HEARTS

card game that was developed in the United States about 1880. The object is to avoid winning tricks with hearts in them. Three to six can play, using a 52-card deck. If three play, a black 2 is taken from the deck; with five, both black 2s are removed; with six, a black 3 and all 2s except for the 2 of hearts are removed. These practices vary from place to place. No bidding takes place, nor is a trump suit used. Players must follow the suit led if able, and the highest card of the suit led takes the trick. In the simplest form of the game, each heart counts one point against the player winning it in a trick. A running total score is kept for each player, and the lowest score wins. Black maria hearts, also called black lady, or black widow, is the most popular version, with many variations in rules possible. Hearts count 1 penalty point each, while the queen of spades counts 13 penalty points. Prior to the opening lead, each player passes any three cards from his original hand face down to the right (or left). With four to six players, two cards may be passed. If a player wins all 13 hearts and the queen of spades as well, 26 points may be subtracted from his total or added to those of his opponents. When discarding, a good player will not automatically discard penalties; instead, he gets rid of cards that may put him badly in the lead later. Low hearts are often kept to guard against high ones that may be passed. The queen of spades can be kept if the player has sufficient low spades to avoid being forced into taking a trick with it.