This is really a rhetorical question because I am convinced that the program (Hearts card game) by Microsoft DOES in fact cheat.I first noticed it on XP. But, I've REALLY noticed it on Vista. Here is what I mean.
I've played X amount of games. The game keeps track of overall stats. Whenever I go over a 38% win rate (which isn't really all that hot but it's respectable) the program starts to gain up on me and kick my ass. I mean, seriously. I get dealt hands that NO ONE could do anything with. I will lose over and over again; then, once I drop back down to 37%, I will start to win again (I'll be dealt hands that any idiot could shoot the moon with).
This has happened over and over again. I cannot get past 38%!
I looked this up on Google and someone said, "Well, I don't think it is cheating, rather, like with "real" people, once one person starts to get ahead, the computer might attempt to "gang up on you".
Ok, this is true. If you are playing with REAL people that are half-way respectable, they will, in likelihood, "gang up on you" if you are out ahead.
But, this is NOT what happens with the program. No, not at all. First off, "real people" can't deal you particular rotten hands over and over and over again. And, "real people" won't allow someone else to shoot the moon just to get YOU (not in my experience, anyway). But, the program continually allows one of the other players to shoot the moon (whilst I sit by unable to stop them and watch my opponents throw the Ace of Hearts or something on someone trying to shoot the moon...I mean...DUH!)
Obviously, this blog entry is meant to be somewhat mindless. A ramble, a rant. Man, this pisses me off, though, which is why I am writing about it.
I played one game this afternoon and just hit 38% AGAIN. Any guesses as to who will NOT win the next game?
Mrs. B
1,588 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 1401 – 1588 of 1588so I have a 99% win rate mainly because I dump games constantly. Take tonite for instance I was dealt lone A,K spades 3 hands in a row. 1st hand I said fine 2nd hand I dumped. Had Q spades and 4 other spades of course only 1 bot had spades...13 points. Had 4 thru 10 diamonds, 2D was led followed by 3D QS and I get 13 points. Dealt A,J,8 spades at least 8 hands. Right grabbed the lead 3 times and Left had QS never fails. I would say other then maybe 2 dif cards I was dealt the same hand like 3 times in 1 game and of course that hand cost me 25 points 3 times. I figure if I played each of these games thru I'd have a win ratio of like 10% and I'm being generous.
So here I am playing the last hand of a long fought game...score..me 71 E 81 W 97 N 93 and u'll never guess what I get dealt? The lone Q spades! I was so mad I wanted to put my fist thru the computer till I realized its not my computers fault its friggin lowzy cheating microsofts fault. Seriously it took me like 15 minutes to get there and I get dealt the lone Q..stinkin cheaters
Since I play this hearts game quite frequently I have come to find that no matter what the score or what your dealt the bots are setting you up for loss. I can literally see whats dealt to me and call each hand as I'm playing it and it would be funny if it wasn't so maddening. I can tell when and by what bot hearts will be broken, I can tell what suit will be led after the 2C and why, I can tell almost immediately who the chosen bot will be, its usually the 1 who takes either 0 or 2-3 points 1st hand. Obviously I know who the hoover bot will be after say the 3rd card is thrown, I can tell which cards each bot holds by the way they play and I'm usually rite which comes in handy except when my hand is so bad it reaaly doesn't matter who has what...I could go on but anyone who visits this site gets what I'm talking about.
63 games today dumped by the 4th hand...cheatings out of control wish I could play 1 lowzy game thru...there must be other hearts games out there that aren't like this rite? Any ideas?
I'm currently at 53% for 942 games (to be more accurate, I'm at 53.50% but I've been fluctuating between 53.1% - 53.8% for the longest time).
Another evidence for conscious cheating: I see that there are at least three other peeps above me who commented that they are also stuck at ~53% after multiple games.
I'd like to get the little bast*** who programmed this piece of sh** game and kick him in the a**! I want ms to fix this sorry excuse for a game I can't believe they charge u money to tell u that the reason the game sux is cuz the comp is always trying to shoot the moon...they charge u money for that! Dopes
Another thing with this lowzy game ever notice that when you have say the worst hearts once there lead the bots will hammer you till you take 13 points, no matter what you do hearts will get lead and you'll eat them all. They also do this with whatever suit you r weak in and you can't change it, its like when you have the queen spades and the bot 2 your right wins every book and leads spades till you take 13 points. Here's another 1 for you, the old hoover bot who continually sucks up the points and is 87 by the 3rd hand...ah and the fact I've played maybe 5 hands in like 3000 games where I didn't have the A, K, Q spades in some shape or form. Good times playing this lowest form of cheating hearts game.
I could write a book on all the dishonest, hokey "deals" I've seen hundreds, if not thousands, of hands that defy all logic and probability. Just recently I played a game where I was not dealt a heart lower than then 7 until the tenth hand of the game.
I'm still counting, it's been over 1,300 games and ny record for being dealt the 2H is 2 (TWO) hands in a row. I routinely get dealt QS 3 or 4 hands in a row EVERY game (my record is 7 straight hands). I dare, double-dog dare, someone to tell me the is RANDOM dealing.
If you cannot prove random dealing, you have proved cheating.
To the programer of MS Hearts? Do you honestly think, that if I were able to sort through a deck of cards and PUT cards into the hands I wanted to, that I couldn't make you lose every time? You ignorant, conceited, dishonest buffoon.
