As a general rule, the right approach in Hearts is judicious self-preservation first, spite and malice next. Throw the dangerous cards in your hand away first before painting tricks that your opponents win. If you never score any points, you’re pretty sure to win, so try for that goal first and wait to upset your opponents until you feel safe. Even if you're trying for a moon shot, passing certain of these is a guaranteed red flag to the passee, requiring you to pretty much guarantee that you have 10 cards that will make it happen: The 2/3/4 of Hearts. As soon as someone breaks Hearts, the very next trick is the 'funeral', where a low.

1. Hearts Strategy Tips
2. Hearts Of Iron 4 Strategy Tips
3. How To Play Winning Hearts
4. Hearts Strategy Tips
5. Vip Hearts Online

This guide is Supposed to Show you (and teach you) new, and improved Strategies for France with the start date being 1936.

1936-1939

During these 3 years Germany will become a lot stronger and demand a lot of land saying “ThErE aRe EtHnIc GeRmAnS liViNg ThErE. ” dont stop it. Let germany annex all the Land they want to, after all you dont want to risk war, you are trying to keep the fragile peace of world war 1.

But you can try and keep the peace by guaranteeing countries like Poland, this will give them a false sence of Security and they will not give in to Germanys demans since they think you are backing them. Also you should join the allies during this period, since you need someone to free help you anyway.

1939+1940

The Situation is: you have joined The allies, you and Britain are guaranteeing Poland and Germany sent poland an ultimatum about danzig.

You need to tell Poland you will support them, this will cuase them to decline the Ultimatum and start a war. You and the rest of the allies will join the war, and wait. You should move all your troops to the Maginot Line since Germany would never attack trough Belgium. after a short bit Poland should surrender, keep Doing nothing.

Sometime in early 1940 Germany will attack Denmark and Norway, you dont need to care about it, Britain has the Navy, not you. Next Germany will attack you, if they try to go through Belgium (which is highly unlikley) then dont stop them, hold the Maginot Line. If everything goes well you should surrender in at most 2 months.

1940-1944

During this time you wont be able to do much, you will be fully occupied by Germany and the only land you have left is Africa. Dont use your remaining ships and units, let them sit around.

1944+1945

In 1944 The allies will do the D-Day landings and invade Normandy, from there on they will free you. once they have capured paris you will once again be able to join the fight, But dont. Let them do it all.

Then once Germany surrenders you can act like one of the big players, without actually participating in the War.

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The following section addresses more advanced strategies that can beemployed.

Annoying Passes

Having mastered the basic passes which will help you stay low, build voidsuits, get out of trouble, or help you shoot the moon, you can move ontodeveloping passes which will irritate, annoy, and beshrew the poor recipientof your cards. Here are some nasty passes that come one-by-one, two-by-two, orthree-by-three.

Singles

The following singles are pretty annoying:

• The two of clubs - You can't take the lead off the first trick with it, and it makes any high clubs you hold look real ugly.
• A club - Passing a club, any club, prevents anyone from sloughing an ugly card on the first trick if they've decided to go void in clubs (a fairly common occurrence). Passing them the two of clubs therefore serves a double duty toward annoyance.
• A low heart - Makes it real hard to shoot the moon. Especially effective when passed to a renowned shooter.
• A high heart that you can beat - They have to either work at getting rid of it or suffer you stymieing their moon shoot should they try.

Pairs

The basic approach is to pair or couple a set of cards which amplify the annoying effects of each other. The following are examples of such troublesome twosomes:

• The two of clubs and the Ace of clubs - Can't take the lead on the first trick, and you've got that bloody Ace that you have to get rid of somehow.
• A club and the Ace or King of Spades - That high spade can be a fright, and they won't be able to slough it off if they've tried to void themselves in clubs.
• A low heart and a high heart - Hard to shoot, and the victim has to work at getting rid of that ugly high heart.
• A club and a diamond - These are the two most common suits to go void in, so passing one of each will fill either void. If you pass high ones, the result can be a suit with only a single, high card. Can be trouble.

Triples

The triples are just adding greater injury to the doubles described above

• The two of clubs and two really high clubs - Can't take the lead off the first trick, stuck with those ugly high clubs, and as an added bonus, if they've tried to go void in clubs, the only clubs they'll have after the first trick will be those two high ones you've passed, and they'll probably take anything. Be sure to lead clubs at your first chance to twist the dagger a bit.
• A club (especially the two) and the Ace and King of spades - The victim is stuck with those nasty spades, and they can't slough either one because of that pesky club. Note: Passing a player the Ace and King of spades can actually help them, and even hurt you, as described in the section 'Strategy Guidelines' under the sub-heading 'Never Pass Spades'. The best time to employ this meddlesome pass, therefore, is when you have a long run of lower spades which can withstand a siege.
• A pitifully low heart (say, the three) and a pair of high hearts, all of which you can beat (i.e. you keep hold of the Ace or similar topper) - Hard to shoot, because of that low guy, which anyone can beat, and the fact that you can stop any of them. Also, it's hard enough to try to get rid of one high heart, but getting rid of two is going to be a real chore,
• A club, a diamond, and a heart - These are the three most common suits to go void in, so passing one of each will fill any of those voids. Once again, passing high ones can make it more injurious.

