How To Play Poker For Beginners 1: Hearts And Spades Card Game

Poker is one of the most popular and exciting card games in the world. It can be played for fun, for money, or for fame. But before you can join the millions of poker enthusiasts, you need to learn how to play poker for beginners.

 

In this article, we will introduce you to four different variations of poker that are easy to learn and fun to play: Hearts, Spades, Speed, and War. By the end of this article, you will be ready to play poker with confidence and have a great time.

 

How To Play Poker For Beginners?

 

1. How to Play Hearts

 

 

Hearts is a trick-taking game for four players, where the goal is to avoid winning cards with point values, especially the hearts and the queen of spades. The game is played with a standard 52-card deck, without the jokers.

 

Here are the steps to play Hearts:

 

1. Shuffle and deal the cards. Each player gets 13 cards, face down. Do not look at your cards until the next step.

 

2. Pass three cards to another player. Before looking at your cards, choose three cards from your hand and pass them to another player. The direction of passing changes in each round: left, right, across, and keep.

 

This means that in the first round, you pass to the player on your left; in the second round, to the player on your right; in the third round, to the player across from you; and in the fourth round, you keep your cards. The cycle repeats until the game ends.

 

3. Look at your cards and sort them by suit and rank. You can arrange them in any order you like, as long as you can easily see what you have.

 

4. Start the first trick. The player who has the two of clubs must lead the first trick by playing that card face up in the center of the table. The other players must follow suit, meaning they must play a card of the same suit as the lead card, if they have one.

 

If they don't have a card of the same suit, they can play any card they want. The highest card of the lead suit wins the trick and takes all the cards in the center. The winner of the trick leads the next one.

 

5. Continue playing tricks until all the cards are played. You must follow the suit of the lead card if you can. You cannot play a heart or the queen of spades until someone has played a heart before, which is called breaking hearts.

 

If you have only hearts in your hand and hearts are not broken, you can pass the lead to the next player.

 

6. Score the points. At the end of each round, count the number of hearts and the queen of spades that you have won. Each heart is worth one point, and the queen of spades is worth 13 points.

 

Add them to your total score. If you have won all the hearts and the queen of spades, which is called shooting the moon, you score zero points and the other players score 26 points each.

 

7. Start a new round. The player to the left of the dealer becomes the new dealer and deals the cards again. The game ends when one player reaches 100 points or more. The player with the lowest score wins the game.

 

Some tips to play Hearts better are:

 

- Try to get rid of high cards, especially the king and ace of spades, early in the game. They can easily win you the queen of spades, which you don't want.

- Be careful when passing cards. You don't want to give your opponent a good hand or a chance to shoot the moon. Avoid passing hearts, the queen of spades, or high cards of other suits.

- Pay attention to what cards have been played and what cards are left. This can help you plan your moves and avoid taking unwanted points.

- If you are close to shooting the moon, go for it. It can be a risky but rewarding strategy that can turn the game around. However, if you see that someone else is trying to shoot the moon, try to stop them by giving them a point.

 

2. How to Play Spades

 

 

Spades is a trick-taking game for four players, where the goal is to make the number of tricks that you bid. The game is played with a standard 52-card deck, with the spades being the trump suit.

 

Here are the steps to play Spades:

 

1. Form two teams of two players each. Partners sit across from each other. Decide who will be the dealer for the first round. The dealer will change clockwise in each round.

 

2. Shuffle and deal the cards. Each player gets 13 cards, face down. Look at your cards and sort them by suit and rank.

 

3. Bid your tricks. Starting from the dealer's left, each player must make a bid, which is the number of tricks that they expect to win. You can bid from zero to 13, but you cannot bid the same number as your partner. The total number of bids by each team is their contract. If you bid zero, you are going for a nil or blind nil bid, which means you will try to win no tricks.

 

A nil bid is worth 100 points if successful, but -100 points if not. A blind nil bid is made before looking at your cards, and is worth 200 points if successful, but -200 points if not. You can only make a blind nil bid if your team is losing by 100 points or more.

 

4. Play the first trick. The player to the dealer's left leads the first trick by playing any card, except for a spade. The other players must follow suit, meaning they must play a card of the same suit as the lead card, if they have one.

 

If they don't have a card of the same suit, they can play any card they want, including a spade. The highest card of the lead suit wins the trick, unless a spade is played. The highest spade wins the trick. The winner of the trick leads the next one.

 

5. Continue playing tricks until all the cards are played. You must follow the suit of the lead card if you can. You can play a spade only if you have no cards of the lead suit, or if a spade has been played before, which is called breaking spades. The first player to play a spade breaks spades.

 

6. Score the points. At the end of each round, count the number of tricks that each team has won. If a team makes at least their contract, they score 10 points for each bid trick. For example, if they bid 5 and make 5, they score 50 points. If they make more tricks than their contract, they score 1 point for each overtrick. For example, if they bid 5 and make 7, they score 52 points.

 

However, if they make fewer tricks than their contract, they lose 10 points for each bid trick. For example, if they bid 5 and make 4, they lose 50 points. The nil and blind nil bids are scored separately. The first team to reach 500 points or more wins the game.

 

Some tips to play Spades better are:

 

- Communicate with your partner using your bids. Try to estimate how many tricks you can win based on your high cards and spades. If you have a lot of spades, you can bid higher, because you can trump other suits. If you have few or no spades, you can bid lower, or go for a nil bid if you have low cards in every suit.

 

- Pay attention to what cards have been played and what cards are left. This can help you plan your moves and avoid losing tricks or getting overtricks. You can also keep track of the spades that have been played, and know when it is safe to play your high cards of other suits.

 

- Try to win the tricks that are important for your contract, but not more than that. If you win too many tricks, you will give points to the other team. If you win too few tricks, you will lose points. Try to balance your tricks with your partner, and don't compete with them for the same tricks.

 

- Try to prevent the other team from making their contract, especially if they bid high. You can do this by cutting their tricks with spades, or by forcing them to play their high cards early. You can also try to make them lose their nil bids by winning a trick with their cards.

 

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