I think this has been mentioned like a 1000 times already but why is it this hearts game has to win all the time? Is ms getting a kick back or something? I don't let it get me as angry as before but when you get the A,K of spades 5 hands in a row, 2 of those hands being the lone A,K and the other 3 with 1 or 2 other spades you tend to get MAD! Always 3 against 1 they set you up every hand and sadly I know it before it happens but I keep playing anyway and when the cheating gets ridiculous I just dump the game...my game my rules.
Previuos poster hit it right on the nose. Hands are SET UP! I played for 45 min. this morning and completed one game out of probably 9 or 10. My last game I was leading by 16 pts. with a bot on 99 (of course). I got dealt a decent hand, except for void in spades (always a red flag). I got passed A,K of spades & KH (giving me 5,7, K in hearts.) Of course, east takes first trick and leads a spade -- thirteen points. My 5H gets cutsied -- 4 more pts. My KH takes 3 more points and I'm behind by 4 (of course, the chosen on hasn't taken a point). Kawhoosh -- another game flushed.
A few facts on card probabilities. According to a website on bridge hand probabilities, the chance that each hand holds one ace is 1 in 8. That would hold true for any 4 defined cards (2,3,4,5 of hearts, for example). The odds that you hold one specific card (5H) of the four is 1 in 4. Therefore, you should see the "cutesy" play once in 32 hands (about 3 games).
IF the bots pass you the QH EVERY time they can, there is a 1 in four chance that the bot passing to you has it. In a 12-hand game you should get QH passed to you twice.
This morning I was "dealt" a lone QS on no-pass hands in 3 out of 5 games (a total of 14 no-pass hands). Somebody tell me the odds of THAT.
I just hope the programer of this game is cheating his employers as much as he's cheated the customers.
The game I just played was classic ms hearts...when I have the Q spades they lead spades till the sun comes up if I don't have the Q(which is few and far between) they won't lead a spade till I break the suit...I have 8 diamonds 1 bot will keep leading another suit so the other 2 can get rid of diamonds...I have a lone K spades and the 1st card the bot to my right throws is the Q spades...sound familiar? You have got to be leading by at least 30 going into the last hand to have any chance of winning. Lately the chosen bot may take 5 points and then will not take another point the rest of the game..I dump it...maybe 2 out of 40 games are playable and even that's iffy
I don't know why so many think the computer cheats. All things being equal you should only win 25% of the time since there's four players. I played 5263 games winning 58%. And I make a lot of human errors like accidentally clicking on the wrong card. The programmer should be fired if that's all the better he can cheat.
I just won with a score of zero for the 5th time today. 1st time was 4/9/2012. So I'm going to reset my stats since I can't record a another best score.
Long win streak: 19
Long loss streak 9
Of course I always click on as many "floating hearts" as I can after a win, I believe it gives you better hands.
really sorry to disagree but when u r being dealt the Queen of spades 8 out of 10 hands there's a problem. I'm not sure what game u r playing but when u have a good lead and u r dealt the lone A, K spades then the lone Q spades the next hand that's called ridiculous. This game sets u up every hand...3 against 1 and I am a seasoned hearts player. If I was getting dealt these hands in a real game the dealer would be shot. I have played maybe 3000 games and in all that time maybe 20 hands I've played w/o the A, K, Q spades in 1 form or another...cheating in my book
The zero games prove the game plays poorly. I cannot fathom a run of "luck" to produce a zero game against competent players (unless you play a bastardized game that lets you reset if you hit 50 or 100 exactly). Forget about win pct., pay attention to the hands that are dealt and the probabilities of those hands.
If you play ten hands, you may draw a "one-in- a hundred" deal, but if you draw it EVERY 10-20 hands, something is wrong, you're not dealing with random cards. I've played hearts for over 50 years and have NEVER seen some of the crap like this game has (ie. I recently got "dealt" a singleton QS twice in one game on no-pass hands). I've played in tournaments where a lone QS on a no-pass hand "wins" you a little gag prize and it will happen a couple of times with dozens of players and hundreds of games.
anonymous above you are absolutely correct. I dump maybe 25 games fore I get a game I can play and even then its a challenge which I like but cheating I don't like. The chosen bot may take 5 points in 6 hands while hoover bot is 87...really? No matter how hard you try you can't make that bot take points and why try when the hands are fixed? No way those 3 bots have the 2, 3, 4 of hearts every time and god help you if you have the 5 and 9 that's 2 curtsies' for ya. Recently I've been losing with the 4 now that's just stupid.
To the poster who doesn't think the game cheats. Start dumping games you are about to lose. Once you build your win pct. up, or establish a healthy winning streak, the game changes, my friend. The skewed probabilities become ridiculously evident. I always dump a game if I take QS on the first hand. The other morning this happened eleven games in a row (5 times I took the QS on the 2nd trick.) The odds of that occuring "randomly" are astronomical. If the deal isn't random, it is cheating. Especially when the non-random deals are always to your detriment.
I've kept track for thousands of games. My RECORD for being dealt 2H is three hands in a row. I get dealt QS at least three hands in a row in nearly half the games I play (my record for QS is eight in a row). Just winning over 25% of your games is totally irrelevant to the arguement of whether the game cheats.
I was laid up due to illness for several months. To pass time I catalogue MS Hearts "deals". I have a notebook full of stats. Just a couple of the glaring examples that proves the "deals" are NOT random.
*theoretically, every card in the deck has the exact same probability of being dealt as a singleton. In a 100 game sample, I was dealt the QS as a singleton eleven times (eight times on no-pass hands), the AS six times, the KS five times. No other card was dealt as a singleton more than twice, and seventeen cards weren't dealt even once. Spades were dealt as singletons 54% of the time, as opposed to the 25% they should be. Similar results were noted in several other samples I tracked.