Got Queen Trouble? Bleed out the Spades!

'Bleeding out spades' means that you are trying to draw all the spades outof the other players and take them out of play. You would most want to employthis tactic when you are holding the Queen and not many other spades besides.

Consider the following situation: It's the second trick in the round (i.e.only the first clubs trick has gone around -- spades haven't been led yet),you have the lead, and you hold only the 3, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace ofspades. Obviously, you won't be able to survive a spades siege for very long.Moreover, it won't take long before you have to start laying down your Kingand Ace, at which point it will be fairly obvious that you're holding theQueen. What, then, do you do?

Answer: Don't try to hide the fact that you're holding the Queen at all.Consider the numbers: You are holding 5 spades, meaning there are 8 more 'outthere' amongst the other players. Since players don't normally pass spades,they tend to be more evenly distributed than other suits after the pass. Onbalance then, you can count on each player having somewhere between two tofour spades. The strategy then, is to bleed spades out of the other playersbefore the others can play them to bleed the Queen out of you.

Therefore, lead out with the Ace. You might get a few stares and grins,but it'll be worth it. You should take three spades, leaving only 5 more 'outthere' amongst the other players. Lead next with the King. You'll probablytake three more spades leaving only 2 spades out there. Next, lead with theJack. Let's say that this time you only take one spade with the Jack, leavingonly one last spade 'out there'. Lead finally with the 3, and presto, thereare no more spades. At this point, you can simply hold onto the Queen, bideyour time, work on building another void, and take tricks as high as you want.(Because you know nobody can give you the Queen.)

As an added bonus, if you keep following and leading high, you'll be ableto get rid of your ugly high cards. You might even convince the other playersthat you're trying to shoot the moon, which could even discourage them fromplaying hearts on you, and maybe try to take the lead away. In the meantime,you can watch the other players squirm as they wonder: 'How much longer...'and 'Will I be the one?' When the time comes, be sure to drop the Queen on themost deserving player.

The situation described above could fail if one player is holding more thanfour spades. It is, however, not as likely that the spades suit would be sounevenly divided, especially considering that you are already holding five.Remember, the high degree of randomness means that we deal with probabilities,not absolutes. Building on the situation above, it would be easier still tobleed spades out of people if you were holding the 10 as well.

Furthermore, it is very important that you build at least one void suit asquickly as possible so that you have a place where you can dump the Queen. Itis likewise important in such a situation to get rid of any trouble cards asquickly as possible so that you don't end up taking the lead during the laststages of the round, because you wouldn't be able to easily lose the lead.Should that occur, you will eventually have to play the Queen end uptaking her yourself!

Hearts Strategy Tips

Three Against One

Hearts is dazzlingly fun when the three losers attempt to gang up on theguy in the lead. Hit-men coalitions of three players are not organized at thebeginning of a game; They don't share secret handshakes or decoder rings.Rather, such coalitions are formed an un-formed on an ad hoc basis as scoresrise and different players take turns being the winner. The formation of athree-man coalition is usually an unspoken agreement made by the three currentlosers, although it isn't unheard of for one of the losers (usually the guywho's trailing by the most points) to make an announcement in the form of'We've got to get Brian, guys.'

Sometimes you don't get the cooperation of all three players in ganging upon the guy in the lead. If the second-in-place guy is only behind the winnerby half a dozen points, he might be more content to just sit back and 'draft'behind the winner, letting him take all the heat from the other losers. Rightup until the last stages of the game, of course, at which point he'll pull adramatic move where he drops the Queen on the current winner and move intofirst place. Then when it's too late, he'll drop points on one of the otherlosers, cause them to bust, and win the game himself.

If three against one odds doesn't sound very fair to you, it's probablybecause you're the guy in the lead.

Contractual Passes

A well-crafted pass between two experienced players can communicate morethan a whole evening of table talk. The state of the scorecard is an enormousfactor here as it often is the skeleton key to the message in the pass.Typically, a contractual pass is exchanged between two losing players who wantto stick it to the player who is currently winning. This tactic comes underthe umbrella of 'the losers ganging up on the winner' as described in theprevious section. As a general rule, any contract with lasting terms becomesnull and void should you become the player in the lead. You canhowever, count on the losers at that point making contracts to gang up on you.

