Black Maria
The British cousin - The ace and king of spades hurt too.How to Play Black Maria
In a nutshell: The British cousin - The ace and king of spades hurt too. You play with 1 deck (52 cards), it's rated the harshest spades, and 43 penalty points in every deal.
Black Maria is the British branch of the Hearts family, named for its most feared card: the queen of spades. She still costs 13 points, but here she brings bodyguards - the ace of spades costs 7 and the king of spades costs 10, so there are 43 penalty points in every deal and three spades to dodge instead of one. Passing is simpler and stricter: you pass three cards to the player on your right before every single hand, with no rotation and no hold hands. Otherwise the familiar rules apply - follow suit, no penalty cards on the first trick, hearts must be broken before they are led, and the game ends at 100 points with the lowest score winning. Holding the ace or king of spades stops feeling safe and starts feeling like carrying a lit firework, which is exactly what makes Black Maria so tense and so loved.
Black Maria at a glance
| Goal | The British cousin - The ace and king of spades hurt too. |
|---|---|
| Decks used | 1 standard 52-card deck - 52 cards in play |
| Difficulty | The harshest spades |
| The stakes | 43 penalty points in every deal |
| Family | Regional Variants |
Step by step
Pass three to the right
Before every hand, each player passes exactly three cards face down to the player on their right. There is no rotation and no hold hand - the pass happens every deal.
Lead and follow
The 2 of clubs leads the first trick and you must follow suit when you can. The highest card of the led suit wins the trick; there is no trump, and no penalty cards may fall on the first trick.
Hearts must be broken
You can't lead a heart until one has been discarded on another suit's trick, unless hearts are the only cards left in your hand.
The three deadly spades
Each heart you capture costs 1 point, but the top spades sting hardest: the ace of spades costs 7, the king costs 10, and the queen - the Black Maria herself - costs 13. That is 43 points a hand.
Score to 100
Totals are tallied after each hand. Capture all 43 points and you shoot the moon: zero for you, 43 for each opponent. When someone reaches 100 points, the game ends and the lowest score wins.
History of Black Maria
Black Maria is the form Hearts took in Britain, where the game arrived from America in the early twentieth century and promptly acquired sharper teeth. British players kept the queen of spades penalty but promoted her bodyguards as well: the ace of spades came to cost 7 points and the king 10, raising each deal's total to 43.
The name is the queen of spades' old British nickname - Black Maria, the same phrase once used as slang for a police van - and it transferred from the card to the whole game. British card-game writers have long documented it as the standard Hearts of the British Isles, traditionally at its best for three players, each holding seventeen cards after the 2 of clubs is set aside, with three cards passed to the right before every hand.
That constant rightward pass, with no rotation and no hold hands, remains the game's signature alongside its three penalty spades. Hearts.now deals Black Maria four-handed with the full deck, keeping the British scoring and passing intact while matching the table size of classic Hearts.
How to Win Black Maria: Strategy
💡 Top tip: Never keep a naked ace or king of spades - without low spades for protection, the top spades win the very tricks that cost 7, 10 and 13 points. Ship them right.
Winning tips, in order of importance
- Treasure your low spades: with four or more small ones you can survive repeated spade leads and even hunt the honors safely.
- Lead spades from underneath: if your spades are low and long, every spade lead forces the ace, king or queen closer to falling - and never onto you.
- Remember what you passed: your right-hand opponent holds three cards you chose, so you start every hand knowing part of their problem.
- Count the honors one by one: the ace, king and queen usually fall in separate tricks, and each one that drops makes the remaining spades safer.
- Do not forget the hearts: 13 of the 43 points are ordinary hearts, and eating heart tricks while staring at spades is the classic Black Maria leak.
- Keep an exit card in every suit: with 30 points hanging on three cards, being forced to win tricks late is far more expensive here than in classic Hearts.
Advanced tactics for Black Maria
- Exploit the fixed pass: cards always flow right, so over several hands you can learn your left-hand neighbor's habits and read the three cards arriving from them like a tell.
- A spade trick can carry up to 30 points if the honors stack up, so before contesting any spade lead, count which of the ace, king and queen are still out.
- The ace of spades cannot hide in its own suit: whenever spades are led it wins the trick, so plan to discard it on another suit or pass it away before the hand starts.
- The king is only half safe: it loses to the ace alone, so once the ace has fallen the king behaves exactly as the ace did - reclassify it on the spot.
- Shooting the moon means bagging all three spade honors plus every heart, which takes near-total control of spades; attempt it only with a towering spade holding and top hearts.
