Cancellation Hearts

Double Deck Cancellation Hearts is a variant of Hearts for 6-11 players.

With a large number of players Hearts can be played with two decks. This allows each player to hold more cards and gives a four person feel to the game. However, this means that there are two of each card and can lead to confusion about which is the highest card to take the trick. The normal convention when playing with two decks is that identical cards cancel each other out. For example, if hearts is lead, and both Aces (of Hearts) are played then they cancel each other out (yet still count as points) and the next highest card takes the trick. If all the cards are canceled on that particular trick, then they go to whoever takes the next trick. This double deck variation also adds a strategy often called “The Aardvark,” in which a player leads the queen of spades hoping that the other player holding the queen of spades will also play it, thus canceling them out from being the highest cards, and giving 26 points to the unfortunate player who takes the trick.^[1]

References

1. ^ http://www.region3.us.mensa.org/connections/gameinfo/ddch_primer.pdf

• Kansil, Joli Quentin (ed.); Braunlich, Tom (2004). Bicycle Official Rules of Card Games (90th ed.). Markham, Ontario: The United States Playing Card Company. pp. 166. ISBN 1-889752-06-1.