Hearts score counter · Free · No sign-up
Hearts Score Counter
A hearts score counter adds up each hand’s penalty points, 1 for every heart and 13 for the queen of spades, 26 in all, until someone reaches 100 and the lowest score wins. This one refuses a hand that does not add up, finds a moon by itself and scores it by your table’s rule.
Free, no sign-up, and nothing leaves this browser.
Hearts 0 of 13 · Q♠ not given yet
| Hand | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No hands scored yet | |||||
After each hand, give each player the hearts they took with + and −, and tap Q♠ on the player who took the queen (and the diamond or the spades the game uses). Score hand (or Enter) stays off until the hand adds up, then scores it, says why and passes the deal to the left. A player who took every penalty card is a moon, found by itself. Ctrl+Z undoes. Changing a rule re-scores every hand already played; changing the players or the scoring cards starts a new game.
This keeps the score; it does not play the cards. It cannot see a heart led before hearts are broken, the cards passed or a revoke, so it scores the tricks the table agrees. Hearts has no governing body, and the settings above are the points where published rules disagree; your table’s rules win. Not covered: Spot Hearts (hearts at their face value), partnership hearts, Cancellation Hearts with two packs, Turbo Hearts and other house variants with more scoring cards.
The counting is easy. The arguments are not: whether a moon gives everyone else 26 or takes 26 off the shooter, what happens on exactly 100, and which cards come out for five players. This counter scores each hand by the rules you choose, explains every number and keeps the score sheet.
Hearts is a trick-taking card game for four players, playable by three to six, in which the aim is to avoid taking penalty cards: each heart costs 1 point and the queen of spades 13. It was first recorded in the United States in the 1880s; the queen of spades was added in 1909, in the variant called Black Lady that most people now call Hearts.
- No sign-up
- No ads
- Counts never leave your browser
- Works offline
- Unlimited counters
Key facts
| Detail | Answer |
|---|---|
| Price | Free, no sign-up, no ads |
| Entry | Hearts taken per player and who took Q♠; refused until the hand adds up |
| Points in a hand | 26 (hearts 1, Q♠ 13); 16 with the J♦ −10; 43 in Black Maria |
| Players | 3, 4, 5 or 6, with the cards to remove and the first lead |
| Shooting the moon | Found by itself: others +26, shooter −26, shooter’s choice, +26 unless it loses, or off |
| Shooting the sun | Every trick as well: 52, if your table plays it |
| Game | To 100 (or 50, 75, 150, 200); lowest wins; exactly 100 back to 50 or 0 |
| Ties | Shared win, or play on until one player is lowest |
| Passing | Left, right, across, hold, or the 3, 5 and Black Maria cycles |
| Score sheet | Every hand: totals, the hand in brackets, who took the queen |
| Undo | Every tap, every hand and every setting |
| Where data goes | Nowhere. Local storage in this browser only |
| Official record | No. It scores what the table agrees; it does not see the cards |
How to keep score in hearts with the counter
Agree the house rules before the first deal, then enter each hand after the last trick.
Choose the rules
Players, the game (plain hearts, the jack of diamonds or Black Maria), the moon rule, the target and the passing cycle.
Name the players
In seating order round the table; Player 1 deals first, and Next dealer moves that before the first hand.
Read the deal line
It names the dealer, which way to pass three cards and who leads, hand by hand.
Enter the hearts
After the last trick, press + for each heart in each player’s tricks; it will not go past 13.
Tap the queen
Tap Q♠ on the player who took it, and the J♦ or Black Maria’s spades if your game has them.
Score the hand
Score hand, or Enter, comes on when the hand adds up, scores a moon by your rule and ends the game at the target.
Where a hearts score counter gets used
Hearts is mostly played at a kitchen table with a pencil, and the pencil is where it goes wrong.
Family card nights
One phone keeps every total, whose deal it is and which way to pass.
Settling the moon rule
Switch the moon setting and every hand is re-scored, so the table sees what each rule does to the game.
Three, five or six players
The cards to take out and who leads, so nobody has to look it up mid-game.
Black Maria
The British game with the king and ace of spades, its 43-point hands and the pass to the right.
Teaching the game
Each hand is explained in words: the hearts, the queen, the moon and the end.
