How to score Hearts, where the lowest score wins
At the end of each round, you type the points everyone took: Teamzy adds up the totals, ranks the players from lowest to highest and ends the match as soon as someone reaches 100.
Hearts in 30 seconds
You play tricks, with no trumps, following the suit led. The goal is to take no points: each heart in your tricks is worth 1 point, the queen of spades 13. So a round hands out 26 points. A player who takes all 13 hearts and the queen scores 0, and each of the others takes 26. The match ends as soon as a player reaches 100 points: the lowest score wins.
What each card is worth
Only the hearts and the queen of spades count, and they count against you. The other cards are worth nothing. At the end of the round, everyone's points add up to 26 (78 when someone shoots the moon): the simplest check before writing down the scores.
The points of a round
| What counts | Points |
|---|---|
| Each heart | 1 |
| The queen of spades | 13 |
| Everything taken (13 hearts and the queen) | 0, and 26 for the others |
The example's score sheet
The eight rounds of the match told below. The check column adds up to 26 in each round, and 78 when Léa shoots the moon: 26 for each of the three others.
| Round | Léa | Lucas | Emma | Hugo | Check |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 26 |
| 2 | 4 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 26 |
| 3 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 26 |
| 4 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 26 |
| 5 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 18 | 26 |
| 6 | 3 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 26 |
| 7 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 14 | 26 |
| 8 | 0 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 78 |
| Total | 28 | 74 | 56 | 102 |
The score sheet to print
A Hearts score sheet in US Letter for 6 players and 19 rounds: in each box, the points of the round and the new total. A check column reminds you that each round adds up to 26. Print it for your next match, or let Teamzy keep score.
Download the Hearts score sheet (PDF)The end of a match, with a player shooting the moon
Léa, Lucas, Emma and Hugo play a four-player match. After six rounds: Emma 22, Léa 26, Lucas 46 and Hugo 62.
- 1Round 7, Hugo takes the queen of spades and one heart: 13 + 1 = 14 points. Emma takes 8 hearts, Léa and Lucas 2 each. The count is right: 14 + 8 + 2 + 2 = 26.
- 2The totals move to Léa 28, Emma 30, Lucas 48 and Hugo 76.
- 3Round 8, Léa takes all 13 hearts and the queen of spades: she shoots the moon.
- 4She scores 0, and each of the three others takes 26 points: Emma 56, Lucas 74 and Hugo 102.
- 5Hugo reaches 100: the match ends with this round, and the lowest score wins.
Léa wins with 28 points, ahead of Emma (56), Lucas (74) and Hugo (102).
In Teamzy, you type everyone's points at the end of the round, and 26 for each of the others when someone shoots the moon: the app adds up the totals, ranks from lowest to highest and ends the match as soon as someone reaches 100.
The questions that come up at the table
At the end of each round, everyone counts the point cards in their tricks: 1 point per heart, 13 for the queen of spades. The other cards do not count. A round's points add up to 26 (78 when someone shoots the moon), and they are added to everyone's total. The goal is to have as few as possible.
Dame de pique on Wikipedia (in French)That is shooting the moon: the player who takes all 13 hearts and the queen of spades scores 0, and each of the others takes 26 points. Some tables prefer to take 26 points off the shooter's score instead. Teamzy counts 26 for each of the others: type 0 for the shooter and 26 for everyone else. For the other way, type −26 for the shooter with the ± button and 0 for the others.
As soon as a player reaches or passes 100 points at the end of a round. That player does not win, though: the lowest score wins, like Léa in the example. Some play to 50 or 75 points for a shorter match: in Teamzy, the target of 100 can be changed in the game's settings.
With four, everyone gets 13 cards from a 52-card deck. With three, take out the 2 of diamonds and deal 17 cards each; with five, take out the 2 of diamonds and the 2 of clubs and deal 10 each. With six, a common way is to add the 2 jokers to make 54 cards, 9 each. The scoring stays the same: 1 per heart, 13 for the queen.
Hearts rules on PagatYes, with four: before each round, everyone passes 3 cards to the player on their left, then to the right in the next round, then across, and the fourth round is played without passing before the cycle starts again. That is the time to get rid of the queen of spades or your high hearts.
The player holding the 2 of clubs leads it to the first trick (with five, the 3 of clubs). After that, you cannot lead a heart until a heart has been discarded on an earlier trick, unless you have only hearts left. On the first trick, most tables also forbid discarding a point card, a heart or the queen of spades.
Not in the basic rules. In a well-known variant, the jack of diamonds is worth minus 10 points for the player who takes it: a round then adds up to 16 points instead of 26. If your table plays it, type everyone's points with the jack already taken off: Teamzy's ± button makes points negative.
Yes, give or take a few variants. Dame de pique is its French name, and Black Maria its British version, where other spades can count too. The idea stays the same: avoid the hearts and the queen of spades.
Your next Hearts match, without pen and paper
Type everyone's points at the end of the round, let the app add up the totals and find your matches in the history. Free to start, Premium as a one-time purchase, no account and no ads.
