Hearts (1886)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

     OED also has "hearts" from 1886, but this long citation (originally from
1885?) is probably earlier and better.  My work on "poker" is in COMMENTS ON
ETYMOLOGY and the ADS-L archives.
     (I was looking for "Manhattan cocktail," but "Manhattan" and "hearts"
are mutually exclusive.  Except on "I Love NY" t-shirts worn by tourists.
But I digress.)
     From the NEW YORK DISPATCH, 17 January 1886, pg. 2, col. 6:

     _AN INTERESTING GAME._
_AND ONE RAPIDLY GROWING IN FAVOR._
(From the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette.)

     A correspondent, who is a member of a party of five, styling themselves
a "Heart Club," and who have played the game for a year and kept a record of
each evening's play, with the winnings, losings and penalty of each player,
sends the following partial description of the game:
     It is played with fifty-two cards.  If four play, the pack is dealt one
at a time, giving each player thirteen cards.  If five play, the two black
deuces are left out and the cards are dealt as before, singly, giving each
player ten cards.  There are no partners.  The game of hearts combines some
of the elements of whist, with a large proportion of science and horse sense,
and does not merely consist, as some suppose, of indescriminate following
suit and "throwing off."  A player must carefully study his hand, determine
his long and short suits and reasonably conclude from these his best play, so
as to reduce his hand of largest cards and retain those with which to
underplay and lead in any suit.  There are no trumps.  In a four-hand game
any suit led is reasonably certain to go around twice with each player
following suit; a third load of the same suit is therefore dangerous, unless
it be with a small card which the player knows some one of the other three
must take.  Hence it follows that the first two leads in all suits except
hearts should begin with the highest.
     It is very essential that the players should remember what cards have
and have not been played, as a failure to do this might result in having
hearts dropped where  none was expected.  For instance, suppose a player
leads, first, ace of clubs; this goes round, each player following suit
(necessarily when ace of any suit is led each of the others will reduce his
hand of the highest of that suit); next, say king, or the next highest held,
is played in the same suit; again, all will follow unless it happens that a
player has but one club, which he has played on the ace previously led, in
wich (sic) case the player who has no club will reduce his next dangerous or
long suit by throwing off say a high spade or diamond, or if these suits are
well protected, and he has a high heart, this will be the proper place to
drop it.  So, also, if in the first or second lead of clubs, spades, or
diamonds, as the case may be, a player is seen to follow with a low
card--two, three or four--it is reasonably certain that he is out of that
suit, and it will just be as well not to lead that suit again, unless the
player having the lead should hold the low cards remaining, and in that case
he may, as the other two players must take the suit with the chance of having
a heart dropped unless the player who is out of suit prefers to reduce some
of his other suits, which is frequently the case, and good play.
     The principle of the game is to take no hearts, and it follows,
therefore, that a player should avoid taking tricks as far as possible.  In a
course of play it will happen, however, that a player may take five or six
tricks out of the thirteen and yet take no hearts, but a player who holds a
hand that will enable him to underplay, will win all the time.  If a player
holds a long suit in clubs, diamonds or spades, say of six cards, consisting
of ace, queen, nine, seven, four and three, his proper play, whether as
leader or in following suit, is to underplay the king, which in all
probability will appear on first lead; if it does not, he should still play
queen and lead back with seven.  It may happen in a play like this that first
lead will cause king, queen, ace and ten to fall; the player taking trick
will lead back with eight spot, which will call for seven (from long suit
player), six and five.  This leaves in the hands of player with suit the ace,
nine, four and three, and in the hands of one of the others the deuce.
     When the deuce is led there is, of course, nothing else for the player
with long suit to do but take it, for which he will, nine times out of ten,
often be rewarded with a heart or two from the players who do not follow
unless both are long or dangerous (to themselves) in other suits when it is
their play to throw off.  When a suit is played around three times and
allowed, the remaining card is known as the "case" card of that suit.  So,
too, when a player holds, say six or more or less of a suit, and one or more
plays leaves him with the rest of that suit--none of the other players having
any--these remaining cards are known as "case" of that suit.  To play a
"case" card shows inattention or poor playing, as, of course, the others not
having any, they will unload their hearts or some other suit, which, if lead,
would perhaps put the boot on the other leg, so to speak.  (OED?
Shapiro?--ed.)  In leading hearts in a four-hand game, the two, three or four
is the proper lead first, as necessarily the five must take the trick.  If a
player led off with the two of hearts, next follows with three, next with
four, and the fourth have the five or six and a high heart, his play is, or
course, to take the trick with his high card and lead back with his low.
     The game is full of variety of hands and play required, and is the only
game I know of where the unexpected generally happens.  In simply social
gamed the loser is the one who in a series of games, takes the greatest
number of hearts, a record of which one of the players keeps on a tab
prepared for that purpose.  Generally, however, it adds far more to the game
if the players provide themselves with, say fifty 1-cent pieces each, and put
a penalty of one cent on each heart taken, the player or players who take
none, or the least number each hand, to receive penalties from the others.
When two players take no hearts or one or two each, and are the winners, the
"pot" is divided between them, and as in this case there will be an odd
penny, they cut for it, or it may be set aside and the odd ones of each
succeeding hand be added--the whole to go to the winner or winners of the
last game.  This feature, like the game itself, is susceptible of variety
according to the tastes of the players.
     The game of hearts is not a gambling game any more than euchre, "old
maid," or "muggins," but the penalty feature above suggested produces an
interest, watchfulness and care in playing that nothing else will induce.  Or
the penalty feature may take the shape of a prize for the player taking the
fewest hearts, as in professional euchre.  A five-hand game requires, if
anything, even better playing than a four-hand, and is more difficult and
uncertain.  The introduction of a fifth hand, some think, improves the game;
but I would advise, for social purposes, and until at least one had acquired
a good knowledge of the game and its intricacies, its surprises and
disappointments--and it has all of these--a four-hand game as preferable.