I discovered the card game Hearts (also known as Black Maria) in the Sundarbans during my trip to Bangladesh, while on a boat cruise through the mangroves. It is played with 3 to 5 players using a standard 52‑card deck. The goal is to avoid scoring points: the first player to reach 100 points loses the game.

Number of Players and Cards Used

Players	Cards Removed	Total Cards	Cards per Player
3	Ace of Clubs	51	17
4	None	52	13
5	King and Ace of Clubs	50	10

How a Round Works

1. Shuffle and deal all the cards evenly.
2. One player starts (randomly for the first round).
3. They play a card: this becomes the leading suit.
4. Each other player must:
   • follow suit if possible,
   • otherwise, play any card.
5. The player who played the highest card in the leading suit wins the trick.
6. They collect the cards and start the next trick.
7. Continue until all cards have been played.

Scoring

At the end of the round, points are counted as follows:

• Each heart taken is worth +1 point.
• The Queen of Spades is worth +13 points.
• The Jack of Diamonds removes 10 points.
• If a player wins no tricks during the round, 10 points are removed from their score.
• If a player manages to take all the hearts and the Queen of Spades in the same round:
  • they remove 26 points from their total,
  • all other players gain 26 points.

End of a Round and Overall Score

• Once points are counted, they are added to each player’s overall total.
• A new round begins. The player to the left of the one who started the previous round goes first.
• As soon as a player reaches 100 points (or 200 for a longer game), the Hearts card game ends: that player loses.