Frank's Way
Frank’s Way is a house rule for three- and five-handed Hearts. It is not a variant you’ll find written up anywhere else, so this page is the full description of how it works.
It replaces the small deck adjustment the odd-numbered games normally need. Instead of taking cards out of the deck for good, you deal the whole 52-card deck and set the same number of cards aside face-down, at random, as a hidden kitty. Whoever wins the first trick of the hand collects it without looking, and it is turned face-up when the hand is scored.
How the deal changes
Section titled “How the deal changes”| Players | Standard Hearts | Frank’s Way | Each player gets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2 removed | full deck, 1 card set aside | 17 |
| 5 | 2 and 2 removed | full deck, 2 cards set aside | 10 |
Hand sizes are exactly the same as they always were; what changes is only where the leftover cards go.
The cards in the kitty are random every hand. That’s the whole point of the rule: standard Hearts always takes the same two worthless low cards out of play, so nothing is ever at stake in them. With Frank’s Way, any card can be in there, including the queen of spades.
Nobody sees the kitty until the reveal. There is no hint of its rank or suit, and no indicator of what’s in it.
Who takes it
Section titled “Who takes it”The winner of the first trick of the hand takes the kitty, every hand.
It goes into their won-tricks pile face-down along with the trick they just won, and the table sees a note saying who took it. It is not a trick of its own: it doesn’t count toward tricks won, and nobody played those cards. Think of it as riding along with the trick that collected it.
The reveal
Section titled “The reveal”When the hand is scored, the kitty is turned face-up for everybody at the table, showing who collected it and what was in there.
That is also the moment its points land. During the hand, the kitty’s cards count for nothing on anyone’s running score, because nobody knows what they are. The score then catches up in one go at the reveal.
Scoring
Section titled “Scoring”Kitty cards score exactly what they normally score:
- each heart in the kitty: 1 point
- the queen of spades in the kitty: 13 points
- anything else: 0
Those points go to the player who took the kitty, added to the points from their tricks.
Because the whole deck is dealt, there are still 26 points on the table every hand, the same as the standard game. Shooting the moon works normally, and the kitty counts toward it.
If you’re also playing Jack of Diamonds, a J in the kitty gives its -10 to the player who took the kitty.
Who leads the first trick
Section titled “Who leads the first trick”Normally the holder of the 2 must lead it. Under Frank’s Way the 2 is always in the deck, but it might be in the kitty, in which case nobody holds it.
The lead falls to the lowest club anybody actually holds:
- 2 in a hand: the 2 leads, as usual.
- 2 in the kitty: the 3 leads.
- both the 2 and 3 in the kitty (only possible five-handed, which sets aside two cards): the 4 leads.
Everything else about the first trick is unchanged, including the rule that no heart and no queen of spades may be played to it.
Worked example
Section titled “Worked example”Five-handed, so two cards go into the kitty. They happen to be the Q and the 4.
Seat C wins the first trick and quietly takes the kitty with it. The hand plays out; the remaining twelve hearts are split around the table, and nobody ever sees the queen of spades fall, which has everyone playing cautiously to the very last trick.
At scoring, the kitty is turned up: Q and 4 to seat C.
| Seat | Hearts from tricks | Q from tricks | From the kitty | Hand score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 2 | no | — | 2 |
| B | 3 | no | — | 3 |
| C | 1 | no | Q + 4 | 1 + 13 + 1 = 15 |
| D | 4 | no | — | 4 |
| E | 2 | no | — | 2 |
The hand still totals 26. Seat C won the first trick and paid 14 points for it, which is the tension the rule exists to create.
How it plays differently
Section titled “How it plays differently”- The first trick suddenly matters. In standard Hearts the opening trick is a formality you’re happy to win or lose. Here, winning it is a gamble on one or two unknown cards, so leading high on the first trick becomes a real decision.
- The queen of spades might never appear. When she’s in the kitty, no amount of careful play flushes her out, and nobody can be sure she isn’t still in somebody’s hand. Play stays tense right to the end of the hand.
- Moon shots get harder to read. A player who looks two hearts short of the moon may not be, and won’t know it themselves.
- Nothing is dead. Every card in the deck is live every hand, instead of two low cards sitting permanently out of the game.
Turning it on
Section titled “Turning it on”Pick 3 or 5 players when you create a Hearts table, then tick Frank’s Way in the built-in rulesets. On a four-player table the option is greyed out, because there would be no kitty.
It combines freely with the other Hearts variants: you can run Frank’s Way alongside Jack of Diamonds and any end score.