Hearts Tips and Strategies

Hearts Column of the Month – June 2003

By Joe Andrews, author of The Complete Win At Hearts; copyright, 2000 by The U.S. Playing Card Company and Bonus Books, Inc.

Play Scenario Quiz Answer (from May Column)
Here is an example of a Hold hand that could decide the outcome of a game. You are playing in a Tournament Hearts rated room on Zone.com, and only the first place winner advances. The game has been competitive. Here are the scores:

You
79

Bob
97

Bill
98

Sue
98

It's a Keeper hand, and you pick up this collection:

A K
A 10 5 3 2
K Q
10 6 5 2

In a passing situation, you would have been glad to unload the spade Queen and the Q and 9 of hearts. Now we see why passing is so helpful. But that option is not available here... What is your plan? Remember, you can take seventeen (or less) points and take first place

Answer and Analysis
The road to success is limiting the damage to seventeen points. The opponents hold eleven spades between them. There is no realistic expectation of receiving four diamond leads (and the opportunity to drop the spade Queen). The heart suit is very weak, with only one decent "ducking" card, the three. Raking in more than one heart trick will be fatal. Conceding the thirteen points for the spade Queen is the first order of business. After spades are cleared, the plan is to drop high hearts on subsequent spade leads.

Yes, this is a tall order, but it's your only hope. Thus, you must play the club Ace on trick one, and immediately drop the spade Queen on the table. Barring a miraculous singleton Ace or King, you then continue with the seven of spades. If this trick is taken, maybe an opponent will continue with a low spade, and away goes your King of hearts. Any club or diamond lead is easily ducked. A middle heart lead from your left is ideal. Things get real ticklish if an opponent who wins the second round of spades decides to shift to a LOW heart. You will be scratching like a hound dog if that low heart lead comes from the player on your RIGHT! You will then be forced to rise with the King, and exit with a small diamond. We could analyze worst-case scenarios until every cow on Ben and Jerry's dairy farm in Vermont comes home! Your best line of play is immediate spade suit leads, and very careful handling of the heart suit.

The winners are: Steve J. (dragonhearts) and J. Lunt!

Special thanks to everyone who took the time to send in a solution!

Hold Hand Analysis - Summary

1. The distribution in Hold or "Keeper" hands tends to be balanced.

2. If you have three or four small spades (lower than the Queen), lead this suit early and often. A common motif of Hold hands is the weak Ace, King, or Queen of spades (see # 4).

3. If you have a doubleton (two high cards) holding in either the club or diamond suits, make every effort to clear these cards. (The exception is when you hold a long attacking spade suit.) In general, it is good technique to get a high card out of the way, and save a lower card in the same suit for a later duck or exit.

4. If a player does not lead spades, he/she has a spade "problem" (weakly guarded Queen, or Ace / King woes).

5. Always be on the lookout for "Moon" possibilities. It is amazing how many "Moons" are made in seemingly impossible situations. A lot of players will get greedy on Hold hands, and duck everything in sight! Then again, key high cards may be played early, and your middle cards in a long suit will promote to winners.

6. If you can take a heart or heart trick safely, by all means, do it! However, if you have a terrible hand with a risk of taking a boatload of points, you would do well to avoid taking the lead.

7. Watch the opponents' discards, and adjust accordingly. Always be aware of the score and position (place) of your opponents.

Let's face it, folks, there is a lot of guesswork with Hold hands. Often, you will be "flying by the seat of your pants." Logical play with a common sense approach will help you to overcome the luck factor. If you happen to be playing at a table with seasoned opponents, a bad hand will often be salvaged, especially if you are in last place.

Note: Hold hands are NOT used in the "live" Grand Prix Hearts events. Another option to the Hold hand (every 4th deal) is the "Scatter" pass. After the deal is complete, each player passes ONE card to each of his opponents. This adds an interesting "twist" to the game. Passing has been part of Hearts for many decades, and the Hold hand is a throwback to the days when there was no Queen of spades penalty card in the game. A very intriguing variation of Hearts is a game with all Hold hands (no passing), and no Queen of spades penalty. Perhaps someone out there can get three Hearts-playing friends together and give this a try. Let me know if it works!