The complete Hearts scoring guide — point values, the Queen of Spades, shooting the moon, and how to win.

Hearts is the rare card game where you want to score as FEW points as possible. Every heart card and the Queen of Spades carries penalty points. Understanding exactly how scoring works is crucial to winning.

Point Values

Card Points
2♥ through A♥ (each heart) 1 point each
Q♠ (Queen of Spades) 13 points
All other cards 0 points

Total per hand: 26 points are distributed every hand (13 hearts + Queen of Spades). You want as few of those 26 as possible.

How Points Are Assigned

After all 13 tricks are played, each player counts the penalty cards in the tricks they won:

Player Hearts Won Queen of Spades? Round Score
North 3 hearts No 3
East 0 hearts Yes 13
South 5 hearts No 5
West 5 hearts No 5
Total 13 hearts 1 queen 26

The 26 points are always fully distributed — no more, no less.

Shooting the Moon

The dramatic exception to “avoid points”:

If one player takes ALL 26 penalty points (all 13 hearts + Queen of Spades), they “shoot the moon.”

Scoring Method Effect
Standard (add to others) The shooter gets 0 points; every other player gets +26
Alternative (subtract) The shooter subtracts 26 from their own score; others get 0

Both methods are commonly used. Check house rules before playing.

When to Attempt Shooting the Moon

  • You have multiple high hearts (A♥, K♥, Q♥)
  • You hold the Queen of Spades with spade protection
  • You have a long suit you can run (take many consecutive tricks)
  • You’re behind in score and need a dramatic swing

The Risk

If you attempt to shoot the moon and miss even ONE heart or the Queen, you’ll end up with most of the 26 points yourself — possibly 20+ points in a single hand.

Game Progression Example

Hand North East South West
1 3 13 5 5
2 8 0 12 6
3 2 4 7 13
4 0 26☾ 0 0
5 5 1 14 6
Total 18 44+26 38 30+26

☾ = East shot the moon — all other players got +26

Wait — with the moon shot in Hand 4, others got 26 added:

  • North: 18 → East shot moon, so +26 → but North only has 18 from their own. Actually let me recalculate:
Hand North East South West
1 3 13 5 5
2 8 0 12 6
3 2 4 7 13
4 +26 0 ☾ +26 +26
5 5 1 14 6
Running 44 18 64 56

After Hand 5, South is highest at 64. Game continues until someone reaches 100. East’s moon shot kept them at 18 while punishing everyone else.

Breaking Hearts

Hearts cannot be led until they’ve been “broken” — played on a trick where the player couldn’t follow the led suit. Once any heart has been played, hearts can be led freely.

The exception: If a player’s hand contains ONLY hearts, they may lead hearts even if they haven’t been broken.

Card Passing

Before each hand, players pass 3 cards:

Hand Number Pass Direction
1 Left
2 Right
3 Across
4 No pass (hold)
5 Left (cycle repeats)

Passing strategy affects scoring:

  • Pass high hearts (A♥, K♥) to avoid winning heart tricks
  • Pass the Q♠ if you can’t protect it — or keep it if you have low spades to duck under
  • Pass high cards in your short suits to create voids for dumping hearts later

Scoring Edge Cases

Situation Rule
Player takes no tricks at all 0 points (ideal!)
Player takes only non-penalty tricks 0 points
Moon shot ALMOST works (took 12 hearts + Q♠) You get 25 points. No bonus.
Two players tie for lowest at game end Both win (most house rules)
Player reaches exactly 100 Game ends that hand

Winning the Game

Event Result
Any player reaches 100 points Game ends immediately
Player with the lowest score Wins

The target score can be adjusted. Some groups play to 50 (short game) or 150 (marathon).

Quick Scoring Cheat Sheet

  • Each heart: 1 point
  • Queen of Spades: 13 points
  • Moon shot: 0 for shooter, +26 for everyone else
  • Total per hand: Always 26
  • Goal: Lowest score
  • Game over: Someone hits 100

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