- Use a spade void ruthlessly: when spades are led and you have none, throw a heart or a dangerous high card - the trick is already expensive for someone else, so unload your worst.
- Near the 100-point line, target the leader: forcing them to win one honor trick swings 7 to 13 points, and in Black Maria that is usually the whole game.
Common Black Maria mistakes to avoid
- Holding the ace or king of spades as if they were safe - here they cost 7 and 10 points themselves, so pass or dump them early.
- Passing your right-hand opponent low cards - in Black Maria you always pass right, so send your most poisonous spades and hearts along instead.
- Winning any late spade trick - with three spade penalties in the deck, high spade tricks are traps until every penalty card has fallen.
- Ignoring void building - with 43 points a hand, the player who can slough penalties on every off-suit lead controls the whole deal.
Black Maria Variations
Black Lady
The standard American form: only the queen of spades carries a spade penalty, passing rotates left, right and across, and hands total 26 points instead of 43.
Three-player Black Maria
The traditional British table for this game: remove the 2 of clubs and deal seventeen cards each. Hearts.now deals it four-handed, which keeps the full deck in play.
Heartsette
An old workaround for odd player counts: the leftover cards form a face-down widow that goes to the winner of the first trick, penalties and all.
Plain Hearts
The original bare-bones game with no spade penalties at all - just one point per heart, 13 per deal. Everything since, from Black Lady to Black Maria, grew out of it.
Rotating passes
Some groups soften Black Maria by rotating the pass direction as in American Hearts, or by allowing an occasional hold hand, rather than always passing to the right.
Black Maria FAQ
What is Black Maria?
The British member of the Hearts family, named after the queen of spades. On top of 1 point per heart, the ace of spades costs 7, the king of spades costs 10 and the queen costs 13, for 43 penalty points in every deal.
Which cards are penalty cards in Black Maria?
All 13 hearts at 1 point each, plus three spades: the ace at 7 points, the king at 10 and the queen - the Black Maria herself - at 13. That makes three spade honors to fear instead of one.
Why is the queen of spades called Black Maria?
Black Maria is an old British nickname for the queen of spades, the same phrase once used as slang for a police van. The card's grim reputation and the game's British home made the name stick to the whole game.
How does passing work in Black Maria?
Every player passes exactly three cards face down to the player on their right before every hand. There is no rotation and no hold hand - the constant pass to the right is one of the game's defining rules.
How many points are in a Black Maria hand?
43 - thirteen from the hearts, plus 7, 10 and 13 from the ace, king and queen of spades. Thirty of those points ride on just three cards, which is why the spade suit dominates the play.
Is Black Maria a three-player game?
Traditionally it is often played by three, with the 2 of clubs removed and seventeen cards dealt to each player. Hearts.now deals the four-player version with the full 52 cards, which plays like classic Hearts with the extra spade penalties.
Should you pass high spades in Black Maria?
Usually, yes - an ace or king of spades without several low spades behind it is a magnet for 7 to 30 points. With four or more low spades for cover, though, keeping the honors can let you control exactly when they fall.
Can you shoot the moon in Black Maria?
House rules vary in Britain, but here the moon works as in classic Hearts: capture all 43 penalty points in one hand and you score zero while each opponent takes 43. With three spade honors to secure, it is the hardest moon in the family.
How does Black Maria differ from American Hearts?
Two ways: the ace and king of spades become penalty cards worth 7 and 10 points, and the pass always goes three cards to the right instead of rotating. The rest - breaking hearts, the first-trick rules, the race to 100 - is the same.
Is the ace of spades safe to play in Black Maria?
Rarely. If spades are led and you play the ace, you win the trick, its 7-point penalty and anything else riding on it. The best ways to shed a bare ace are to discard it on another suit's trick when you are void, or to pass it right before the hand begins.
When does a Black Maria game end?
When a player reaches 100 points at the end of a hand, just as in classic Hearts. With 43 points dealt out per hand, games tend to reach the line in fewer deals, so every big trick matters.
What is the best strategy for Black Maria?
Guard or ship your top spades, treasure your low ones, and lead spades when you are safely underneath the honors to force them out. Keep an escape card in every suit for the endgame, and remember that your right-hand opponent holds three cards you gave them.
Still have a question about Black Maria? Browse the full Hearts FAQ, look up a term like trick or breaking hearts in the Hearts glossary, or compare Black Maria with the other variants in the rules for every Hearts game.
Last updated .