How does passing work in Hearts?

On the first hand you pass three cards to the player on your left, on the second to the right, on the third across the table, and on the fourth nobody passes - a hold hand. Then the cycle starts over. You always receive three cards from the opposite direction you passed, and you must choose your three before looking at what you get. On this site that means passing to West, East or North in turn.

Three cards is nearly a quarter of your hand, so the pass can rescue a terrible deal or arm a great one. Most players use it to ship out their most dangerous cards - the Queen of Spades, bare high spades, high hearts - or to empty a short suit entirely so they can discard freely later. Our guide to what to pass walks through the choices.

The hold hand is quietly the hardest: whatever the deal gave you, you keep, so weak hands must be played carefully rather than repaired. Some variants change the pattern - Black Maria, the British version, always passes three cards to the right, every single hand. Either way, remember what you were passed: it is a hint about what your neighbor did not want.