How Many Cards in Hearts?
Each player gets 13 cards. Hearts is a four-player game played with a standard 52-card deck and no jokers, and the whole deck is dealt out: four hands of 13 use all 52 cards, so nothing is left over and there is no kitty. If the deal is the only part you know, start with how to play Hearts.
Play Hearts NowCards per player, by table size
| Players | Cards removed | Deck | Cards each |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 (standard) | None | 52 | 13 |
| 3 | 2♦ | 51 | 17 |
| 5 | 2♦ and 2♣ | 50 | 10 |
Four is the standard game and the one CardCouch plays. Three- and five-player tables take out a low card or two so the deck divides evenly.
How the deal works
Take the jokers out, shuffle, and deal the cards one at a time, face down, clockwise around the table until the deck is gone. Every player ends up with 13. There is no turn-up, no widow and no stock: once the last card is dealt, the entire deck is in the four hands. After the hand is scored, the deal usually passes to the left.
On CardCouch the deal is automatic. A fresh 52-card deck is shuffled and dealt for you at the start of every hand, your hand is sorted by suit, and a short deal is impossible.
What happens right after the deal
Before any card is played, each player passes three cards face down to another player and receives three in return. The direction changes every hand: left on the first hand, right on the second, across on the third, and on the fourth hand there is no pass at all (the hold hand). Then the cycle starts over. You choose your three before you look at the cards coming to you. So although you are dealt 13 cards, the hand you actually play, on a passing hand, is 10 of those plus three from another player.
Once the pass is complete, whoever holds the 2 of clubs leads it to the first trick. No heart and no Queen of Spades may be played on that trick, the common rule CardCouch uses, unless a player holds nothing else. The first trick has its own page.
On CardCouch you only choose which three cards to send; the passing direction rotates for you, and if the 2 of clubs ends up in your hand it is the only card you can play to the first trick.
The point cards in the deck
Of the 52 cards, 14 carry points: each of the 13 hearts is worth 1 and the Queen of Spades is worth 13, so every hand has exactly 26 points in it. The other 38 cards score nothing. The aim is to take as few of those 14 cards as possible, unless you take all of them: that is shooting the moon, which on CardCouch gives you 0 and each opponent 26. The game ends after the hand in which anyone reaches 100, and the lowest total wins.
Three or five players
52 does not divide by three or five, so those tables remove a card or two before dealing. With three players the 2 of diamonds comes out and each player gets 17 cards; with five players the 2 of diamonds and the 2 of clubs come out and each player gets 10. Everything else about the deal is the same: one card at a time, all of them. CardCouch offers the four-player game only.
Frequently asked questions
How many cards are in a Hearts deck?
52: a standard deck with the jokers removed. In the four-player game every one of those cards is dealt, 13 to each player, so there is no kitty and nothing is set aside.
Do you use jokers in Hearts?
No. Hearts is played with the 52-card deck only. Take the jokers out before you shuffle; a 53- or 54-card pack would not divide evenly among four players.
How many cards do you pass in Hearts?
Three. After the deal each player chooses three cards to pass face down: to the left on the first hand, to the right on the second, across on the third, and on the fourth hand nobody passes. Then the cycle starts again. You pass before looking at the cards you receive.
How many cards does each player get with 3 players?
17. Three-player Hearts removes the 2 of diamonds, leaving 51 cards that divide into three hands of 17. CardCouch plays the four-player game only.
How many cards does each player get with 5 players?
10. Five-player Hearts removes the 2 of diamonds and the 2 of clubs, leaving 50 cards for five hands of 10. CardCouch plays the four-player game only.