Hearts for 3 Players

Remove one card, deal seventeen each, and watch the moon get considerably more dangerous.

Hearts is built for four, but it adapts to three more gracefully than most trick-taking games because there are no partnerships to break. Two small adjustments — the deal and the passing — are all it takes.

The deal

Fifty-two does not divide by three, so one card is removed. The convention:

• Remove the 2♦ and deal 17 cards to each player.
• Some tables remove the 2♣ instead — but then the 2♣ cannot lead the first trick, and you need a replacement rule (usually the 3♣ leads). Removing the 2♦ avoids the problem entirely, which is why it is the more common choice.
• The 2♣ still leads the first trick, exactly as in the four-player game.

Passing with three

The four-player rotation is left, right, across, hold. With three players there is no "across", so the cycle shortens:

Three cards are still passed, and they are still exchanged simultaneously — you commit before seeing what arrives.

What actually changes about the game

The rules barely move. The feel changes a lot, and it is worth knowing why before you sit down.

• You hold 17 cards instead of 13. Longer suits mean more control and fewer forced discards, so hands are less about survival and more about steering.
• The same 26 penalty points are split three ways, not four. Average damage per player per hand rises from about 6.5 to about 8.7 — so the race to 100 is roughly a third shorter.
• Shooting the moon is genuinely easier. With one fewer opponent there is one fewer hand that might accidentally win a heart. Defend earlier than you would with four.
• The Queen of Spades is harder to dodge. Twelve spades among three players means longer spade holdings, so you are more likely to be the one forced to take her.
• There is no across-pass hand. You always know one of your two opponents received your three cards.

Scoring

Unchanged. Each heart is 1, the Queen of Spades is 13, and 26 points go out every hand. Shooting the moon gives each opponent 26 (or takes 26 off the shooter, whichever helps the shooter). The game ends when a player reaches 100, and the lowest score wins.

Because damage accumulates faster with three, some tables play to 50 instead. Full detail in Hearts scoring.

Other player counts

5 players

Remove the 2♦ and 2♣; deal 10 each. The 3♣ leads. Points spread five ways, so hands are gentle and the moon becomes very hard.

6 players

Remove the 2♦, 2♣, 3♦ and 3♣; deal 8 each. Very short hands — more luck than judgement, but fast and sociable.

2 players

Not really Hearts. The usual approach is a draw-and-discard deal like two-hand Spades, and most players find the result thin.

Keep reading

• How to Play Hearts — the four-player rules.
• Hearts Scoring — points and worked examples.
• Shooting the Moon — easier with three, so read this.
• Hearts Variants — Omnibus, Black Maria and more.