Must You Follow Suit in Hearts?
What Does "Follow Suit" Mean?
Hearts is a trick-taking game. Each trick starts with a lead card. Following suit means matching the suit that was led.
Someone leads a "10" of Diamonds. If you have any diamonds, you must play a diamond. If you have no diamonds, you can play any card in your hand.
If You Can't Follow Suit, What Can You Play?
If you are void in the led suit (you have zero cards of that suit), you can discard any card. This is a big part of Hearts strategy because it lets you:
- Get rid of dangerous cards like the Queen of Spades
- Dump hearts (1 point each) to avoid taking them later
- Set up defense if someone looks like they might shoot the moon
First Trick Exception (Common Rule)
Many Hearts rulesets add a restriction on the first trick: hearts and the Queen of Spades cannot be played, even if you can't follow suit, unless you have no other legal card.
If you're unsure which version you're playing, this page covers the typical standard rule:
Does Following Suit Affect "Breaking Hearts"?
Following suit is always required, but leading hearts is often restricted until hearts have been "broken" (meaning a heart has been played on a non-heart lead).