Ultimate Book of Card Games: The Comprehensive Guide to More Than 350 Games (52 page)

Try to avoid “queening yourself.” This occurs when you are holding the Q of spades, have no additional spades in your hand, and a dastardly opponent leads a
low spade. In this example, you have no choice but to play the Q of spades and to subsequently win the trick and its 13 points. The best defense here is a good offense: dump the Q of spades as early as possible, especially if you are not comfortably long in spades.

The only other way to avoid the self-flagellation described above is if the player next to you has only the K of spades or A of spades and is forced to play them because they, too, forgot or could not dump the high spade earlier in the round. Lucky you, unlucky them.

For players who aren’t holding the Q of spades, your strategy is simple: flush out the Q of spades. It pays to lead a few low spades (not A of spades or K of spades, obviously) in order to force someone else to play (and take) the dreaded Q of spades.

VARIATION 2: SHOOT THE MOON

Many players skip this variant until they are moderately skilled at Hearts. This is sound advice. Shooting the moon is confusing to novice players and adds little to the basic game. However, once you master Hearts, by all means introduce shooting the moon to your repertoire. It’s rare that you can actually pull it off.

Normally players avoid taking point cards at any cost. In this variation, taking points is a good thing. However, you may not take some points, you must take all points. In other words, to successfully shoot the moon, a player must win all 13 hearts plus the Q of spades (if it is in play). When a player shoots the moon, he is scored zero points for that round, while all other players each receive 13 points (26 points each if the Q of spades is in play).

If you are playing the Jack of Diamonds variation, note the J of diamonds has no effect on shooting the moon. In rounds where a player successfully shoots the moon, the J of diamonds is irrelevant and no player scores the -10 point bonus typically associated with the J of diamonds.

What’s the most painful score in Hearts? That would be
25
points. It’s a sure sign you attempted to shoot the moon but failed, by one card.

STRATEGY TIPS
The fewer players in a game, the easier it is to shoot the moon. But no matter how many players in a game, you need a specific type of hand to shoot the moon. Typically this means holding high cards (preferably the ace and king of most—if not all four—suits), plus one suit that is especially deep and long.

Strive to hold—or at least know the location of—the A of hearts, K of hearts, and Q of spades. Managing these cards is critical to success.

Often you’ll have a hand that
could
shoot the moon, but only if the game unfolds a certain way. In these instances, avoid taking the Q of spades or tricks stuffed with hearts early on. Don’t commit to shooting the moon until you absolutely must.

VARIATION 3: JACK OF DIAMONDS

Some players live and die by how many points they earn in a game of Hearts. The more points they score, the worse they feel. This variation offers relief to point-averse players. The J of diamonds is a point card worth -10 points. The player who wins the J of diamonds during normal Hearts game play scores -10 points at the end of the round. The J of diamonds is subject to the rules governing point cards, and therefore may not lead a trick until points have been broken, and may not be played on the very first round (not that you would want to).

Don’t miss the Q of spades forest for the J of diamonds trees. Time and time again, mediocre players will do everything possible to win the J of diamonds, only to find themselves the unexpected recipient of the Q of spades to boot. Net result: 3 unwanted points.

If you are holding the J of diamonds, consider passing it at the beginning of the round. Strangely enough, it is harder to throw yourself the J of diamonds than it is to win it from an opponent (as long as she plays before you in rotation, and not after). If you decide to pass the J of diamonds, keep a high card in each suit for as long as possible, in order to capture the J of diamonds when it is finally played.

VARIATION 4: SPOT HEARTS

This variation is identical to the standard game, with one glaring exception: all hearts are worth their face value in points. Instead of each heart scoring one
point (for a total of 13), 2 of hearts is worth 2 points, 3 of hearts worth 3 points, etc.; face cards are worth 10 points each; and A of hearts scores 11 points, for a total of 95 points.

Games of Spot Hearts are played to 1,000 points. The score for shooting the moon is adjusted to 95 points. The Q of spades is adjusted to 50 points, though traditionally the Q of spades is not played as a point card.

VARIATION 5: PARTNERSHIP HEARTS

It is possible to play Hearts in teams. The partnership version of the game, played exclusively by four players, is identical to the standard game. The only difference is that partners sit opposite one another and pool their tricks and any points scored. Although there is little scope for partners to play into each other’s hands (table talk is not allowed), the partnership version of Hearts is still worthwhile for groups of four.