Checking a paper sheet
Enter the hands from a score pad to find the line that does not add to 26.
Shooting the moon: five rules, and one hand that ends the game three ways
Every published rule agrees on what shooting the moon is: one player takes all thirteen hearts and the queen of spades in one hand. They disagree on what it scores, and most pages that rank for hearts scoring give one answer as if it were the only one. As each source printed it when checked on 24 October 2026:
| Rule | What it scores | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Others +26 | The shooter scores 0, every other player 26 | Bicycle (“that player scores zero and each of his opponents score an additional 26 points”); one of Pagat’s listed variations |
| Shooter −26 | 26 comes off the shooter; nobody else scores | One of Pagat’s listed variations; Arnold’s Black Maria, at 43 |
| Shooter chooses | Either of the two above, the shooter’s pick | Pagat’s main rule; Wikipedia; Card Games For Dummies |
| +26 unless it loses | The others get 26, unless that would end the game with someone other than the shooter winning; then 26 comes off the shooter | Pagat’s third variation; Trickster’s default |
| No moon rule | The shooter keeps all 26 | Hearts before the moon was added (Wikipedia dates it to Britain, 1939); most Black Maria descriptions |
One hand that ends the same game three different ways
Four players stand at Ann 85, Bob 79, Cy 74 and Di 55 when Ann shoots the moon. The game is to 100, lowest wins:
| Rule | Ann | Bob | Cy | Di | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Others +26 | 85 | 105 | 100 | 81 | Game over: Di wins on 81 |
| Others +26, and exactly 100 goes back to 50 | 85 | 105 | 50 | 81 | Game over: Cy wins on 50 |
| Shooter −26 | 59 | 79 | 74 | 55 | Nobody at 100: play on |
| +26 unless it loses | 59 | 79 | 74 | 55 | +26 would hand Di the game, so −26: play on |
| Shooter chooses | 59 | 79 | 74 | 55 | Ann takes −26: play on |
| No moon rule | 111 | 79 | 74 | 55 | Game over: Di wins on 55 |
Di wins, Cy wins, or nobody has won yet, from the same cards. That is why the rule has to be agreed before the first deal, and why the counter has each one as a setting: because it keeps the hands rather than the totals, changing the rule after an argument re-scores the whole game the new way. Under “Shooter chooses” the counter gives the others 26 unless Shooter takes −26 is pressed before the hand is scored.
Shooting the sun
Taking every trick as well as every penalty card is shooting the sun. Pagat records that some score it as 52, handled the same way as the moon; the counter does that when the sun setting is on and Every trick too is pressed on a moon hand. With the setting off, a sun is simply a moon.
Why every hearts hand adds to 26, and the check that catches a miscount
A hearts hand always contains the same penalty points, so the numbers written down after it must add up to the same total. That is the quickest check there is on a miscounted trick pile, and the counter will not score a hand until it does:
| Game | Scoring cards | A hand adds to | A moon is worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hearts (Black Lady) | Each heart 1, Q♠ 13 | 26 | 26 |
| Hearts with the J♦ (or 10♦), Omnibus Hearts | As Hearts, and the J♦ −10 to whoever takes it | 16 | 26, needing only the hearts and the queen; the J♦ still takes 10 off its taker (Pagat) |
| Black Maria, 3 to 5 players | Each heart 1, Q♠ 13, K♠ 10, A♠ 7 | 43 | 43, where a moon is played at all (Arnold) |
| Black Maria, 6 players | As above, without the 2♥ | 42 | 42 |
The 6-player line follows from Arnold’s deal, quoted in Wikipedia’s Black Maria article: with six, all four twos come out, the two of hearts with them, so a hand holds twelve hearts. No other deal removes a heart or the queen, which is why every other game on this page adds to the same total with any number of players.
The “multiple of 26” rule, and where it stops working
Bicycle’s rules say “the aggregate total of all scores for each hand must be a multiple of 26”. In plain Hearts that holds: a normal hand adds to 26, a moon scored as +26 to the others adds to 78 with four players, and one scored as −26 to −26. Add the jack of diamonds and it fails at once: a normal hand adds to 16, and a moon to 68. The counter checks the cards rather than the multiple, so it works for every variant.