The following are examples of contractual passes and their meanings:

The Queen of Spades and Two other Spades

The state of the scorecard is thus: Both you and the player you are passingto are losing, and somebody else is winning, probably by a lot. Basically whatyou are saying with this pass is:

'I really want to aim the Evil Wench at the guy in the lead, but I don'thave enough spades to hold out under any kind of serious siege. I thereforeagree to give you control of the Queen, as well as a generous spades buffer,which I hope that combined with any spades you posses, will keep you safeuntil you can stick the Queen to the player who most richly deserves it. Inreturn, I humbly request that you not stick it on me, especially if I getpassed an Ace or King which I am compelled to play in a spades trick becausethey are the only ones I've got, having passed you all my other spades.'

Here's what you're assuming when you make this pass:

Hearts Of Iron 4 Strategy Tips

1. The fellow you are passing to is rather experienced, and as such, has not passed any of his spades. (Especially if you're passing to the guy on your left and he knows that you know that it's really not bright to pass the Queen to the left.)
2. He wants to win just as bad as you do, and as such, would not be so foolish as to dump the Queen on another losing player.

All the Materials you Need to Shoot the Moon

Naturally, these materials can come in a variety of forms, but is typicallyindicated with something to the effect of: Three high hearts (typicallyincluding the Ace, King, and the like); Or, a couple of high hearts (onceagain, likely the Ace and King), and the Queen of Spades. The state of thescorecard is thus: The fellow you are passing to is losing by a lot (say, inthe mid to high eighties), the other two losers are somewhere in the middle(around say, 40's or 50's), and the guy in the lead is skunking everyone (ataround 20 or 30). Moreover, the guy in the lead has been consistently droppingpoints on the guy in last place, in the hopes of pushing him over a hundredand quickly finishing as the winner.

This is basically what you're saying:

'I willfully encourage you to shoot the moon and will assist you fully inthe endeavor, by not sheriffing you. I recognize that I will take 26 pointsmyself, but I do this hoping to level out the scores and breathe new life intothis game. In return, I request that you remember me in the future, and keepsticking it to the guy in the lead, and not to me.'

Here's what you're assuming with this pass:

1. The guy in the lead will continue to wantonly dump points onto the fellow you have passed to (the passee) thinking to push him over a hundred, but this will turn on the winner's own head as it will enable the passee to shoot successfully. Furthermore, we're hoping that the winner won't realize what's going on until it's too late.
2. The other guy that's got points in the 40's or 50's will also support the passee in shooting the moon, that the game be not over.
3. You really hope that the passee has figured out that you might be up to something like this, and is already preparing to shoot the moon, and furthermore that he knows a thing or two about shooting.

If all goes according to plan, you will have one, well-prepared shooter,two people supporting him, and only one guy (the player currently in the lead)trying to stop him. As you can see, you're hoping for a lot with this one,giving up a lot (you will take 26 points if it works), and because of thosereasons, coupled with the fact that the circumstances described are notaltogether common, this kind of contractual pass is not common.

Counting Cards

Counting the cards will help you more than any single other strategy. Notcoincidentally, counting cards is also one of the most difficult things tokeep track of. Typically, the player with the best memory will be the one thatwins the most.

The following are a few approaches to counting:

How Many Times a Suit Has Gone Around

This is one of the easiest ways to count, as you are not keeping track ofthe number of cards but just the number of tricks of a complete suit. Sincethe numbers are smaller, it can be a lot simpler. Furthermore, if you want tofind the number of actual cards in a suit that have been played, simplymultiply the number of tricks by four and there you have it.

On the Lookout for Stoppers

If you're trying to shoot the moon, you want to be on the lookout to see ifany cards come out that would put a halt to your moon shoot. Once you see thestoppers have been played, you know your toppers can't be beat, and you canproceed more confidently with your moon shoot.

How Many Cards in a Suit Have Been Played

How To Play Winning Hearts

This counting tactic is a little more involved, as you are keeping track oflarger numbers. Most people can only feasibly keep track of one suit.

The most common suits to keep track of are:

• Spades, to see how much longer it will take before the Queen comes out .
• Hearts, to see how many have been played, and often to see how many more you need to take --or in what sequence you should play your own hearts-- in order to shoot the moon.
• Any suit that you are having trouble with, i.e. you don't have (m)any low cards in that suit, and you want to know how many more are out there.
• Any suit that you are long in and you will use to try to shoot the moon

Hearts Strategy Tips

When you are keeping track of the number of cards in a suit that have beenplayed, it can sometimes be helpful to think of the game being betweenyourself and a nameless, faceless 'out there' consisting of the rest of theplayers. When the number left 'out there' starts getting low, however (i.e.when one or more players go void and begin sloughing off other cards), then itbecomes important to start paying attention to just who is void in thatparticular suit, and who is not. Your second priority then, will be to payattention to what cards are being sloughed off by those that are void.

Exactly Which Cards Have Been Played

Vip Hearts Online

This is Rainman stuff. Most people can't do this without a cheat sheet. Theheck of it is though, if you can count the number of cards that have beenplayed, and keep on the lookout for stoppers, you don't really need to keeptrack of every single other card that's been played. If you can pull it off,though, more power to you.