By Neal - 3/15/2023
If you lack a fourth player, it is possible to play Hearts with three players. Three-player Hearts follows the same basic rules with some alterations.
When setting up the game for three players, aside from removing the jokers, you must also remove the two of diamonds, leaving 51 cards. This allows you to deal 17 cards to each player instead of 13.
Passing cards also has a slight alteration. Since you don’t have a player opposite you in the three-player version, the passing opposite is skipped. This means the rotation is: pass left, pass right, no passing.
Aside from these alterations to the rules and the total number of cards, the win conditions and scoring are still the same as standard Hearts.
For two player Hearts, check out our guide.
Yes, but similar to three-player Hearts, you need to make some alterations. In five-player hearts, you need to remove the two of diamonds and the two of clubs. That way, you can deal ten cards to each player.
Yes, it is possible to play Hearts with two decks, but it will require six or more players. This version of Hearts is called Cancellation Hearts.