Black Maria’s ace and king, the right way round
In Black Maria the king of spades costs 10 and the ace 7: Pagat gives “10 for the king of spades; 7 for the ace of spades (total 43 points)”, and Wikipedia’s own Black Maria article agrees. Wikipedia’s Hearts article, in its Black Maria section, has them the other way round (ace 10, king 7) when checked on 24 October 2026. The total is 43 either way, so a table using the wrong values never notices from the sum, only from who ends up with what.
Hearts for 3, 5 or 6 players: the cards to remove, and which way to pass
Hearts is a four-player game, and with any other number some low cards come out so that the pack deals evenly. Which ones depends on the book, and one of the best-known sets of rules gets it wrong:
| Players | Cards out | Each player | First lead | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2♦ | 17 | 2♣ | Pagat, Bicycle, Trickster. Arnold (in Wikipedia) takes out the 2♣ instead |
| 4 | None | 13 | 2♣ | All |
| 5 | 2♦ and 2♣ | 10 | 3♣ | Pagat, Trickster, Arnold. Bicycle removes only the 2♣, which leaves 51 cards: five players cannot get 10 each |
| 6 | 2♦, 2♣, 3♣, 2♠ | 8 | 4♣ | Trickster, Arnold; Pagat gives no six-player deal |
Pagat also gives a kitty instead: deal 17 each to three or 10 each to five and leave the spare one or two cards face down for whoever takes the first trick. Either way no heart and no queen leaves the game, so the hand still adds to 26. Black Maria, usually a three-player game, removes the 2♣ for three and leads from the player to the dealer’s left, with no rule against leading hearts.
Which way to pass
| Players | Cycle | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Left, right, across, no pass (hold), repeat | Pagat, Trickster |
| 4 | Left, right, across, with no hold hand | Pagat, a variation |
| 3 or 5 | Left, right, hold; or left, right | Pagat |
| 5 | Left, right, two seats left, two seats right, hold | Pagat |
| Black Maria | Always three to the right (“the books say”; some pass left) | Pagat |
The counter names the dealer, the pass and the first lead for every hand, so the question “whose deal, and which way?” is answered before anyone picks up their cards.
How to keep a hearts score sheet, and how the game ends
A paper hearts score sheet needs one column per player and one line per hand, with the running total. Write the hand’s points beside the total, not instead of it: when the totals are wrong you need to know which hand did it, and each line should add to 26. Four hands of a game under the default rules:
| Hand | Ann | Bob | Cy | Di | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 (+3) | 18 (+18) | 4 (+4) | 1 (+1) | Q♠ Bob |
| 2 | 3 (0) | 20 (+2) | 10 (+6) | 19 (+18) | Q♠ Di |
| 3 | 10 (+7) | 21 (+1) | 23 (+13) | 24 (+5) | Q♠ Cy |
| 4 | 36 (+26) | 21 (0) | 49 (+26) | 50 (+26) | Bob moon: others +26 |
Each of the first three lines adds to 26; the moon line adds to 78. In hand 3 Cy took the queen and no hearts, which is 13, not 0: the queen on its own is half a hand’s points.
The end of the game, and the two rules that change it
The game ends when a player reaches or passes 100 at the end of a hand, and the lowest score wins (Pagat; Bicycle allows 50). Two house rules alter that, and both are settings:
- Exactly 100. Some tables send a score of exactly 100 back to 50, or to 0 (Pagat; Card Games For Dummies halves it). Applied before the game is checked, so landing on 100 does not end it.
- A tie for lowest. Trickster calls the tied players joint winners; Pagat records playing more hands until one player is lowest alone. With the second, the counter keeps going and marks the tied players.