VARIATION 6: CANCELLATION HEARTS

This variation is exclusively for groups of six or more.

Shuffle two fifty-two-card decks, and deal them out evenly to all players. Set aside any extra cards, face down, in a kitty (won by the first player who takes a point card). All standard Hearts rules apply, with the following exception: when identical cards are played in the same trick, they cancel each other out and have no impact on who wins the trick. For example, if two A of clubs cards are played in the same trick, they cancel each other out. The trick goes to the player who threw the next highest card in the leading suit.

It is possible that no card can win the trick. For example, if A of clubs opens followed by 10 of hearts, Q of spades, 8 of hearts, 7 of hearts, A of clubs, the two A of clubs cards cancel each other out, and no other player can win. If this happens, set aside the trick and give it to the winner of the
next
trick. The player who opened the set-aside trick should open the next trick. If the final trick in a round is set aside, the cards are dead and simply not scored.

1. DIFFICULTY
   :
   medium
   
2. TIME LENGTH
   :
   short
   
3. DECKS
   : 1
   

Card players from the United Kingdom know this game as Crash; in the United States it’s called Thirteen-Card Brag. The rules are virtually identical. The concept here is beautiful in its simplicity: create as many three-card “brag hands” as possible, and hope to beat the corresponding hands of your opponents. A point is earned by the winner of each three-card hand.

Is this setup amenable to wagering? Absolutely! Brag is sometimes played for mere points and honor; however, it’s more common to nominate a point target (say, 10 points) and a monetary value for hitting the target (say, 50 cents).

HOW TO DEAL
Start with a fifty-two-card deck, and deal all cards, one at a time, so all players receive thirteen. In Brag, 3s are high, followed by aces, kings, queens, etc.

SCORING
The game ends—and a winner is declared—the moment any player scores 11 points. If one player captures all 4 points in a hand, it’s called a
crash
and earns the player 1 bonus game point (score 5 points instead of 4).

HOW TO PLAY
Each player organizes her cards into three-card brag hands, based on the hand values below, and places them face down on the table in high-to-low order (your best hand on the left, followed by your next-best, etc.). Set aside any cards not used to create a brag hand. Valid brag hands are (high to low):

PRIAL
Three cards of the same rank (e.g., 7 of hearts-7 of diamonds-7 of spades).

RUNNING FLUSH
(also called a
trotter
) Three cards of matching suit in
descending
rank (e.g., 10 of clubs-9 of clubs-8 of clubs). In Brag, the highest running flush is 3-2-A, followed by 2-A-K and A-K-Q. The lowest is 4-3-2.

RUN
Three cards of any suit in
descending
rank (e.g., 3-2-A is the highest run).

FLUSH
Three cards of matching suit (e.g., 8 of hearts-5 of hearts-2 of hearts). Aces are the high card in flushes (not 3s), so A of diamonds-7 of diamonds-2 of diamonds beats K of clubs-5 of clubs-3 of clubs.

PAIR
Two cards of the same rank. Always include a third card with your pair (e.g., Q of diamonds-Q of spades-10 of hearts), because ties are broken by that third card. Aces are the high card in pair groupings, so A of diamonds-A of clubs-10 of spades beats 3 of clubs-3 of diamonds-A of hearts.

All players turn up their leftmost brag hand; score 1 point to the player with the best hand. In case of ties—called
stoppers
—no point is awarded. Continue until all hands are revealed and all four game points are awarded.

IRREGULARITIES & DISPUTES
Players must always follow the high-to-low hand rankings when placing their brag hands on the table. They are immediately out of the hand if they make a mistake—say, by placing a flush hand before a run. The remaining players continue the hand. If you play fewer than four hands, there’s no penalty, you simply will not compete in the later contest(s).

VARIATION 1: NINE-CARD BRAG

It’s common to wager in Thirteen-Card Brag; in this variation, it’s more than common, it’s required. Typical wagers are 25–50 cents per game.

The rules are similar to the main game, except the high card is 9, followed by A, K, Q, J, 10, etc. Each player is dealt nine cards. And before any three-card hands are played, players may declare: