HAVE A HEART

OBJECTIVE OF HAVE A HEART: The objective of Have a Heart is to have the best hand during the showdown.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 4 to 7 Players

MATERIALS: Standard 52-card deck, chips, and a flat surface.

TYPE OF GAME: Poker Card Game

AUDIENCE: Adult

OVERVIEW OF HAVE A HEART

Have a Heart is a poker style card game for 4 to 7 players. The goal of the game is to craft the best hand possible to win the showdown at the end of the hand. This game however has a special twist involving the heart suit. 

Players will ante, bid on their hands, and possibly steal cards from other player’s hands. After the showdown, the player who has the best hand will win the pot.

SETUP

Players will first place an ante into the pot. This should be determined before the game begins. The dealer will then shuffle and have another player cut the deck. They will deal each player two face-down cards clockwise then a single faceup card. Then the first round of bidding will begin.

Card Rankings 

The cards rank as in any traditional poker game Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 (low). This is what is used along with traditional poker hand rankings to determine the best hand at the end of the showdown. 

For the showdown, 5-card hands are traditionally used but maybe be altered during gameplay. See below for more details explaining this. 

GAMEPLAY

After the initial set up the first round of bidding begins with the player left of the dealer. You will bid on your odds of winning the showdown at the end with the knowledge of cards you have so far. 

Once the first round of bidding is completed the dealer will deal three faceup cards to the center of the play area. This is called the grocery store. The farthest left card is marked. This card cost 1 chip to purchase, the next is worth 2, and the final is worth 3. The chips are paid to the pot. 

Now the dealer will start to their left and a player will deal each player a second faceup card.  

Once each player has been dealt a card the second round of bidding is started. This continues until all, but one player has folded, or each player has 4 faceup cards. After the 4th faceup card is dealt, a final card is dealt facedown to each player. This is the 7th and final card of each player’s hand.

If you enjoyed Have A Heart, try out Horse Poker for another fun poker variation.

Amber Crook
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