Ask yourself, why would there be such a glaring anomally in odds? and with the absolute worst card to be stuck with unprotected? Why, indeed!
Like I said a couple of posts ago I can't play more then 2 hands every 2 games where I don't have A,K,Q spades in sum form. Then there's the old being dealt the Q spades with 1 or 2 other spades which is the same as having the lone Q as far as I'm concerned. The bots know whats in your hand there's no 2 ways about it. I can be 2 suited but the 1 bot that has all my losers in those 2 suits will always get the lead and pound me till I take the Q or 13 hearts its just the way it is. I understand the game needs to be challenging but when you have played like 8 hands and you have the lead then are dealt a hand God couldn't play and hafta dump the game it really pisses me off! There's no excuse for it except pure laziness on the part of ms they couldn't develop a challenging game so they developed a dirty cheating one.
I'd like to go on a talk show or something and tell the world ms hearts is a big cheat that's how angry this game makes me
what are the odds of being dealt the A,K,Q spades 6 hands in a row? If some one could check that out I'd appreciate it. Also the odds of being dealt 4 hands in a row where the lowest card is a 7? This game is achieving an all time cheating low lately. Imagine having a great lead then getting dealt the lone Q, the A,K,Q,J hearts then the lone A,K spades...how angry would you be?
Once you get to a respectable win ratio its impossible to get a decent hand. I have a 97% win rate and I've gotten dealt the Q spades for the last 27 hands in a row. 1/2 of those hands were A,K,Q spades and of course the lone Q about 11 times. A,K,Q,J hearts was dealt to me at least 17 times and 8 of those times it was just the A,K,Q,J hearts. I'm being dealt the A,K,Q clubs 5 out of 10 hands same with diamonds. 2 hands in a row I took 24 points and the bots shot the moon 6 times. I've lost with the 3 clubs & diamonds at least 10 times and you know its bad when that happens. Needless to say I just dump the game but it gets annoying when you have to keep dumping games. The cutsie paly is still the worst as far as I'm concerned just proves the deal is not random...at all
It is interesting to read of others' experiences with the programing foibles of MS Hearts. It is NOT interesting nor amusing to read the rants of a troll. Too bad, I learned a lot from sincere contributors to the conversation, but trolling ruins it for all.
The floating hearts comment is interesting I'm going to try that.
I think a lot of the "doubter" don't realize that the game doesn't have to give you a lone QS or A,K,Q of hearts every hand. With the "chosen one" gambit that occurs nearly every game, it only takes two or three "bad luck" hands to make you lose. Many times it is routine looking hands that get you. I recently had a great looking hand and a ten pt. lead. The only POSSIBLE way to hurt me was for East to hold 7,8,9 of clubs, West to hold 5,6 of clubs and QS (I held 3,4,10 of clubs. Of course, that is EXACTLY how the cards layed & I got nailed for 14 pts. It happens too often to be bad luck. The freaking game cheats.
Another scam the game uses is putting the QS in the human hand and loading up one of the bots with a bunch of spades. That bot constantly gets in the lead and keeps pounding spades at you. I got led out of a six-deep QS a few games ago. Not sure I've ever seen that in "real life". Not uncommon to get led out of a 5-deep queen in this farce of a game.
I'm not a computer by any means, but let me see all the cards and give everybody what I want them to have and I'll kick your ass aroyund the block. This program essentially does that. Miserable cheater.
I refuse to continue a game if I take QS on the first hand. This morning I dumped 8 games in a row for taking QS on first hand. Every single one of them I had QS by the 4th or 5th lead of the hand. Nearly every hand was Me being "dealt" one or two spades and passed the queen. Of course spades were immediately led. F***ing corrupt bastards.
This game is just mind boggling to say the least. A, K spades 9 out of 10 hands and I don't even count how may times I get the Q anymore that's pointless. Now I'm getting the hands where my lowest card is a 7 or I have a ton of hearts cept the 2 or 3 and once I lose that hand I'm stuck with the other 8 hearts. When you are playing a hand and 1 bot keeps leading a certain suit closely watch what the other bots are getting rid of usually anything you would of been able to make sum points on...its ridiculous. Lately I'm losing hands with a 3 and you know you need to dump the game when you lose with a 3.
When you think you've seen it all....seven games in a row a bot has lit on 99 "just one more chance." Three of those games I've had to flush because I got screwed & "the chosen one" bolted into the lead with that extra hand.
TO the poster above...tell me about it!!! I pulled off 2 moon shots and still would of lost! The deciding hand I get the K,Q,9 spades I was like you have got to be kidding! I got the Q dumped on me twice in a row and I still had the lead I would of lost by 2 points if I didn't dump it. What a joke and its not like we don't know its going to happen! Ah nuts to this ridiculous game
Every card thrown by the bots is calculated its to set you up I'm sure everyone has noticed that. At this point I can play the whole game in my head that's how predictable it is. Sadly there's nothing you can do especially when you get dealt a hand that is impossible to play. I kill the A,K hearts I get Q, J in return. I kill the K spades I get the Q there are not many times I get anything good in return for what I kill. Plus when you have the K spades and maybe 2 other cards you know they'll force it out and the a_ss bot on the left will have the Q never fails.
