What cards should you pass in Hearts?

Good passing wins more games of Hearts than clever trick play. Three cards leave your hand before every non-hold hand, and picking the right three is a skill you can learn quickly.

Quick answer: Pass your most dangerous cards: the Queen of Spades if you have few spades to hide her behind, the Ace or King of Spades when unprotected, and high hearts. Emptying a short club or diamond suit to create a void is often even stronger. Keep low cards - they are your escape routes.

Ship the spade trouble

The Queen of Spades is the first candidate: holding her with only one or two other spades is a trap, because a few spade leads will force her onto a trick you win. The Ace and King of Spades are nearly as dangerous - they can win the very trick the Queen falls on. The common advice: with three or more low spades you can afford to keep and protect the Queen; with fewer, pass the high spades away. More on her in what the Queen is worth.

Consider a void instead

Often the strongest pass is not your highest cards but your shortest suit. Passing all three cards of a short club or diamond suit makes you void, and a void is gold: every time that suit is led you discard whatever you like - a high heart, or the Queen herself. An early void can matter more than shedding one scary card.

Keep your exits

Whatever you pass, do not strip your own escape routes. Low hearts let you duck heart tricks late in the hand, and low cards in every suit let you lose tricks on purpose. A hand of nothing but middle cards is quietly awful. And if your hand looks like a moon attempt, the logic flips entirely - then you pass low cards and keep the monsters.

Practice your passing

Related questions

How does passing work in Hearts?

Before play begins, each player picks three cards and passes them face down to another player. The direction rotates every hand: pass left, then right, then across, then a 'hold' hand with no passing at all - and the cycle repeats. You receive three cards from the mirror direction.

How do you win at Hearts?

Win by passing your dangerous cards wisely, creating a void suit so you can discard freely, and counting spades so you know when the Queen will fall. Duck tricks late in each hand, keep low cards as exits, and never let an opponent sneak a moon past you.

Should you try to shoot the moon?

Rarely, and only when the hand truly qualifies: long and high in hearts, top cards in the other suits, and no low stragglers you can't control. A failed attempt usually means taking most of the 26 points yourself, so the price of being wrong is enormous.