Online counter vs a clicker, an app, paper and a spreadsheet
Every counting method trades something away. This is what each one actually costs you.
| Feature | This online counter | Handheld clicker | Counter phone app | Pen and paper | Spreadsheet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | $5–$15 | Free with ads, or paid | Cost of paper | Subscription |
| Anything to install | No | Buy the device | App store download | No | Yes, or a web login |
| Several counts at once | Unlimited | One per device | Usually limited | Yes, messy | Yes |
| Fix a miscount | Undo and redo | Start over | Sometimes | Cross it out | Edit the cell |
| Counts by more than one | Any step size | One at a time | Sometimes | Manual maths | Yes |
| Below zero | Yes | No | Rarely | Yes | Yes |
| Keeps the count if you close it | Saves automatically | Until you reset the dial | Yes | If you keep the paper | Yes |
| Works with no signal | Yes, after first load | Yes | Yes | Yes | Often not |
| Keyboard and shortcuts | Full | None | None | None | Partial |
| Sends your data anywhere | Never | Never | Often, for accounts and ads | Never | Yes, to the cloud |
Other counter types
The same counter, set up and explained for a specific job. Your counters are shared across all of them.
Everyday7
The general-purpose counters: one number, many numbers, or counting on a timer.
Online counter
The all-purpose counter. Any step size, any number of counters, negative values allowed.
Open online counter →Tally counter
Tally marks in groups of five for surveys, stock takes and wildlife counts.
Open tally counter →Click counter
A browser clicker that replaces the handheld thumb counter for door headcounts.
Open click counter →Multi counter
Run as many counters as you like at once, side by side in a grid.
Open multi counter →Auto counter
Counts on its own from every 0.1 seconds to once an hour, and stops at your limit.
Open auto counter →Yes/No counter
Two options, a live percentage, and the sample size and caveats the percentage needs.
Open yes/no counter →Sticker album counter
Stickers you have and spares to swap, missing lists to copy, and the packs still to go from your count.
Open sticker album counter →
Sport & scores43
Scoreboards that know the rules of their game, not just two numbers that go up.
Score counter
A scoreboard for cards, darts and board games. One counter per player, negatives allowed.
Open score counter →Pitch counter
Count pitches, then get the rest days owed and the next eligible date.
Open pitch counter →Golf scorecard
Strokes per hole with the course handicap allocated by stroke index, net and Stableford.
Open golf scorecard →Badminton score counter
Rally scoring with the service court and doubles positions, for 3x21 and the 2027 3x15 system.
Open badminton score counter →Pickleball score counter
The 0-0-2 call with the right server and side, in side-out or 2026 rally scoring.
Open pickleball score counter →Squash score counter
Point-a-rally to 11 with the server, the service box, hand out and lets.
Open squash score counter →Penalty shootout counter
Five kicks each that stop the moment a team cannot catch up, then sudden death.
Open penalty shootout counter →Basketball score counter
Points by period with team fouls and the bonus as FIBA, NBA, NCAA or high school count them.
Open basketball score counter →Baseball score counter
Balls, strikes, outs and the line score, with foul bunts, dropped third strikes and walk-offs.
Open baseball score counter →Cricket score counter
Runs, wickets and overs by legal balls, with wides, no-balls, free hits and the chase.
Open cricket score counter →American football score counter
Touchdowns and the try at each level, with NFL, college and high school overtime rules.
Open american football score counter →Boxing score counter
Three judges' 10-point must cards and the verdict they give, split and majority draws included.
Open boxing score counter →Hockey score counter
Ice hockey goals and shots by period, with each league's overtime, shootout and standings points.
Open hockey score counter →Pool score counter
Straight pool with the breaking foul and three-foul penalties, and 8-ball, 9-ball and 10-ball races.
Open pool score counter →Rugby score counter
Union, sevens and league points, conversions tied to tries, golden point and bonus points.
Open rugby score counter →Soccer score counter
Goals by minute, five subs in three windows, second yellows, extra time and aggregate.
Open soccer score counter →Table tennis score counter
Games to 11 with the server named, doubles order, the swap at 5 and the expedite system.
Open table tennis score counter →Tennis score counter
Love to game with the server's court, every change of ends, tie-breaks and doubles order.
Open tennis score counter →Padel score counter
The 2026 Star Point, golden point or advantage, who serves and receives, and every change of sides.
Open padel score counter →Volleyball score counter
Rally scoring with the six-position rotation, the next server, time-outs, subs and beach mode.
Open volleyball score counter →Americano padel score counter
Rotating partners for 4 to 16 players, matches to a points total, and every player's running total.
Open americano padel score counter →Field hockey score counter
Goals by minute, a clock that stops, card timers in playing time, the 2026 card rules and shoot-outs.
