Hearts Strategy: 10 Tips to Win More Games
To win at Hearts, pass your dangerous cards (the Queen, Ace and King of spades and high hearts), empty a short suit so you can throw away points, and duck by playing your highest card that still loses the trick. Lead low, watch which spades have gone, and if one player starts taking every point, take one yourself to stop their moon shot.
1. Pass the cards that catch points
The pass is your one chance to fix a bad hand, so give away the cards most likely to win tricks full of points. In order of danger, those are usually the Queen of spades, the Ace and King of spades (they are the cards that end up catching the Queen), then high hearts and other Aces and Kings.
Low cards are your friends. A 2, 3 or 4 almost never wins a trick, so keep them: they let you get out of the lead and duck under other players later in the hand.
2. Keep the Queen if you can hide her
Holding the Queen of spades isn't always bad. If you also have four or more lower spades, you can follow every spade lead with a small one and keep the Queen hidden until someone else wins a trick you can drop her on. With only one or two small spades, pass her: sooner or later someone will lead spades and you'll have to play her.
Think about where the Queen goes. Passing her to the player on your left means they play right after you in every trick, which gives them chances to drop her on you. Many players are more careful about passing her left than right.
3. Go void in a short suit
A suit you have none of is called a void. Once you're void, every time that suit is led you can play anything you like, and that's how you throw the Queen of spades and your high hearts onto other people's tricks. If you were dealt only two clubs or two diamonds, passing both of them is often better than passing a big card from a long suit.
4. Duck: play your highest card that still loses
When you must follow suit, look at the card that's winning the trick and play the highest card you have that is still lower. You lose the trick, which is what you want, and you get rid of a card that could have won a worse trick later. Playing your very lowest card instead wastes it: you'll want that 2 or 3 when you really need to get under someone.
5. Use the first trick to dump a high club
Nobody may throw a heart or the Queen of spades on the first trick, so it can't carry any points. That makes it the safest moment in the whole hand to get rid of your Ace or King of clubs. Winning it just means you lead the next trick, so make sure you have a low card to lead.
6. Lead low cards, and lead spades to smoke out the Queen
When it's your lead, a low card in a suit where other players still hold higher ones is usually safe: someone else will have to win it. Avoid leading a suit where an opponent has already shown a void, because they'll throw points on it.
If you don't have the Queen of spades and you don't hold the Ace or King either, lead small spades. Each spade lead forces the others to follow, and the player holding the Queen may run out of small spades to hide her behind. If you hold the Ace or King of spades, though, don't lead spades: you'd be the one most likely to catch her.
7. Count the cards that matter
You don't need to remember all 52 cards. Track these and you'll make far better choices:
- Has the Queen of spades been played? Once she's gone, the Ace and King of spades are harmless.
- Who is void in what? When someone doesn't follow suit, remember it: they can dump points every time that suit is led.
- How many cards of your long suit are still out? If you have five diamonds and seven have been played, you know nobody else has any left, and your next diamond lead will win.
- Which high hearts are left? Late in the hand, a low heart is safe to lead only while a higher one is still out there.
8. Get out of the lead late in the hand
The last few tricks are where people take big points, because by then many players are void and dump hearts freely. Plan ahead: keep at least one low card, ideally a low heart once hearts are broken, so that you can hand the lead to someone else instead of being stuck winning trick after trick.
9. Stop the moon
Watch the points each player has taken during the hand (in GameLake, the small number after each name). If one player has every point so far, they might be going for the moon. The cheapest defence is to win one trick with a heart in it yourself: you take a few points, and they can no longer score 0. Our guide to shooting the moon goes into this in detail.
10. Play the scoreboard
Hearts is won on the total, not on one hand. When an opponent is near 100 and you're comfortably lowest, a quiet hand that ends the game is a win. When you're behind, give points to the player in the lead whenever you get the chance, and be braver about trying for the moon.
Practise against Hops
In the GameLake Hearts game, Easy bots are careless, Medium ones duck and dump sensibly, and Hard ones count cards, smoke out the Queen and block moon shots. Turn on Teach me and Hops highlights the cards he'd pass or play with one plain sentence on why: it's a quick way to learn these habits. Coached games are practice and don't count as wins. The rules are all in how to play Hearts.
| Level | How the bots play |
|---|---|
| Easy | Often play a random legal card: good for learning the rules. |
| Medium | Pass dangerous cards, duck under the winning card and dump the Queen when they can. |
| Hard | Count cards and try out each possible play before choosing, smoke out the Queen, stop moon shots and sometimes shoot the moon. |
Frequently asked questions
What are the best cards to pass in Hearts?
Usually the Queen of spades (unless you have four or more lower spades), the Ace and King of spades, and high hearts. Passing all the cards of a short suit to make a void is also strong.
Should you keep the Queen of spades?
Only if you have plenty of lower spades to protect her, usually four or more. Then you can follow spade leads with small spades and drop her on someone else's trick later.
What does ducking mean in Hearts?
Playing a card just below the one that's winning the trick, so you lose the trick on purpose while getting rid of a fairly high card.
When should you lead spades in Hearts?
When you don't hold the Queen, Ace or King of spades. Small spade leads force the player with the Queen to follow and can make them play her.
How do you stop someone shooting the moon?
Win one trick that contains a heart, or make sure the Queen of spades goes to someone else. As soon as two players have points, nobody can shoot the moon.