Hearts: the trick-taking game where winning means losing
How hearts works: avoid tricks with hearts, dread the queen of spades, pass three cards and — if you dare — shoot the moon. From reversis to Windows.
Hearts is trick-taking turned inside out: every heart you capture costs a point, the queen of spades costs thirteen, and the winner is whoever best avoided winning. Its family tree runs from reversis — a courtly reverse game recorded in France in 1601 and fashionable in 18th-century Spain — to the American hearts of the 1880s, the Black Lady variant that armed the queen, the moon-shot (take all 26 penalty points and dump them on everyone else), and finally the Windows version that taught the world to fear the black queen. The pre-hand ritual of passing three cards to a rival is where games are won.
Our full guide — history, complete rules, passing strategy and moon-shooting — is in Spanish: Reglas de corazones. It plays best with a crisp deck from our playing cards collection.
Poker Cards
Gemini Casino Phthalo Green – Playing Cards
One Piece – Robin – Playing Cards
One Piece – Chopper – Playing Cards
Tally-Ho Autumn Circle Back – Playing Cards
Tally-Ho Gaff – Playing Cards
Tally-Ho Fan White Rose – Playing Cards
Bicycle Elton John – Playing Cards
Bicycle Disney Villains Green – Playing Cards
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