Open field hockey score counter →Free throw counter
Make or miss, the percentage with its likely range, runs of makes, sets and make-50 goals.
Open free throw counter →Futsal score counter
Accumulated fouls per half with the 10 m kick, timeouts, a stopped clock and the red card timer.
Open futsal score counter →Handball score counter
2-minute suspensions a goal does not end, the third a red card, three warnings and team time-outs.
Open handball score counter →Judo score counter
The 2026 IJF rules: yuko back, a hold timer that scores itself, shido that never decide, golden score.
Open judo score counter →Kabaddi score counter
Players on court kept for you: revival in order, all outs, the bonus line, super tackle, do-or-die.
Open kabaddi score counter →Karate score counter
WKF kumite 2026: senshu kept for you and lost in the last 15 s, the 8-point lead, chui to hansoku.
Open karate score counter →Lacrosse score counter
Penalty timers that know which one a goal releases, by code: high school, NCAA, PLL, box and sixes.
Open lacrosse score counter →Netball score counter
Whose centre pass is next, kept through every break, plus the Super Shot and extra time.
Open netball score counter →Roundnet score counter
Who serves to whom under the 2026 IRF equal serving or the classic rules, with every rotation.
Open roundnet score counter →Cornhole score counter
Cancellation scoring bag by bag, who pitches first next round, ACO Skins and house-rule busts.
Open cornhole score counter →Water polo score counter
Exclusions a goal or the ball won ends early, personal fouls by cap, the possession clock, shootout.
Open water polo score counter →Wrestling score counter
Folkstyle, freestyle or Greco: 3-point takedowns, riding time, the technical fall, overtime, criteria.
Open wrestling score counter →Curling score counter
Points by end, the hammer next end, the mixed doubles decision, and the club scoreboard drawn for you.
Open curling score counter →Fencing score counter
Hits on a bout clock in fencing time, the priority minute, cards by group and the 2026-27 P-cards.
Open fencing score counter →Gaelic football score counter
Goals, two-pointers and points by the 2026 rules, a 45 valued by code, extra time, and the scorers line.
Open gaelic football score counter →Spades score counter
Bids and tricks per player, bags to the bag-out, nil and blind nil, and the disputed house rules as settings.
Open spades score counter →Taekwondo score counter
WT kyorugi 2026: 6 for a turning head kick, best of three rounds, the 15-point gap and the round tiebreak.
Open taekwondo score counter →Cribbage board counter
A peg board for 2, 3 or 4: the play, then each hand in counting order to 121 or 61, with skunks and muggins.
Open cribbage board counter →Euchre score counter
Who called, alone or not, and the tricks: loners, euchres and the disputed house rules, plus a progressive tally.
Open euchre score counter →500 score counter
The bid and the tricks, scored by the Avondale table: misère, slams and how a game is won as settings.
Open 500 score counter →Gin rummy score counter
Who went down and both deadwood counts: undercuts, gin, boxes and shutouts, plus Hollywood and Oklahoma.
Open gin rummy score counter →
Fitness & health7
Reps, laps, breaths and daily habits, where the count is part of the activity.
Lap counter
Count pool lengths, track laps and treadmill intervals without losing your place.
Open lap counter →Rep counter
Track reps and sets during a lifting session, with a step size for supersets.
Open rep counter →Click speed test
Measure your clicks per second over 1 to 60 seconds, with your personal best kept on-device.
Open click speed test →Habit counter
Count toward a daily target and keep the streak, with a day boundary you choose.
Open habit counter →Breath counter
Count breaths one to ten for meditation, with lost count recorded, or time breaths per minute.
Open breath counter →Craving tracker
Time each urge, rate it 1 to 10, and log whether you rode it out or acted on it.
Open craving tracker →Water intake counter
Drinks logged in ml or oz by the cup you used, against a goal or a fluid limit, paced over your day.
Open water intake counter →
Work & field5
Counting that produces a record someone else relies on: stock, occupancy, lab work.
Differential counter
Six keys for a manual white cell differential, with an auto-stop and live percentages.
Open differential counter →People counter
In and out at a door, with live occupancy against a capacity and a fix for drift.
