This is a place for getting information on strategy of the Hearts Card Game. To start, I’m loading it with the information originally on Alan’s Hearts Page.
There is are not many sites which helpful give strategic advice. Right now, the best advice I can give is to play, play, play. If you’re looking for “expert” advice, there is little information
on the web at present, but it is increasing. http://www.realapplets.com/~bavo/hearts.html had the most I’m aware of, but is now defunct. I managed to save a copy of the realapplets page from the WayBack machine. Also, Comment gagner à la Dame de Pique has advice if you can read French. Other than than, the best source for info is below. The
only other resources I’m aware of are the books listed on my hearts page, in particular the Andrews one.
- Try to remember all the cards that have been played. With practice this becomes automatic and you won’t have to think about it.
Comment (made by Fabian Reimers) : “In my opinion it is not necessary to remember all the cards that have been played. If you have only few cards (or even none) of a suit, there often is no need to worry about this suit at all. Try to focus on the weaknesses of your hand and don’t waste too much thoughts on cards that won’t affect you in this game.”
- Think about what you [pass] people. Are you vulnerable to taking the Queen? Do you have anything to stop someone from Shooting the Moon? Can you void yourself in a suit and protect yourself from taking too many point cards?
- Probably the thing most overlooked by beginners is to pay attention to what your opponents pass you. You can infer much about their hand and about what their strategy for this round is going to be. Something else that many beginners overlook is trying to go void in suits to enable playing point cards easier and sooner.
- Long suits make it much easier to Shoot the moon.
- The following advice was contributed by jaysinaz@earthlink.net
Cover your pass.
I’ve always been taught that covering your pass is the FIRST rule of hearts. If you don’t have a heart to pass then you’re responsible to “hit” another player (not the player you passed to) with a heart. Once you do, the responsibility now changes hands to the guy that passed to the man you just gave a heart to…get the idea? Now if you didn’t pass a heart and were not passed a heart then there isn’t much you can do. If I had the 2 5 9 and Jack of hearts I would pass the 9. That way if hearts get broken on the guy I passed to, I know he isn’t going to run them (shoot the moon) because I passed him the 9, and I can cover it with my Jack. Now if Hearts aren’t broken on my man, then I don’t have to cover the heart I just passed.
“As far as strategy goes, my theory is pray for good cards, know how to count (all the suits) and take a point or two early to avoid taking a [explitive deleted] load later!”
- Mike Bolan had this comment about jaysinaz’s hint:
“On your page, I believe the strategy hint titled Cover Your Pass contains some incorrect information. If you are holding the 2 5 9 and Jack of hearts, to pass the 9 or any heart will NOT stop the receiver from shooting, but rather the opposite. If you pass the 2 5 or 9 and the receiver holds the A K Q of hearts, and hearts are broken to him and he begins to shoot by leading back his high hearts, your Jack will be lost to his Queen on the third trick unless you were passed a heart to cover. The best way to stop a shoot in (the suit of) hearts if you are holding the 2 5 9 and Jack of hearts is to hold all 4 cards. Then your Jack will be the high heart after the shooter exhausts his A K and Q.”
- Ed Bryan writes:
I strongly disagree with Mike’s belief that when holding the 2,5,9, and jack of hearts you should not pass any hearts because the person your passing to might hold the Ace, king, and queen. You should play the odds and odds are the receiver of the pass does not hold the Ace, King, and Queen. I believe you should ALWAYS cover your pass with a low heart! What if the receiver is not holding any hearts? He loves your pass, shoots the moon and you have zero credibility.
- An anonymous coward writes:
I always take a lot of grief for not knowing how to “cover” when I play Hearts, but nobody ever takes the time to explain what they mean. I rarely pass Hearts, or even more than one or two high cards. Also, I find it very hard to shoot the moon in any suit other than hearts. Can somebody give some good examples and rules of thumb for when shooting is a good idea, and then back it up with a reasonable example or two?
- An anonymous coward writes:
The way to shoot in a suit other than hearts is to get rid of all your hearts. For example, suppose you start with C:
AK 876432? D:K S:A9 H:87. I would probably pass the heart 8 and 7 and spade Ace. There is a good chance the person to your right will pass you 1–2 clubs, as they’ll probably try to dump their short suit. If you’re lucky enough to get a pass like C:10,5 and S:K, your shoot is pretty much guaranteed. Your clubs will probably all be good after round 1. You start by leading the diamond K, which will probably not be overtaken by the Ace. Then you lead the spade 9. If you manage to win the spade K before anyone dumps a heart, then you’ll have your shoot. Note, even if you don’t get an ideal pass, your shortness in hearts and diamonds may allow you to dump problem cards quickly. If the shoot were busted, you’d just want to avoid being stuck on lead when everyone is out of clubs.
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