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Have a Heart is seven-card stud in which a player dealt a heart face up takes one card of their choice from any other player. The card taken may be a face-up card, which stays face up, or an unseen hole card. The player who loses the card gets no replacement, and the best high hand wins at the showdown.
Have a Heart is played with a standard 52-card deck with no jokers and no wild cards.
The best five-card high hand at the showdown wins the pot. Hands are ranked by the standard poker hand rankings.
Because cards are taken during play, players may finish with more or fewer than seven cards.
The deal and betting are exactly as in seven-card stud: two cards face down and one face up, then three more cards face up one at a time, then a last card face down.
| Street | Cards dealt | Betting round follows |
|---|---|---|
| Third | 2 down, 1 up | Yes |
| Fourth | 1 up | Yes |
| Fifth | 1 up | Yes |
| Sixth | 1 up | Yes |
| Seventh | 1 down | Yes, then showdown |
Each betting round is begun by the player with the best card or hand showing, as in seven-card stud.
Whenever a heart is dealt to a player face up, that player takes one card of their choice from any other player. Hearts dealt face down have no special effect.
The player may take:
3.2(a) a face-up card, which remains face up in the taker's hand; or
3.2(b) a face-down card, chosen unseen from the other player's hole cards. The taker looks at it after choosing and keeps it face down as an extra hole card.
The player whose card is taken does not receive a replacement.
A heart that is itself taken from a player does not give the new holder another turn to take a card. Only a heart dealt face up by the dealer has this effect.
Taking a card
On fifth street, Player A shows 9♣9♦ and is dealt 4♥ face up.
Player B shows 9♠J♣K♦. A takes the 9♠ from B, giving A three nines showing: 9♣9♦4♥9♠.
B now has only two face-up cards and two hole cards, and receives nothing to replace the lost nine.
After the final betting round, the remaining players show their cards and the best five-card high hand wins the pot. A player with more than seven cards still uses only the best five.
A player who has lost cards may finish with fewer than five. Such a hand still takes part in the showdown and is compared under the rules for incomplete hands: for example, a pair beats no pair whatever the number of cards, and between two hands with no pair, the one with the higher top card wins.
A short hand still wins
Player A, who lost three cards during the hand, finishes with only Q♠Q♦6♣2♥: a pair of queens with four cards.
Player B finishes with eight cards and a best hand of J♠J♥9♦7♣5♠: a pair of jacks.
A pair of queens beats a pair of jacks, so A wins despite holding fewer than five cards.
Exchanging instead of taking. The player with the heart must give a card back in exchange for the one taken: a face-up card for a face-up card, or a face-down card for a face-down card. The player with the heart chooses what to give back, and may even return the very card taken, for example after taking an unhelpful hole card.
Face-up cards are the safer target: you can see exactly what you are taking. A hole card is a gamble, though it also denies the other player a card they are hiding.
A strong hand showing is at risk every time another player is dealt a heart face up. The more players in the game, the more often this happens.
If the heart is dealt to you face up, you take any one card you choose from another player. It can be a face-up card or one of their hole cards, taken unseen.
No. In the standard game you simply have one card fewer. In a common variation, the taker must give you a card back in exchange.
Yes. A short hand is compared under the rules for incomplete hands, so four cards with a pair of queens beat five cards with a pair of jacks.
Where any doubt remains in the application of this document, Rob is right.
Hand rankings, high to low: royal flush · straight flush · four of a kind · full house · flush · straight · three of a kind · two pair · one pair · high card. Suits never break ties.
Have a Heart Rules · OPR-678 · officialpokerrules.com/have-a-heart/