How to Play

A Dutch trick-taking game that flips Hearts on its head; hearts are love tokens to collect, not penalties to avoid. Win the most hearts or sweep all thirteen for double score.

Smoorverliefd, Dutch for 'head over heels in love,' is a cheerful inversion of the Dutch Hearts game Hartenjagen. In Smoorverliefd, hearts are not penalty cards to avoid; they are love tokens to collect. Players play no-trump tricks and gather the hearts captured in their wins, racing to the most hearts, or the largest single romantic coup by sweeping all thirteen. The game is a lighthearted alternative to more cutthroat Dutch card traditions and fits well at family gatherings and social evenings.

Players

Smoorverliefd is best for 3 to 5 players. Four is ideal because 52 cards divide evenly into 13-card hands. With 3 players, deal 17 cards each and set aside 1 leftover card face-down. With 5 players, deal 10 cards each and set aside 2 leftover cards face-down. Leftovers do not enter play but may be revealed at the end to confirm which hearts were seen.

Card Deck

Use a standard 52-card French-suited deck. No Jokers. Cards rank from Ace high down to 2 low within each suit. There is no trump suit. All 13 Hearts are scoring cards (the love tokens); the other 39 cards have no point value but are used to win or lose tricks that contain hearts.

Objective

Collect as many Heart cards as possible by winning tricks that contain them. The player with the most hearts at the end of a round is the romantic champion and scores; a player who captures all thirteen hearts wins a doubled score. Over multiple rounds, the highest cumulative total wins the match.

Setup and Deal

1. Choose a dealer by cutting for high card. The deal rotates clockwise each round.
2. Shuffle the deck. Deal all the cards out clockwise, one at a time, to each player.
3. If the deal does not split evenly (3 or 5 players), place any leftover cards face-down as a dead pile; they will not be played.
4. No cards are turned up to name a trump. The game is always played at no-trump.
5. The player to the dealer's left leads the first trick.

Gameplay

1. Play proceeds clockwise, one card per player per trick.
2. Following suit: You must follow the suit that is led if you hold a card of that suit. If you are void in the led suit, you may discard any card, including a Heart.
3. Winning the trick: The highest card of the led suit wins the trick. There are no trumps, so a discard of a different suit cannot win.
4. Collecting hearts: The trick winner gathers the played cards. Any Heart cards in that trick move to the winner's score pile. Non-heart cards go face-down to a discard heap.
5. Leading next: The trick winner leads the next trick. They may lead any suit, including Hearts, from the first trick onward; there is no Hearts-broken restriction.
6. Round end: The round ends when all cards in hand have been played. Count hearts and score.

Scoring

• Each heart captured in your tricks is worth 1 point.
• The Ace of Hearts is worth 5 points instead of 1, making it the single most valuable card.A♥
• Sweep (alle harten): A player who captures every single Heart in one round doubles their round score (base hearts plus the Ace bonus both multiplied by 2).
• Points accumulate across rounds. Play to an agreed match target (commonly 50 or 100 points).
• Players who capture zero hearts in a round score zero for that round; no penalty.

Winning

A single round is won by the player with the most heart points. A match is won by the first player to reach the agreed target (typically 50 or 100 points). In team variants, the partnership with the most hearts wins the round and the match goes to the first partnership to target.

Common Variations

• Smoorverliefd met Troef (with Trump): Hearts become the trump suit, so playing a heart on another suit wins the trick. Strategy shifts dramatically; you want to keep low hearts to trump for later, and you cannot count on opponents being void in hearts.
• Blind Love (Blinde Liefde): Players bid how many hearts they will capture before the round begins. Matching your bid scores a bonus; missing it scores a penalty.
• Partner Smoorverliefd: 4 players in fixed partnerships combine their heart captures; the partnership with the most hearts wins the round.
• Kleine Liefde: The ranked hearts score by pip value (Ace = 14, King = 13, …, 2 = 2). Encourages chasing high-rank hearts specifically.
• Cupid's Arrow: The player with the fewest hearts after each round deals the next round and names a 'cursed suit'; whoever collects the most of that cursed suit in the next round loses 5 points.

Tips and Strategy

• Lead your strongest suit to win tricks, then hope opponents who are void in that suit discard hearts onto your winning tricks.
• Void yourself in a non-heart suit early. When that suit is led you can freely dump losing cards without risking winning a heart-less trick.
• Track the Ace of Hearts obsessively. Whoever wins the trick with it scores 5 points, so you either want to capture it or to make sure no opponent can cheaply dump it.A♥
• If you fall behind, consider a sweep attempt: capturing all 13 hearts doubles your round score and can leap you into the lead in a single hand.
• Do not dump your low hearts recklessly. A 2 of Hearts in your score pile is worth the same as the 10 of Hearts.2♥10♥
• In partnership play, lead suits where your partner is likely to win the trick so hearts flow to your team.

Glossary

• Trick: One card played by each active player in clockwise order; highest card of the led suit wins.
• Following suit: Playing a card of the same suit as the one led; required when possible.
• Void: Holding no cards of a suit; allows discarding any card when that suit is led.
• Sweep (alle harten): Capturing every Heart in a round for a doubled score.
• Score pile: The personal pile of heart cards captured from winning tricks.
• Dead pile: Any leftover cards set aside when the deal does not split evenly.
• No-trump: The mode in which no suit outranks others; only the led suit can win a trick.
• Cursed suit (variant): In Cupid's Arrow, a suit chosen each round that penalises whoever captures the most of it.