Either way every heart and the queen of spades stay in the deck, so a hand is always worth the same total.
How to play
Before most hands each player passes three unwanted cards to another player, receiving three in return before looking at what they got. Whoever holds the two of clubs leads it. Players must follow the led suit if they can and may otherwise play anything, subject to the house rules above. The highest card of the led suit takes the trick and leads the next one. Hearts cannot be led until a heart has been discarded on an earlier trick, unless the leader holds nothing but hearts.
Aces high, no trump
Cards rank from ace down to two in every suit and there is no trump: the highest card of the suit led wins the trick, and a card of any other suit can never win it, so a heart thrown on a club lead is a discard, not a capture.
Scoring
Enter one number per player per hand, then compute in this order:
- Raw penalty. One point per heart taken, plus thirteen for the queen of spades. With the omnibus setting on, subtract ten for the jack of diamonds.
- Moon check. A player has shot the moon if they took all thirteen hearts and the queen of spades — and the jack of diamonds too when omnibus is on.
- Moon rule. Subtract mode gives the shooter minus twenty-six and everyone else zero. Add mode gives the shooter zero and every other active player plus twenty-six. Off leaves the raw numbers alone.
- Ten of clubs. If enabled, double the final hand score of whoever took it. Doubling a negative score makes it more negative.
Without the omnibus jack, the raw numbers in a hand always add up to twenty-six exactly, which is a useful validation check before saving a round.
Counting a hand
Count the hearts in each player's tricks — one point each — and add thirteen to whoever took the queen of spades. Across the table the total is always 26, or 16 with the omnibus jack in play, which is the quickest check that nobody miscounted before the numbers go on the sheet.
What shooting the moon means
Taking every penalty card in one hand — all thirteen hearts and the queen of spades, 26 points — is shooting the moon, also called a slam. Instead of being charged 26, the shooter either subtracts 26 from their own total or adds 26 to everyone else's; the Shooting the moon setting decides which, and Shooter picks either lets them choose after looking at the standings. Enter the 26 the shooter took as usual and the sheet applies the rule.
The jack of diamonds
Under the omnibus rule the jack of diamonds is a bonus card worth minus ten to whoever takes it, so a hand is worth 16 rather than 26, and a moon has to include the jack as well. It is the Omnibus jack of diamonds setting, off by default; a few tables use the ten of diamonds instead.
Ending the game
Play stops the instant any player's total reaches or passes the target at the end of a hand. The winner is the player with the lowest total, not the one who hit the target. Equal lowest totals share the win, or the group plays one more hand to break it.
Common variations
Cancellation Hearts splits a larger group into partnerships and cancels equal-ranked cards. New Moon caps the target at fifty for a faster session. Many groups also add a rule that a player sitting on exactly one point below the target must play the final hand with no pass. Shooting the sun — taking all thirteen tricks rather than just all the points — is usually scored like a moon at double the value, 52; this sheet has no setting for it, so record it as a moon and agree the extra 26 at the table.
Scoring at a glance
| Who wins | Lowest score |
|---|---|
| Played to | 100 points by default |
| Score sheet | One number per player per round, with a running total |
| Typical round score | 0 – 26 |
| Negative scores | Possible |
| Worth knowing | Every hand distributes exactly 26 points across the table unless the omnibus jack is in play or somebody shoots the moon. |
Hearts — score sheet
Worked example
Settings: End game at100, Shooting the moonShooter subtracts 26, Omnibus jack of diamondsoff. Players: Anna, Ben, Cara, Dan.
Entries are the points each player took in the hand, not the effect on their score. The scorer derives the effect, which is what lets the moon rule be toggled mid-match and recomputed from unchanged entries.
| Hand | Anna | Ben | Cara | Dan | Hand total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 13 | 26 |
| 2 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 26 |
| 3 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 26 |
| 4 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 0 | 26 |
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 26 |
Hand 2: Ben took all 26 — he shot the moon. With Shooting the moonShooter subtracts 26, Ben scores −26 and everyone else scores 0.
Hand 5: Cara shot the moon, scoring −26.
Running totals:
| After | Anna | Ben | Cara | Dan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 13 |
| 2 | 5 | −26 | 8 | 13 |
| 3 | 18 | −22 | 17 | 13 |
| 4 | 20 | −11 | 30 | 13 |
| 5 | 20 | −11 | 4 | 13 |
Expected standings after hand 5: Ben −11 (rank 1), Cara 4 (rank 2), Dan 13 (rank 3), Anna 20 (rank 4). the game is still running — nobody has reached 100.
House rules and settings
Every table plays Hearts a little differently. These are the 8 rules groups argue about. Each one is a setting in the app — and changing it recalculates a match that is already in progress, which is the thing no other score keeper does.
End game at: what is the default in Hearts?
The game stops as soon as any player's running total reaches this number at the end of a hand. The player with the lowest total is the winner.
Default: 100. Adjustable from 25 to 500 in steps of 5.
In the app: “End game at”.
Shooting the moon: what are the options in Hearts?
What happens when one player collects every penalty card in a single hand instead of avoiding them.
Default: Shooter subtracts 26. Four options:
In the app: “Shooting the moon”.
Omnibus jack of diamonds: on or off in Hearts?
Turns the jack of diamonds into a bonus card worth minus ten to whoever wins it, so a hand is worth sixteen points instead of twenty-six.
Default: off.
In the app: “Omnibus jack of diamonds”.
Ten of clubs doubles: on or off in Hearts?
Whoever wins the trick containing the ten of clubs has their score for that hand multiplied by two.
Default: off.
In the app: “Ten of clubs doubles”.
Passing: what are the options in Hearts?
Which neighbour you hand three unwanted cards to before each deal. The standard cycle repeats every four hands and includes one hand with no passing at all.
Default: Left, right, across, hold. Five options:
In the app: “Passing”.
Queen of spades may be led early: on or off in Hearts?
Whether a player is allowed to lead the queen of spades before any hearts have been played. Turning this off protects players who were dealt few spades.
Default: on.
In the app: “Queen of spades may be led early”.
First trick is safe: on or off in Hearts?
Bans hearts and the queen of spades from being discarded on the very first trick of a hand, so nobody can be hit before the game has started.
Default: on.
In the app: “First trick is safe”.
Queen breaks hearts: on or off in Hearts?
Whether playing the queen of spades counts as breaking hearts, which frees everyone to lead hearts from then on.
Default: on.
In the app: “Queen breaks hearts”.
Variants of Hearts
Omnibus Hearts
The jack of diamonds is worth minus ten, and a player must capture it as well as all the hearts and the queen to shoot the moon.
Turbo Hearts
The ten of clubs doubles the hand score of whoever takes it, which turns a good hand into a disaster and a moon into a rout.
Spot Hearts
Hearts are worth their face value rather than one each, with the ace counting fourteen, so a hand is worth far more than twenty-six.
Hearts is also known as
Black Lady, Chase the Lady, Black Maria. These are the same game — the rules and the score sheet above apply to all of them.
Keep score offline
The sheet above works in your browser. Cardzo for iPhone remembers your players, survives a closed tab, and works in a field with no signal.