It took over an hour and probably 20+ starts, but I finally finished and won a game this morning. What a pathetic, stinking ass bit of programing this is. Three times in a row I got to the very end of a game, only to have a bot "magically" land on 99 instead of 100 and then get hosed on the "bonus" hand for what would have been a loss.
Last night, I won 4 games, the "chosen one's" scores were 19, 27, 31, and 36 (he was sitting on 10 until I shot the moon on the next-to-last hand) My point is, it doesn't take a rotten deal on every hand for the "cutesy genius" to "beat" you. Often, one hand or two is enough to make you "lose".
For those who say "luck of the draw", etc., I say bullsh*t! I probably played 125 -150 hands this morning. I was dealt lone QS (1 in a thousand odds) 3 times, I was dealt all four aces (1 in 400 odds 3 times). on 6 consective hold 'em hands I was dealt QS with 0, 1, or 2 "protector" spades. And it's like that nearly every time I play. I've played Texas Hold 'Em and been dealt pocket aces twice in 100 or so hands, but it sure as hell doesn't happen every poker night.
After shooting the moon I find I lose at least the next 2 hands and lose badly. Lone Q spades, K,Q,J,10 hearts or the old 1 bot has every 1 of my f'n losers and there is no way on earth to get the lead away from that bot....no way. Any time a bot lands on 99 I know I'm in for it and again you can't get that bot to take 1 point no matter what. The only way I can think of for the hands to turn out the way they do is shuffling cards between bots after you've killed your 3 cards. The cutesy plays are just so annoying and you can get cutsied up to 3 times a hand its nuts. The best way to deal with it all is to kill the game and start again as many times as needed still the only way to come up with a 1/2 descent win.
I don't think I've played more then 10 hands in about 2000 games where I didn't have the A,K, or Q of spades. I always have at least 1 of them most times 2 and 3 a lot of the time too. I can rarely play a hand on the offensive always defending. I wonder how many hands are conveniently lone Q spades hands? Very rarely do the bots get dealt lone Q's because I watch very carefully. Yesterday I swear each bot shot the moon at least twice with a no looser hand it was ridiculous.
How do you "dump" a game. I've never done that. Sounds like cheating to me.
To dump a game, simply click on the red X at the top right corner of your screen. Then click on the "Hearts" icon to open the game. A box in the middle of the screen will ask if you want to continue your saved game. Click "no" and cards will be dealt starting a new game. it doesn't affect your statistics
It took me 554 games but I got back to 57%.
Is it cheating to "dump" games? Maybe. But on the very first hand of the very first game I started just a few minutes ago I was "dealt" a lone QS. I passed it (left) and immediately got passed the AS AND KS. I dumped the game without playing a single card. Did I cheat? Maybe, but I sure as hell did not get cheated. F*ck you, MS.
I dump games also. I don't really care if it is "cheating" in the eyes of some. I simply refuse to let the piece of monkey sh*t programer force me to lose. I just completed a game that I won by 2 pts., even though I shot the moon on the first hand. In this one game I was dealt QS as a loner, single spades twice more (and passed the queen both times), got the "cutesy play" and two "mini-cutsies" (taking three points with the 4H), AND had the "just one more chance" bot land on 99.
You can also use taskmaster to dump a game and it will not effect your wins and losses...I was dealt, 3 hands in a row, A,K,J,10 hearts plus the A,K,Q,8 spades. My lowest card was a 6 and it was 3 hands in a row. I also find if you keep dumping games whet the game does is deal you 2 alright hands to begin with then F*** you after that. I just stare at some of the hands I'm dealt like how the hell am I suppose to play this? Also cards change hands tween the bots after you kill the initial 3 cards there's no way there not, just watch whats thrown by the bots every hand and you'll see what I mean.
How bad? How blatant? How despicible does it have to get? I was leading a game by 40 points with a bot on 99 (Of f*cking course!). The scores were 31, 71,99,85 It's hand #12 (no pass, of course) I get "dealt" lone QS, and KH, 6H. I take 17 pts., the "chosen one" and "ole 99 bot" take zero, of course. It's now 48,71,99,94. "Chosen One" gets "dealt" a dead solid moonshot (8 diamonds, including the ace thru ten, plus AH, KH taking the last 11 tricks) Do the math. That would have made me lose by three points, but rather than play my last card, I clicked the red X.
I simply do not believe in that kind of "luck". I've played thousands of games in my life and been around other players with thousands of games. A game like that just does not occur.
Plain and simple, the game cheats to make you lose. The deal is not random, you are given hands that force you to take points. In nearly every game, one of the bots is given hands that do not take points so it can "win".
I pulled off a moonshot and was leading by like 20 points so you figure now I'm leading by a good 46 points right? Well the next hand after the shot I get dealt the lone Q spades and the A,Q,J,8 hearts and took 24 points. Next hand I get dealt lone A,K spades and the K,J,10 hearts thats 17 points. Next hand I get dealt the lone A,K,Q spades and the A,J,10,9 hearts so I just dumped the whole game didn't even bother to play the last hand. Stupid F'n game created by a bunch of lousy cheats
My stats say 700 games played, 413 won, win percentage 58%. but my calculator says thats 59%. What's up with that?
Just stumbled upon this article. I read the first page of responses but I'm not going to read through over 1000 comments. All I want to say(and it may have been said before) is that while sometimes the computer can work against you by withholding or playing cards, you can figure out the pattern and use it to your advantage when trying to shoot the moon.