Open people counter →Bird counter
A row per species recording the high count, so a circling flock is not counted twice.
Open bird counter →Inventory counter
A count sheet holding the book quantity beside the counted one, with the variance per line.
Open inventory counter →Knitting counter
Rows, pattern repeats and a shaping schedule that names the increase rows and then ends.
Open knitting counter →
Faith9
Counts with their own rules about when a day turns over and what completes a set.
Tasbeeh counter
A digital dhikr counter that stops at 33, 99 or 100 and keeps each dhikr separate.
Open tasbeeh counter →Omer counter
The 49 days of Sefirat HaOmer, in days and weeks, with the blessing state tracked.
Open omer counter →Mala counter
108 beads to a round, credited as 100 or 108, with dorje and bell counter strings and a bell.
Open mala counter →Rosary counter
Prayer by prayer through the decades, with the day's mysteries by the 2002 or the older schedule.
Open rosary counter →Divine Mercy chaplet counter
The chaplet in Diary 476's order, a tap a prayer, with the novena from Good Friday kept day by day.
Open divine mercy chaplet counter →St Michael chaplet counter
The nine salutations in the Raccolta's order, a tap a prayer, with the Michaelmas novena kept.
Open st michael chaplet counter →Prayer rope counter
A knot a tap on any chotki, services in Jesus Prayers, and the Optina 500 with its prostrations.
Open prayer rope counter →Seven Sorrows rosary counter
Seven sorrows of seven Hail Marys, a tap a prayer, the three for Mary's tears where your card puts them.
Open seven sorrows rosary counter →Franciscan Crown counter
Seven joys of ten Hail Marys and two to make 72, a tap a prayer, with the Pope's prayers and Lent's sorrows.
Open franciscan crown counter →
Frequently asked questions
How do you keep score in hearts?
After each hand, every player counts the penalty cards in the tricks they won: 1 point for each heart and 13 for the queen of spades, 26 in all. The points are added to a running total. When a player reaches or passes 100 at the end of a hand the game ends, and the player with the lowest score wins.
What happens when you shoot the moon in hearts?
A player who takes all thirteen hearts and the queen of spades has shot the moon. Under Bicycle’s rules they score 0 and every other player scores 26. Pagat lets the shooter choose between that and taking 26 off their own score, and Trickster gives the others 26 unless that would make the shooter lose the game.
How many points is the queen of spades in hearts?
Thirteen penalty points, as many as all thirteen hearts together, so a hand holds 26 points in all. The queen counts for whoever wins the trick she is played to. In Black Maria the king of spades is also worth 10 and the ace 7, for 43 a hand, and some house rules raise the queen to 25 or 26.
What is the jack of diamonds rule in hearts?
Under the jack of diamonds rule, the player who takes the jack of diamonds in a trick has 10 points taken off their score; some play it with the ten of diamonds. With it, a hand adds to 16 rather than 26. Shooting the moon still needs only the hearts and the queen, and the jack still counts minus 10 for whoever took it.
What happens if you get exactly 100 in hearts?
Under the standard rules, reaching 100 ends the game like any score over it. Some tables play a house rule that a score of exactly 100 at the end of a hand is reduced to 50, or to zero, which Pagat and Card Games For Dummies both record. Applied first, it means landing exactly on 100 does not end the game.
How do you play hearts with 3 players?
Take the two of diamonds out of the pack, according to Pagat, Bicycle and Trickster, and deal 17 cards each; the two of clubs still leads. Arnold removes the two of clubs instead. Pagat’s passing cycles are left, right and a hand with no pass, or just left and right. A hand still adds to 26 points, because no heart and no queen leaves the pack.
How do you play hearts with 5 or 6 players?
With five players remove the two of diamonds and the two of clubs and deal 10 each; the three of clubs leads. With six remove the twos of diamonds, clubs and spades and the three of clubs, deal 8 each, and the four of clubs leads. Bicycle’s five-player deal removes only one card, which does not divide.
What is the passing order in hearts?
In four-player hearts each player passes three cards to the left on the first hand, to the right on the second, across on the third, and passes nothing on the fourth, then the cycle repeats, according to Pagat and Trickster. Some tables drop the hand with no pass. In Black Maria the cards always go to the right.
