Posted by Anonymous on 12/19/2008, 12:36 pm
75.38.22.18
HEARTS TIPS
Before I say anything about passes I want to start by saying nothing you ever read in any book or hear from anyone(including me) is written in stone. I see a lot of good players that learn some good tips and strategy rules that then stick to these rules so rigidly that they stick themselves into a level of play that is good, but never great. Heart scenarios can vary widely. It is good to keep some general things in mind as a rule but bad to follow them in EVERY situation. Play Hearts using odds, the scores of your opponents, and positions at table but play creatively. Never play one hundred percent by the book or you become predictable. That said, here are some tips in passing.
When you pass your cards think about a simple fact. In order to effectively nail the low man it is crucial that the player on his right takes charge of the hand and keeps up the pressure by always leading into him. If low man is on your left you must immediately take this responsibility and act accordingly in both pass and play. As many players know, if you want an easy win, put the worst player (a ducker) on your right side. Low man is miserable when player on his right keeps leading into him. Low man is laughing when player on his left gets stuck leading. It is his dream come true and makes it that much more easy to escape the hand and stay low.
When I sit at a table I judge who is the best player and I try hard to sit on his right. By taking that position I think I can reduce his chances of winning game. It makes for fun games also to put players that you think are as good as you are across from you. But if you think there is a genius at the table, sit on his right. By doing so you will give yourself the most challenge and improve your game.
The 2 of clubs is a very important card. It should never find itself in the hand of the man on low mans right. If low man is on your left and you are dealt the 2 of clubs you should always pass it and keep your highest club because it is vital that you take the first lead and you won't do that keeping the 2. If you are passing to the Man who is sitting on low man's right, never pass him the 2 of clubs. It can be a fatal mistake. Instead pass him your highest club so he can get the lead.
Passing low man the ace of clubs when you are on his right side is not a good idea because of the bluff factor. If low man is a good player and he is stuck in the lead after taking the first trick his card lead will rarely reveal his cards. In fact it will be designed to fool other players. Passing the ace of clubs just lets low man play his bluff and confuse table. But if man on low man's right has that ace of clubs he can take charge right away and it will be much harder for the low man to fool anyone.
If you are passing to low man on the right and have high clubs then pass them as you don't want to get stuck in the lead with low on your right (a worse situation then the bluff factor)
When you are passing you must think about the position you hold at the table in relation to the low man. If you are on his right it is very important that you don't have the queen of spades because the odds are you will not be able to deliver it from that position even if you have a lot of spades. It is very important that the Queen finds itself behind the low man with a good player on low's right leading the right cards into him. If this man on low's right doesn't have the cards to get low then of course another player will pick up the ball but when you pass you can increase odds of a successful attack from low man's right.
Let's look at the across pass for example. If you are passing across and low man is on your right and you have the queen keep her even if she is not well guarded (assuming that the person across from you is a good player) Keep the queen and void a suit that you can pass both high and low cards in. Don't worry too much about passing a heart to cover if you are passing low card set-ups.
If low man is on your right and you don't have the queen assume you are going to be passed it as you are in the ideal position to have the lady. So again, pass low and high of same suit to try to void.
If low man is on your left with pass across then it becomes interesting. If you have the queen pass a mid heart the queen and a backer. If you do not have the queen pass two spades and a mid heart. Do not pass any clubs or dimes. I love
these kinds of passes because they are so effective. By not passing clubs or dimes you are helping the person who you are passing the queen to, or who you hope has the queen keep the passed voids. If the person across with the queen is voiding his dimes for example, the last thing he wants to see from you is a dime. As hearts can't be played until a break is made, not passing clubs or dimes is playing the best odds to get the low man.
If you are passing to low man on your left and have the queen of course pass it to him bare. If you have say Q A or Q K spades it hurts to pass both but it is what you need to do. If you are dealt king or ace of spades with a few other spades it makes a great pass to pass the trouble spade, get the first lead in clubs and push the lady out.
If you pass to the right and have Q A or Q K spades of course you can keep the ace or king safely in your hand and pass the bare lady. If you are low man the fun really begins and the pressure is on. As low man you will be dealt three kinds of hands.
The first kind is the golden hand where you can pass cover to prevent a moon and escape one hundred percent of the time. Smile through it and get that beer on a brb.
The second kind is a miserable hand. As soon as you see this hand you know there is no moon and no chance to escape (By the way I will only go for a moon if it has a huge change of success. With good players at the table it doesn't make sense to try to moon on anything but a dealer's moon). What do you do? Simple--reduce! Reducing is passing and playing the hand to take the queen of spades but take minimal points in hearts. That usually means passing your highest three hearts and taking lead to lead your high cards inviting someone to drop the queen. Sometimes, with poor players thinking you're mooning you can even escape this way. But don't count on it. Good players will know exactly what you are doing but you will still come away from the hand with only 13-15 points if you plan it right.
Now comes the third hand, the most common of the three. The troubled mid-iffy hand. A dangerous but not impossible hand that can be escaped from with the right pass, the right play, and of course a little luck (the right distribution). It is important to remember to not get caught up in passing a heart to cover if doing so is going to hurt you. For example if you are dealt the 9 and jack of hearts only. Some players will pass the 9 thinking they have to pass cover. Pass both hearts instead. If you keep the jack and get another high heart passed, even if you escape getting the queen you will still eat 8 points on those hearts. Look at your trouble suit and pass it away.
Passing three middle cards of a trouble suit when you are low man is often a very effective cover.You're the target and there are no rules. The other three players working together are like Dr.Who robots shouting terminate terminate. Pass away your trouble and concentrate on both fooling your opponents and preventing a moon.
Be bold. If you are the low man and the man to your right is leading and putting the pressure on, do not duck unless you have all safe cards to duck with. Take the lead away from him early in the hand and lead to confuse other players. For example if you have k 8 spades only, lead the 8.Leading another suit will just be a call for your opponents to lead spades. If you have lots of spades and you don't have the queen of spade, and you get the lead early don't start off by leading a spade right away. Lead a mid dime or club to confuse. The object of low man is to befuddle the other players into making the crucial mistakes that will help you to escape the trouble hand. Conversely, the object of the highman is to be read, to make sure the other high players can see what you are doing and what you are planning to do.
Message Thread:
« Back to thread