I've noticed a lot of the time the computer will not play the highest cards when I'm trying to shoot the moon. By looking at what cards are left(and I can really only do this with Hearts) you can then see what card the computer player will lay. So if I have the five highest hearts and say the 5 of hearts that was passed to me, I can see by how many hearts I have already taken whether it would be smart to use the 5 to take a 2 or 3 that may not have been played yet. That way I can keep my Ace or King to take the 9 or 10 which would have taken my 5 had I saved that for the last card.
Just a helpful tip. I do believe the game is rigged somewhat but by learning the way the computer plays I have played over 1100 games and sit at 65% and have had a score of 0 three times.
Good luck!
I do that too Shadowrunner....I no longer play MS hearts because I have an Apple computer now but they have a form of hearts called Hardwood hearts..its not as bad as MS but they also use the cutesy play and they tend to gang up but shooting the moon not so much. I've done it 4 times and the comp only once. Also I don't get the Q spades every hand but more then usual. For sum reason both games deal me all the high clubs and I constantly get the 2 clubs also. 4 out of 5 hands I get the A, K, Q, J clubs not sure why but I'm guessing they hope thats what I'll kill as opposed to the Qs or hearts.
Just had to add one here. I cannot possibly read over 1,400 comments, but I have often seen where an opponent will apparently not play a heart (where hearts are played) and then the very next turn it will play a heart. I have also literally seen a played card change after being placed. This game reminds me of the Microsoft personality: give a little bit, but when you begin feeling good about it you get screwed.
Any naysayers out there. Try this little exercise for a few games instead of viewing hands as being "dealt", look at the cards as being "put" in place, especially late in games and especially the human hand and the "cosen one" hand. I believe you will see that things aren't "random" or "accidental".
This is set up exactly like "FreeCell". There are a certain number of "hands" (all four positions) stored in a vault of some sort, probably a million or two (out of 500+ BILLION possible). Problem #1 is those million hands are not properly in sync with the probability of certain hands. For example, say there should be 1000 hands in the vault that deal the human a lone QS, but instead there are 10,000 or 20,000. Three percent of hands should have the cutesy play, but 10% actually do. 25% of hands SHOULD deal the human the 2H, the 3H, the 4H, but less than 15% actually do.
It's bad enough dealing with that crap, but problem #2 is what really pisses me off.I believe the program specifically pulls up certain hands in certain situations. Near the end of games, it's uncanny how you will take just enough points to lose. If you win several games in a row or have a high win pct., the first hand of a new game will almost certainly dump QS on you (I've dumped 7 or 8 games in a row before I played a first hand without getting a 13 point suppository.)
Even in the relatively "fair" games, there is always a "chosen one" that, hand after hand, has low cards or is void in a suit and allowed to dump trash.
Above post is technically correct. Cards are not individually dealt, but rather a pre-dealt hand is selected from a pool of pre-dealt hands. ie. hand #54688. The number of pre-dealt hands in the pool would be microscopic compared to the number of possible hands, like maybe 1 one-hundredth of 1%, so it would be very easy and likely to have probabilities grossly skewed.
It should also be possible to program in the recognition and selection of "bad hands" for the human player.
Above post is technically correct. Cards are not individually dealt, but rather a pre-dealt hand is selected from a pool of pre-dealt hands. ie. hand #54688. The number of pre-dealt hands in the pool would be microscopic compared to the number of possible hands, like maybe 1 one-hundredth of 1%, so it would be very easy and likely to have probabilities grossly skewed.
It should also be possible to program in the recognition and selection of "bad hands" for the human player.
over last 1067 games, 61% wins
Now I'm in the singleton spades scam. 17 singleton spades (including two queens) "dealt" in the last six games. All other suits....four singletons. Why, you ask, is that a problem? 'Cuz I've been passed the QS nine of those times. Two leads and you've got a thirteen point suppository.
To the above poster. Congrats on a decent win pct. But how are you losing the 40%? Pay attention. If you just shrug your shoulders and say, "oops, bad break" or "the cards are running cold", you're a fool. You are being cheated, I guarantee it. If you've played over 1000 games, you have GOT to realize odds and probabilities do not stay skewed that long, they are purposely programed into the game with the express intent of causing you to lose.
Chosen one? Ha! I just played a game against the chosen THREE!
Stinking cheat. Programer needs publicly identified and fired. MS should admit to the fraud and apologize to its customers. Will never purchase another MS product. If it's so damn important to cheat at a stupid card game, what's going on where real money is involved?
How about lone QS on back-to-back hands. I was leading by 18 pts., drew lone QS on hold 'em hand, then got it again on "pass left" hand (got AS passed to me). 38 points later, I'm down by 20 & have to flush the game. I was probably dealt 10 singleton spades in about 50-60 hands tonite. it's like the pathetic program isn't even trying to look legitimate. I recently reset the stats and have won 15 games while losing 0, so I've triggered the pissed off, "you shall not win" mode of this piece of sh*t program.
I am the Chosen One!
I hate to even add this but I'm now playing a hearts game thru Apple and all I can say is the only way any computer card game can beat a human is to cheat. I still get the cutesy but the lone QS not so much. For some reason high clubs every hand is the norm for me since its happening with this game too. I can kick butt the 1st 5-6 hands then I get the QS dumped on me the next 5. I play till 150 and I can control the game so there's always a pass which is good. Anyway altho I truly believe MS is a cheating game its certainly not the only one out there.