What happens if there is a tie in hearts?
If two players tie for the lowest score when someone reaches 100, Trickster treats them as joint winners. Pagat records the other common rule: play more hands until one player is lowest on their own. A tie anywhere else in the table does not matter, because only the lowest score wins.
What is Black Maria?
Black Maria is the British version of hearts, usually for three players with the two of clubs removed. Besides the hearts and the queen of spades at 13, the king of spades costs 10 and the ace of spades 7, so a hand holds 43 points. Cards are passed to the right, and there is no rule against leading hearts.
Counting guides
Longer answers to the questions behind the counting.
- Swimming
How to count laps while swimming
Why swimmers lose count at length 14, and five methods that actually hold up.
- Tallying
Tally marks explained
Groups of five, the five-bar gate, and why the convention has survived for centuries.
- Events
How to do an accurate headcount
Counting people is easy. Counting them accurately, twice, is not.
- Habits
Track a daily habit streak
Why streak apps fail, and what a plain daily counter does better.
- Click speed
How to click faster
Hardware and grip account for most of the gap. Practice accounts for less than people think.
- Inventory
How to do a stock take
Counting is the easy part. Preparing, and knowing your count is right, is the job.
- Reference
Types of counters explained
Synchronous vs asynchronous, mod-N, ring and Johnson, industrial and PLC counters, plus mechanical and software counters.
- Build it
How to make a counter
Twenty lines gets you counting. Here is what to add after that, and why.
- Baseball
How to keep an official pitch count
Little League requires an official recorder at every game. Almost nobody explains the job.
- Dhikr
One tasbeeh is equal to how many?
The same phrase means a count of a hundred, a bead loop, a single dhikr, or the set after salah. Which one is meant, and when.
- Haematology
How to do a manual differential count
Why the pattern matters, how many cells is enough, and the imprecision built into the method itself.
- Birding
How to count a flock of birds
Blocks, tens, and why the number to report is the most seen at one time.
- Knitting
How to read knitting shaping instructions
Every 4th row, alt rows, at each end, AT THE SAME TIME — translated, with the rows they land on.
- Golf
Stableford points and net scores
Stroke index, strokes received, net score, points — in the order you actually need them.
- Surveys
How many people do you need to survey?
Why 385 answers a city and 45 answers a club, and the margin each sample size buys.
- Rules
How to read fencing pool results
V and V3, the indicator, why the ranking is V/M and not wins, ties at the cut and the seeded table.
- Rules
How to fill in a FIBA basketball scoresheet
The running score, team fouls, time-outs and the new 2026 foul marks, DI, FL and the circled T.
- Rules
Futsal rule changes 2025-26
Penalty-kick fouls stop counting, the dropped ball follows possession, and the 8-second rule is not futsal's.
- Rules
Futsal timekeeper and third referee
The stopped clock, the fifth-foul sign, the time-out slip, the two-minute entry slip and the eight signals from the table.
- Scorekeeping
How to write a GAA match report
The result line, the scorers line with 2pt, f and 45, what the brackets mean, team lists and subs, and how to check the sums.
- Rules
Handball timekeeper and scorekeeper
The clock, the suspension cards, the green card, the whistle that stops play, and the three attacks after an injury.
- Rules
Hockey rule changes from 1 November 2026
No second green or yellow, coaches' cards that cost a player, and what is not new since March.
- Rules
Netball scorer and timekeeper
The quarter and interval timetable, goals and missed shots, the centre pass column, holding time and the suspension clock.
- Training
Reps and sets explained
What 10 reps and 3x10 mean, where 3 sets of 10 came from, and what the 2026 ACSM review changed.
- Rules
Roundnet rule changes 2025-26
Equal serving, the bigger ball, a boundary at last and three touches on the serve, edition by edition.
- Rules
How to fill out a volleyball score sheet
The X in box 1, checkmarks and exit scores, time-outs, subs, the libero triangle, penalty points and the T-bar.
- Rules
Water polo table officials
Who runs which clock, the 18-second exclusions, the four flags, the third personal foul and the 45-second whistle.
- Rules
How to keep score in wrestling
T3 not T2, near falls by the second, riding time, the circled first points and how a result is written.