Cancellation Hearts

A Hearts variant for 6-10 players using two standard decks (104 cards). The key twist: when identical cards appear in the same trick, they cancel each other out.

Players & Equipment

• 6-10 players
• Two standard 52-card decks shuffled together (104 cards total)

Setup

Cards are dealt evenly. Any remainder cards (the "widow") are set aside and awarded to the winner of the last trick. If the last trick is a dead trick, the widow is discarded.

Players	Cards each	Remainder
6	17	2
7	14	6
8	13	0
9	11	5
10	10	4

Card Passing

Before each hand, players select 3 cards to pass:

• Even player counts (6, 8, 10): Left, Right, Across, No Pass (repeating)
• Odd player counts (7, 9): Left, Right, No Pass (repeating)

On "No Pass" rounds, play begins immediately.

Gameplay

1. The player holding the lowest club leads the first trick.
2. Players must follow the led suit if possible. If unable, they may play any card.
3. Hearts and the Queen of Spades cannot be led until "hearts are broken" (a heart or Q-spade has been played off-suit).
4. On the first trick, point cards cannot be played off-suit unless the player holds only point cards.

Cancellation Rule

When a trick is complete, any identical cards (same rank and suit) cancel each other:

• Cancelled cards score no points and cannot win the trick.
• The trick winner is the highest uncancelled card of the led suit.
• If all cards of the led suit are cancelled, it's a dead trick — no one wins, cards are discarded, and the same player leads again.

Remainder Cards (Widow)

The winner of the last trick receives any remainder cards from the deal. Point cards among them count toward that player's score. If the last trick is a dead trick (all led-suit cards cancelled), the widow is discarded and scores no points.

Scoring

• Each Heart: 1 point
• Queen of Spades: 13 points

Only uncancelled cards that are won in tricks count toward scoring.

Shoot the Moon

If one player collects all uncancelled penalty points in a hand, they "shoot the moon" — they score 0, and every other player receives 26 points.

Game End

The game ends when any player reaches 100 or more points. The player with the lowest score wins.