What irks me is I can't change my player name from "owner" (Windows 7)
I wish I could help u above poster cuz I finally figured out how to change everyone's name and believe me the names fit the game. I do know it takes a few times so keep changing and saving and eventually it'll work. I just wanted to add to my earlier comment about all hearts games being pretty much the same. The hearts game I'm playing figured out I'm a good player and that was it! Lone QS, lone A,K spades, ridiculous hearts like the A,K,J, 9,7 and I end up taking 13 points. 1 game I actually had A,K of every suit and like a Jack and a 4 I just dump it and play on...I actually was 0 one game for maybe 8 hands then I got QS dumped on my 2 times in a row and was dealt hearts I had no chance with but I won and ended up with 77 as my final score.....
I wonder if it's even possible to create an 'unbiased' game. I have been stuck at 38% forever. I'm an awesome human player and have been playing hearts since 1972, having an above average win percentage. That said, I know this game, the general distribution of cards and 'bogus' playing when I see it. So, I ask again - is it even possible to write an unbiased game?
Have you ever played CASSINO? It's another great game that I"ve been playing even longer than Hearts. The computer game seems to cheat. One of the key cards to get is 10 of Diamonds and on the computer, the computer player gets the 10 of Diamonds 99% of the time. I started tracing after the 100th game and over 900 games later, the computer gets the 10 of Diamonds 99% of the time. Statistically never happened in real life. If you're good at it, which I am (and win), then the next game, it gives you crap cards throughout -or- gives you giveaway cards....cards that you can't play but only the computer can. This results in more points and the 'wins' are evened out by the 'cheats' of the computer. I know a rotten tomatoe when I see one - and smell one. So, my question again is , is it possible to EVEN write a game that doesn't have a bias? I wonder.
My favorite 'cheat' of this game is when you are stuck short in spades, have the queen of spades and the lead ALWAYS shifts to your right. No matter what, it shifts to your right 9 times out of 10. That right side player always leads spades to force your short queen. HAHAH, how do they know that so early in the game? Duh - no brainer answer there. Gotta love it. I'm glad my temper has been 'tempered' or you'd see a lot of broken monitors ... thanks for this great BLOG Ms. B
Despite all this cheating, on December 19, 2013 MICROSOFT HEARTS found in it's heart (pun) to allow me to 'run' (sorry-'Shoot the Moon') four times in a row. A first for me (did it three times in a row with real players). This was a perfect game. I won after the fourth round.....now tell me how often THAT really ahappens in real life?
Thanks for this blog. I have read every comment and it pleases me to see that every single thing I have suspected has been confirmed by someone else. I've been playing since Win 3.1. Here's my true story contribution: it was a hold hand and I was looking at 11 hearts (missing only 10 and 3), QS and 3S. On the first trick I have only one legal play, the 3S. Now what? Normally when I have an unprotected QS the bots will hunt for it. Not this time, the next lead was a diamond and my "lay-down" hand went for nothing.
I have a Mac now so I can't play MS hearts anymore so now I play Hardwood Hearts. The big diff with this game is you can set it up how you want it...like I do not do no pass hands, every hand is a pass hand and I can play up to 150 points, other then that its the same as MS and sometimes worse. The cutesy play is constant I have never won a hand with the 5 of
hearts. Also the famous blind QS which I didn't see a lot from MS. This game is constantly throwing out blind QS and believe me I keep track. Say I have the KS and 2 other spades, the bot with the QS will throw it out even tho it has other spades, how does it know I'll have to throw the KS you ask? I'd have to say its because the bots know whats in your hand all the time. I guess its the only way the game can be competitive, there's no way the game will win against you playing fairly, at least IMO.
This evening I had a game on MS Hearts where I got the cutesy play on three consecutive hands. The 4th hand I had a lone 4H and took three points with it. The 5th hand I had lone 5H, but luckily had a bot take the trick with 6H. What kind of astronomical odds is that series of hands?
My next game I was dealt all four aces three times in a seven hand span. From a bridge website I know drawing all 4 aces is a 1 in 400 probability.
Wow! It's a new record for me. This morning I was either dealt or passed the QS on each of the first 8 hands. Here's what is even more weird. I was able to dump it every time and I won the game on the 11th hand. The scores were: 25, 100, 93, 68. Strange.
Let me pre-deal the hands and just give them to you and I'll kick your ass 24/7. I'll give you the queen and 4 more spades and deal myself 6 spades so I can still lead it out of you. I'll make sure the QS is in the hand to your left 75% of the time you hold AS or KS. I'll give you QS with one kicker on most "no-pass" hands. I'll make sure you get the 5H while the other three hands get 2H, 3H, 4H a couple times a game "cuz that's so funny and cute.
Yeah, it takes a real genius to program this game.
MS Hearts absolutely does CHEAT!! I running Windows 7 Pro and I can't get past 41% before it simply rigs the game against me.
Right now I'm barely hanging on at 40% but it's seems hell bent on not letting me get back to 41.
The player on the left 'Pauline' is usually leading he charge to make sure I don't have a chance. This player will sacrifice time and time again to see to it that I don't win. Until I saw these posts I thought it was just me.
OK, call me obsessed.
I have hauled out my old desktop which is slow but still works with Win XP. I have made the registry change that lets me play with all the hands face-up. It's fascinating. I have played 16 games so far and my win percentage is 50%. It should be higher but I made some tactical blunders in the first few games.
What is fascinating is the "deal". On some hands knowing all the cards will not help you. But often it is a big help. For example: I got a great hand dealt to me with AKQJ hearts, three little hearts and off-suit strength. I was tempted until seeing that the player who had the 10H also had 4 others, enough to stop me from shooting the moon.
