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Hearts Tips and Strategies |
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| Hearts Column of the Month -- February 2005 | |
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| By Joe Andrews | |
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| Hearts Variations
This month, in the first of a four-part series, I will review Reverse Hearts. Next month, the topic will be Cancellation Hearts. In May, we'll explore Six-Handed Hearts, and the Series wraps up with a study of Three-Handed Hearts.
Reverse Hearts
This variation was quite popular during the heyday of The England Hearts Players' Association (1971-1979), and it has made a modest comeback during the past few years. Attendance at the New England area live events averaged more than one hundred and twenty players each! Many of these players were college students, as Boston always has a large student population from September through April. There were five or six tables of Reverse Hearts after a typical Tournament was completed. Some players liked the idea of having a gambling element: 25 cents a point! "Reverse" is a nice change from the regular game, especially after playing five or six tough tournament matches.
Steve Rubin of Framingham, MA created these rules:
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| · The game structure is still the same. All 52 cards are dealt: there is a passing option for each hand (no "keeper" hands), and the deuce of clubs still leads. Hearts may be led at any time. No point cards may be dropped on the first trick. | |
| · Hearts are scored at +1 point each, and the Queen of Spades counts as +13. (Keep in mind that in this variation, "+" points are good, and the first person to reach 100 points is the WINNER!) | |
| · The idea is to take as many points as possible; however,"Shooting the Moon" is very bad, as you lose 26 points. (This can lead to some very devilish play by the other three players.) | |
| · The defense will always try to feed the Moon to any player who is capturing a lot of points. "Duck and Dump" techniques do not work in the Reverse game! | |
| · This is a trick-capturing game, especially in the Heart suit. | |
| · The Ace and King of Spades are very valuable. The Ace of hearts also rules, as it represents a sure four points. | |
| · Hearts are rarely passed; low cards in the minor (Club and Diamond) suits are passed. Voiding a minor suit is usually a good idea. Interestingly enough, the deuce of hearts may be a valuable "exit" card in order to avoid shooting the Moon! | |
| · The Queen of Spades becomes kindred to the Jack of diamonds in the regular standard JoD game. She is a very valuable (+) point card. | |
| · Leading spades early is not the best strategy, unless you have a long spade suit with the Queen, and want to drive out the Ace or King (of spades). | |
| · The good Reverse player will try to set up an endgame scenario where he or she captures a boatload of points with minor suit winners or high hearts. As mentioned above, an "exit" card is valuable, in order to relinquish the lead toward the end of hand. | |
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My personal opinions: Is this Hearts? Can it work with partners? How about including the Jack of Diamonds as a negative (bad) card? Are there other ways to play Reverse Hearts?
Still, it is worth a try, and might be good for a few laughs. And it can be a nice change of pace, if you become weary of the traditional game!
”Fixed” in Hearts
In the game of Hearts, there are those hands which leave you feeling blue.
Here is a hand which occurred in a live Tournament: Our hero picked up this collection as a hold or keeper hand. It was the fourth hand of a game, with the scores relatively close.
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|  J 7 2
|  J 5
|  7 6 4 2
|  9 5 3 2
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How did this player (West) end up with a crispy total of 25 points? Where did he go so wrong?
Here are some clues:
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| · The heart suit was divided (in order): 2 - 4 - 5 - 2 (West, North, East, South) | |
| · The spades suit was divided (in order): 3 - 3 - 2 - 5 | |
| · The diamond suit was divided (in order): 4 - 3 - 1 - 5 | |
| · The club suit was divided (in order): 4 - 3 - 5 - 1 | |
| · There was no "ice-cold" Moon for any player. | |
| · The Ace and King of hearts were in separate hands. | |
| · South (who held the top three spades), cashed five rounds of diamonds early in the hand. | |
| · South also stripped the spade suit in three rounds, and received a heart. | |
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Can you construct approximate layouts for each of the players, and a line of play which might shaft West for 25 points?
The first two e-mails with the most accurate solutions will receive an autographed copy of my book "Win At Hearts" and two new decks of cards! Here is the e-mail address: heartsmoon@aol.com
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| Grand Prix World Series of Hearts
Sept. 16-18, 2005 - Cleveland, OH
Got game? Are you a good Hearts player? Do you want to play in the National Championship? Well, Hearts is an invitation event in 2005. Check out the Grand Prix Web Site:
www.grandprixtournaments.com
See you in March! Stay warm! | |
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