Hearts

Starting a Game

At the start of the game, Each player chooses 3 cards and passes them to the assigned players. On the 1st deal of a game, players pass cards to the player on their left; on the 2nd deal, to the player on the right; on the 3rd deal, to the player sitting across the table. No cards are passed on the 4th deal.

After that, the cycle is repeated, with players passing cards left on the 5th deal, right on the 6th deal, etc.

Playing

After the pass, the player who holds the 2 of clubs begins play by placing it faceup in the middle of the table. Each player, going clockwise around the table, plays a card until all 4 players have done so.

Whoever played the highest card of the suit originally led takes the 4 cards, which constitute a "trick," and places them facedown on the table. The winner of a trick leads the 1st card of the next trick.

A player must follow suit when able to. If unable to, a player may play any card--except that on the very 1st trick, a player may not play a heart or the queen of spades. A player may not lead a heart unless hearts have been "broken," which means someone has already played a heart or the queen of spades in a previous trick.

A player with nothing left but hearts, or with nothing but hearts and the queen of spades, may lead a heart. The queen of spades may always be led (though it's usually very unwise to do so) even if hearts have not been broken.