At this point I have the lowest total score but not by much.
More later.
What just absolutely pisses me off is the lengths the program goes to to make you lose. It's NOT about a competitive game. It is programed to MAKE you lose. I've dumped 4 games tonite, each one nearly identical. You play 10+ hands and have a score like 34, 87, 91, 44. Then you get force fed the QS and the next hand one of the patsy bots busts. Game after game it pulls this horseshit and I'm sick of it.
I have now played 77 games of the XP version of MS Hearts with the cards turned face-up. It's very illuminating. Right now I have a "win" percentage of 60. I have seen 61 per cent four times but after I achieved that lofty height the game hit back hard. It was all the usual stuff that has been reported here but at 61 percent there's more of it. Sometimes you can look ahead 5 or 6 tricks and see how you're going to get hammered with no way around it. Other times you can study a way to escape that would have been impossible with the cards face down. My personal favorite is second trick of a hand, the holder of the QS is void in diamonds, I have the 4 and the 2 & 3 are in the other hands. At least you get her out of the way early.
I am pretty certain that I have caught the game actually cheating on two occasions. By that I mean I saw a card played by a bot that was not in the hand when I checked and double-checked. Unless on some rare occasions the game hides small hearts among the diamonds and I missed it. But any other time I checked, the hands were sorted perfectly.
Having said all that, I have to also say that I am enjoying this. On one hand I am like a 70's era Soviet athlete: there's no joy in winning this way. But this way I feel like I am actually matching wits with this corrupt program instead of merely accepting the beating quietly.
1014 games won of 1677 games played. Now I only need to win 23 in a row to get up from 60% to 61%. Think I can do it? I did win 19 in a row once.
I've been playing Hearts on Windows 7...and I've noticed that when I pass certain cards to certain players, to my right, across or to my left - that player doesn't play all (or any, in fact) of the cards I passed!
I've sometimes noticed that if, for instance, the player across from me leads with a diamond, the player to my right lays a larger diamond and I toss the queen of spades out and the player to my right throws a smaller spade or a club... sometimes the player who led with the smaller diamond is credited with the win - instead of the player with the larger diamond (when I was trying to give that player 13 points)!
I've seen that happen a lot.
The computer program is rigged to cheat, I'm convinced.
1077 games won of 1765 played for 61%. Even with all the alleged cheating I still win most of the time.
Sheba - We all win "most of the time". In a fair game we should only be winning 25% of the time. As many have stated here, it's not the losing, it's how you lose.
I have just come off 125 games played with my old Athlon desktop system with XP with the cards played face-up. Even when I know every player's cards, there are games when I still can't defeat the way the game is rigged. Sometimes there are as many as 10 tricks to play in a hand and you can plot out how disaster is coming and is unavoidable.
With my Win 7 laptop I have "dumped" myself from a 45% honest win rate to 69%. Now at this point the games have become a travesty. The results of almost every hand are tied to how I will manage the permutation of A-K-Q Spades in my hand that I was dealt or passed. It's tedious.
In my opinion those people who come to forums like this one, boasting about their 85% win rate are cheaters/liars and possibly shills for the game designer. This game simply will not let you win honestly at 85% in my experience.
I will give an example. If East leads a spade and say North has no spades, it will discard a non-heart if any Computer player has a higher card. It will discard a heart if it the higher spade belongs to human.
This happens even if East was the lowest and needs to bumped up in score. Same logic for Queen. So 'cheating' here indicates that the written program algorithm is geared in such a way that all 3 computer hands are used against 1 human hand. This is akin to 3 friends ganging up against 1 outsider and win games. If this isn't cheating or rigging, then what is it?
One thing needs to be made very clear. This is NOT a "computer" or "game" cheating. It is a PERSON. A miserable, low-life, dishonest, immoral, corrupt individual who either lacks the skill or the work ethic to program a legitimate, competitive game. Instead, they program hands and games designed to make the human player lose, supposedly under the guise of "competitive" play. All it does is expose them as a pathetic cheat.
Just now seeing this blog. Not aware of Hearts cheating. Do recognize patterns of play that allow me an unfair advantage I wouldn't have over other human players. Winning percentage currently 70% out of 1866 games.
@ Tim - Please do not come to a forum like this one and act disingenuously. Too many of us have played too many games and seen too many instances of cheating to take you seriously. Are you an employee of Microsoft or Oberon-Media?
On the other hand, maybe you are totally honest and have a 70% win rate without resorting to dumping or other strategies. Perhaps you have devised defenses for the following:
1. how to defend yourself when the holder of the QS is void in something (usually diamonds, sometimes clubs), you have the 4 and the other players have the 2 and 3;
2. perhaps you have also learned when to pass the A-K spades and when to hold them because the more spades in your hand the better if the Q is coming to you. And it is coming to you;
3. you know what to do when you are dealt a lone QS or KS or AS on a hold hand;
4. you know what to do when you are dealt a lone QS or KS or AS, you pass it and get one or both of the ones you didn't have passed to you;
5. you have a workable defense for the times when you have the QS with 5 protectors and one of the bots has all of the other 7 spades and keeps leading them;
6. I am sure that you know what to do when it becomes clear that one of the bots is attempting to shoot the moon and all you have are low cards and the other bots are sloughing off their high cards;
7. And last and perhaps most-importantly I guess it's a given that you can defeat the bots when they trade cards among themselves after the play has begun. I know for certain that the game does this because I have seen it. I recently played 125 games of the XP version of MS Hearts with the cards face-up for all players and I have seen cards come out the wrong hands.
