About the Black Maria & Black Lady Card Game

The Black Lady Card Game, also known as Black Maria, is a trick-taking card game that is popular in many countries. The black lady is usually played with 3 to 6 players using a standard card deck of 52 playing cards. The alternative names of the game are American Hearts, Black Lady Hearts, Black Maria, Black Widow, Slippery Anne, and Rickety Kate. The intention of the game is to avoid winning certain cards in tricks and to have the lowest score at the end of the game.

The Cards to Play the Game

To play Black Lady, you will need a standard 52-card deck without jokers. The ranking of the cards from high to low is: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

The Hearts Card Game Playing Cards

The Black Lady Card Game Rules

Black Lady is a trick-taking card game for three to six players that’s part of the Hearts group. This game originated in the early 20th century as a variation of Hearts and was originally called “discard hearts”. The game is named after the queen of spades, or “black lady,” which is its highest penalty card.

In Black Lady or Black Maria, players try to avoid winning tricks that contain hearts, especially the queen of spades. The heart card value is worth one point, while the queen is worth 13 points. In addition, players receive penalty points for cards won in tricks. The game ends when a player reaches or goes over 50 points, and the winner is the player with the lowest score.

The Black Lady and Queen game is played by picking up the entire deck of playing cards, excluding jokers, and placing them face down into four piles, one for each player, where each will receive 13 cards. The game starts with the player who has two clubs in hand playing the first card and starting the trick. 

Then, all players follow the order of cards if possible, but if they do not have matching cards, they can also play any card. The highest card of the suit led wins the trick unless a player plays a heart or the Queen of Spades, in which case the highest heart or spade wins.

The winner of each trick takes any penalty cards, places them face up on the table, discards the rest face down into a common waste pile, and then leads to the next trick. When the round finishes, players tally the total of the points for the cards they won in tricks. The total score for each hand must be a multiple of 26, and each round ends at 100 points.

How to Play Black Lady & Black Maria Card Game

The game begins with players agreeing on the number of hands to be played, typically 5 to 7. The dealer shuffles the deck, and the player to the dealer’s right cuts the cards. The dealer then distributes the cards, one at a time, in a clockwise direction. The number of cards dealt to each player depends on the total number of players.

Setup

Once the cards are dealt, players take turns to choose three cards from their hand and pass them face down to the player on their left. The receiving player then passes three cards to the left, and this continues until all players have received and passed three cards.

Dealing and Starting

The player to the left of the dealer starts the game by playing any card from their hand. The other players must follow suit if they can. If they cannot follow suit, they may play any card. The player who plays the highest card of the suit wins the trick and leads to the next trick.

Taking Turns and Matching Cards

The players continue taking turns playing cards until all cards have been played. The game involves matching the suit of the leading card, if possible, in order to match the suit of the leading card.

Playing the Game

When playing the game, players try to avoid winning tricks that contain certain cards (typically the Queen of Spades and the Hearts suit). These cards carry penalty points, and the player with the fewest penalty points at the end of the agreed number of hands wins the game.

Passing Cards

After each hand, players pass three cards to the player on their left, following the same process as in the setup. Before each hand begins, players must carefully select three cards from their hand to pass to an opponent. This passing phase occurs in a rotating direction, and the cards passed can significantly impact a player’s strategy for the upcoming hand. Players must consider which cards to pass to their opponents to improve their own hand, while also trying to sabotage the hands of their opponents.

Trick Playing

Once the passing phase is complete, the main phase of the game begins with players engaging in trick play. The player holding the two clubs starts the first trick, and subsequent players must follow suit if possible. However, if a player cannot follow suit, they can play a card from any suit. The highest card of the led suit wins the trick unless a heart or the Queen of Spades is played, in which case the highest heart or spade wins the trick.

During trick play, players strategically choose which cards to play to maximize their chances of winning or to offload high-value cards onto their opponents. Players must carefully consider the cards remaining in their hands, the cards already played, and the potential cards held by their opponents to make informed decisions about which card to play in each trick.

Scoring and Winning

At the end of the agreed number of hands, players count the penalty points on the cards they have won in tricks. The Queen of Spades carries 13 penalty points, while each Heart card carries 1 penalty point. The player with the fewest penalty points wins the game.
The game ends after the agreed number of hands has been played. The player with the lowest total of penalty points at the end of the game wins. If playing multiple rounds, the player with the lowest total score across all rounds wins.