THREE-HANDED HEARTS. The deuce of spades is discarded, and seventeen cards are dealt to each player, one at a time, after which the game proceeds in the usual way. There are several methods of settling. Howell’s method is undoubtedly the best, but Sweepstakes is very common. An excellent way is for the player who takes the largest number of hearts to pay the two others as many counters as he has hearts in excess of theirs. If two have an equal number, both pay the low man. There are no Jacks.
AUCTION HEARTS. This is usually played by four persons, although five or six may form a table. After the cards have been dealt in the usual way, the player to the left of the dealer examines his cards, and determines which suit he would prefer to play to get clear of. It may be that if the game were to get rid of clubs instead of hearts, his hand would be a very good one, whereas if the suit were to remain hearts it would be a very bad hand. As the pool will contain thirteen counters to a certainty, he can afford to pay something for the better chance he will have to win it if he is allowed to make clubs the suit to be avoided, instead of hearts. He bids whatever amount he is willing to pay for the privilege of changing the suit, without naming the suit he prefers. The next player then has a bid, and so on in turn, the dealer bidding last. There are no second bids.
The player making the highest bid pays into the pool the amount he has bid. He then names the suit to be avoided, and leads for the first trick, regardless of his position with respect to the deal. The dealer’s position is a great advantage, on account of its having the last bid.
After the hand is played, those who have taken in any cards of the suit announced to be avoided, pay one counter to the pool for each of them. If any one player gets clear, each of the others having at least one of the tabooed suit, he takes the entire pool. If two get clear, they divide the pool, leaving any odd counter to form the basis of a Jack, as at Sweepstakes. If one player takes all thirteen, it is a Jack; but instead of the next choice being sold to the highest bidder, the one who named the suit on the hand that made the pool a Jack has the choice of suits again for the next deal, and he must select some suit without paying anything further for it, until some player wins what he paid for the choice in the first place. That is, the pool must be won before the choice can be sold again.
The general principle of the game is for the players to combine against the successful bidder, and to spare no effort to prevent him from winning the pool.
SPOT HEARTS. In this variation, when the hearts are announced at the end of the hand, the spots on them are the units of value, the Jack being worth 11, the Queen 12, the King 13, and the Ace 14. This adds nothing to the interest or skill of the game; but rather tends to create confusion and delay, owing to the numerous disputes as to the correctness of the count.
The total to be accounted for in each deal is 104. In settling, the player with the smallest number collects from each of the others the amount they have in excess of his. If two or more players have an equal number, or none at all, they divide the amount collected from each of the others. For instance: Four play, A has 8 points, B 24, C 18, and D 54. As 8 points is the lowest, B pays A 16, C pays him 10, and D pays him 46. If A and B had 8 each, C 32, and D 56, C would pay 24, and D 48; and A-B would divide the amount between them.
The chief variation in play arises from the fact that one who must win a heart trick cannot always afford to play his highest heart as in the ordinary game.
JOKER HEARTS. In this variation, the heart deuce is discarded, and the Joker takes its place. The Joker occupies a position between the Jack and the Ten in value, with the added peculiarity that it cannot be discarded on a plain suit; for if it is, it wins the trick unless there is a higher heart in the same trick. If a player has the Joker dealt to him, his only chance to get rid of it is to play it on a trick in which hearts are led, or to discard it on a plain suit on which some other player has already discarded a higher heart than the Ten. Under such circumstances, the holder of the Joker is allowed to discard it, even if he has one of the suit led, and the Joker being in the trick compels the player who discarded the higher heart to take it in.
In settling, the Joker is worth five counters. If the player to whom it was dealt takes it in, he pays these five counters to the pool. If another player gets the Joker, he must pay the five counters to the player who got rid of it. The remainder of the pool is then divided in the usual way. This is a most exasperating game.