KILLER HEARTS – A GAME FOR 6 TO 10

Let me begin by saying that if you are not familiar with the game of Hearts, then you are in the WRONG place. "KILLER HEARTS" resembles the normal game of Hearts in that: every Heart is worth one point and every Queen of Spades is worth 13 points; the 2 of Clubs leads; the rank of the cards remains the same; the winner of the trick leads the next trick. The similarity stops there!

RULES and TERMS (assuming you know rules for "standard" Hearts)
(In this Killer game...PAIRING – Rule I – separates the players from the prayers.)

  1. Double Deck with one 2 of clubs removed and replaced with a 3rd Queen of Spades (see Deck Setup)
  2. In this game you may play a Heart or the Queen of Spades on the 1st trick if you have no Clubs.
  3. HEARTS MAY NOT BE LED until points have been played on a prior trick – IE a heart or a Queen of Spades. The QUEEN OF SPADES HOWEVER, MAY BE LED AT ANY TIME.
  4. A Joker (if in play) is a WILD CARD and may be played at any time – even in lieu of following suit.
  5. ALL passes are to the left. 1 left, then 2 left, then 3 left etc. then the hold hand then repeat.
  6. Jacks of Diamonds are worth MINUS 10 points (remember there are 2 of them.) It is actually possible to take minus 20 points in a hand.
  7. If there are an even number of players .....the player opposite of you is your partner
  8. If there are an odd number of players .... you are on your own.
  9. PAIRS: pairs cancel the ability to take a trick but NOT THE POINT VALUE of the trick. PAIRS as opposed to MATCHING CARDS is a very important concept. Remember that this is a "double deck" game. There are 2 of every card with two exceptions: There is only one 2 of Clubs and there are 3 Queens of Spades. The 2 of Clubs therefore cannot be paired and, only 2 of the 3 Queens of Spades can be paired. Hence, if all 3 Queens of Spades fall on the same trick AND no SINGLE Ace or King of Spades is played on the trick, the person who played the 3rd Queen of Spades takes the trick. To illustrate the PAIRS concept: 2 of Spades leads followed by Ace of Spades followed by 2nd Ace of Spades. Next A Queen of Spades falls, then a second Queen of Spades. Player 6 plays off or plays a Joker; the 2 of Spades claims a trick with 2 Queens of Spades on it! (Had player 6 played the 3rd Queen of Spades (s)he would win the trick and 39 points.)
  10. TRICKS STAY ON THE TABLE: In the event that ALL cards of the lead suit are PAIRED (see Rule I ) then that trick "Stays on the table" to be taken by the winner of the following trick. The original leader leads again but is not compelled to lead the same suit. If all lead suit cards are again paired, the process repeats until there is a winner of the trick (unless the PAIRED TRICK(s) is/are the LAST TRICK(s) – see DEAD TRICKS Rule K)
  11. DEAD TRICKS: Because pairs of the lead suit (see Rule I ) cancel on taking tricks it is possible that that the last trick (as well as previously Tabled Tricks – See Rule J) may not be taken. If this is the case, the trick(s) stay on the table after the last lead. They neither count for or against anybody.
  12. RUNNING or SHOOTING: A player (or team) runs when they take all 3 queens and all 26 Hearts. That is all 65 positive point cards. It is not necessary to take the Jacks of Diamonds to run. However, due to the Dead Tricks (see rule K) it is also not necessary to take all of the points. If a player or team take all the points other than the "Dead Tricks" (see Rule K) at the end of the game, it is still a run. But only as many points as were taken by the runner are added to the opponent’s score. And the winner(s) of the Jack of Diamonds still deducts –10 points per. (Example: Team A takes all 65 points and one Jack of Diamonds. Team B takes one Jack of diamonds. Then Team A gets –10, Team B gets 55 and Team C gets 65.)
  13. DOWN PILE or BLIND: The two extra cards that don’t deal out in 6 handed are left face down on the side of the table. The player or team that takes the first Heart or Queen of Spades also takes these extra cards. If playing partners, both players my see them. They are then placed with the tricks already taken.
  14. END OF GAME: "HOUSE RULES" here. Since we always play at lunch, our game is one hour long. For those who like to play to a set score, I suggest at least 150 points. (100 is normal for a single deck game with 26 points. This is double deck with 65 points.)


DECK SETUP (DEPENDING ON NUMBER OF PLAYERS)
(Requires destroying a third deck simply to acquire a 3rd Queen.)

6 PLAYER:
2 DECKS – REMOVE ONE 2 OF CLUBS – ADD A 3RD QUEEN OF SPADES – 17 CARDS EACH
2 CARDS IN THE BLIND – OPPOSING PLAYERS ARE PARTNERS. (Blind goes to first player or to take positive points. If playing partners, the partner gets to see the blind)

7 PLAYER:
2 DECKS – REMOVE ONE 2 OF CLUBS – ADD A 3RD QUEEN OF SPADES – ADD ONE JOKER WILD CARD - 15 CARDS EACH – NO BLIND – NO PARTNER

8 PLAYER:
2 DECKS – REMOVE ONE 2 OF CLUBS – ADD A 3RD QUEEN OF SPADES – 13 CARDS EACH – OPPOSING PLAYERS ARE PARTNERS – NO BLIND

9 PLAYER:
2 DECKS – REMOVE ONE 2 OF CLUBS – ADD A 3RD QUEEN OF SPADES – ADD FOUR JOKER WILD CARDS - 12 CARDS EACH – NO BLIND – NO PARTNER

10 PLAYER:
2 DECKS – REMOVE ONE 2 OF CLUBS – ADD A 3RD QUEEN OF SPADES – ADD SIX JOKER WILD CARDS – 11 CARDS EACH - OPPOSING PLAYERS ARE PARTNERS – NO BLIND..

THE HISTORY AND INSITE TO THE RULES OF THE GAME
( Maybe if the rules aren’t totally clear....reading this will help )

Over many years of working for the same company, several of us have taken midday relaxation by playing Hearts during lunch. The problem was that after so many years, we learned each other’s strategies and tactics. Hence, we began to look for creative variations to the game.

The table where I originally played had modified the normal rules of "Hearts" as follows:

  1. Four Handed Partners. The player directly opposite was partner.
  2. The Ten of Diamonds was made worth minus 10 points – thus complicating the game. Do you risk holding big Diamonds to take the 10 and take the Queen of Spades too?
So, although the game had a bit of variance, it was still rather stiff and structured.

At the same time, another group of Hearts players were playing at an adjacent table. Because they had so many players, they had to start playing with two decks. The first and foremost problem was "Which 2 of Clubs leads?" The solution was to remove one 2 of Clubs and replace it with a Joker. The Joker was a wild card which could be played at ANYTIME – even in lieu of following suit. Because the number of players fluctuated between 6 and 10, Jokers were used to pad the deck to keep the number of cards per player equal. So, depending on the number of players there could be up to 6 jokers.

At their table, the Jack of Diamonds was worth –10 points. (Like the 10 of Diamonds at our table.)

And finally, PAIRED cards of the same suit (see Rule I) canceled in terms of taking the trick, but not in terms of point value.

When we lost our regular 4th player we joined larger group and introduced the concept of partners. Some short time later "Diamond Bob" Green had a vision: "Replace the Joker with a 3rd Queen of Spades."

And hence was born ........ "KILLER HEARTS !!!"

Rchard R. DeNamur
Copyright 17 June 2004