Tim, many of us have seen all these things and more. Yes, the game is stupid and you can frequently get away with stuff that a human player would never fall for. But to compensate for that stupidity the designers of the game have resorted to a non-random apportioning of the cards so that the human player does not win every game. In a game played with a fair, random deal with players of equal skill you should win 25% of the time. Every one of us is winning more often than that but as has been said many times here, it's how you lose that is irksome.
If you came here to defend this game you will have to try harder than that.
Thanks Tim for the injection of sanity into these ravings of bitterness!
@ sheba - You're hilarious. If you aren't a shill for the game designer and you truly believe MSHearts deals the cards randomly then please consider my latest game.
I am now "dumping" games where I feel I have been blatantly cheated so my record after resetting my stats is 25-0. So the game is fighting back the only way it knows how.
1. Got the QS in the deal, passed it, no problem
2. Got the QS in the deal, passed it, no problem
3. Got the QS in the deal, passed it, got the A-KS in return, no problem
4. Got a lone AS in the deal in this hold hand, no problem
5. Got the KS in the pass, no problem
6. Got AS in the deal with only 1 cover, passed it, no problem
7. Got A-QS in the deal, passed them, no problem
8. Got AS in the deal, passed, no problem
9. Got A-QS in the pass, no problem
10. Got KS in the deal with 4 covers so I held it, no problem,
11. Got AS in the pass, no problem
Game over, I won scores were 28, 112, 67, 79.
Now if you're a true believer please tell me how a "random" deal can place some permutation of Ace, King, Queen of Spades in my hand for every single play.
Just asking.
Just off the top of my head I'd say that with four hands and three top spades the odds on every hand would be in favor of you getting at least one.
@ Sheba - I see your point. I have two:
1. There is a one-in-four chance on every hand for any individual card to be dealt to me. And there is a one-in-three chance on every hand that any individual card will be passed to me. The odds become much longer when one considers the chance that one particular individual card will be dealt or passed to me in several consecutive hands. But it happens. My question is: if the gods of randomness can deal or pass me the Queen Spades in 8 consecutive hands as recently happened, why can't they give me 8 consecutive hands where I don't see her, which has never happened?
2. There are 22,100 possible combinations of 3 cards from a 52 card deck. In a 13 card hand there are 286 combinations so 286 times the 4 hands gives 1144 possible 3 card combinations every deal. So we should expect any particular 3 card combination to appear every (22100\1144 = 19) 19 hands in one of the player's hands. It seems to many of us that the 3 card combination A-K-Q Spades appears more often than that and when it does it generally appears in the human player's hand or in the hand that will pass to him. That does not seem random.
@ Tim. You my be a heckuva nice fellow, but if you've played 1800 games of MS Hearts and haven't seen any cheating, I have some serious doubts. My radar says "shill" or "troll". I can and have proven that the deal is NOT random, which is cheating, plain an simple. I have made several offers on straight up bets which no one has taken. #1 I pay you $100 for every card other than QS that is dealt as a singleton. You pay me $5,100 when the QS is dealt as a singleton. #2 I pay you $10 for every 2H you are dealt, you pay me $10 for each QS you are dealt.
@ Anonymous August 18 guy - That's a bet that no one will take. A shill on Yahoo Answers told me that he has an 85% win rate and suggested I don't know how to play. When I asked him to share his strategies for defending against such things as a lone QS on a hold hand and the bots trading cards amongst themselves during the play he declined to reply.
Oh yeah, one more thing since apparently I have nothing else to do except comment on this blog. Where I come from the game of Hearts has some unwritten rules. For examples: if Player A deliberately puts himself over 100 so that player C will win or Player A puts Player B over 100 so that Player C will win or Players A, B and C team up to pound the points on Player D even though he already has the high score, let's say that there would be questions asked.
OK, lunch break is over. I have to get going. It took 5 dumped games before I got one that was playable. I was winning and was dealt AKQ Spades but the hand look promising so I passed garbage, got some good ones, finessed a couple Hearts (you'd never pull that on a human player) and shot the moon. Next hand was a hold and I got AKQ Spades again. Are you kidding me? Were the Gods of Randomness on their lunch break too? Anyway, I got rid of the Queen that hand, took her the next and won on the next. Random?
@ Will - I dump games so I have long win streaks & high win pct. and get pounded pretty hard by the MS program. Yesterday I had a game where east took 25 the 1st hand. Not to break my arm patting my own back, but I turned two total crap hands into moon shots. After three hands the score is 0,53,52,77. I ended up with 61 points and won by less than 10 pts. Counting the two moon shots, I had 6 crap hands in a row with no chance of avoiding QS.
I think I can top that. A couple weeks ago I was using my old Athlon system with Windows XP so I could play with all the cards face-up. I had 22 points and the bots all had over 70. I lost. I could see the cards and I still could not defend myself. How's that for futility?
I still haven't caught it outright cheating. I count the cards somewhat and win about two out of every three games. I shoot the moon whenever I can because the game sucks at stopping it. I would never try to shoot the moon so often against human players.
I've played about 3,000 games, and I still haven't caught it breaking the rules, like reneging on a suit. The only complaint that I have the lack of true randomness. It's amazing how many times I can play a 5 of hearts, and each of the other three computer players have a smaller heart (2,3,4). Statistically, that should happen maybe once every 366 hands, but it happens much more often.
@ Anon Aug 20 - When I played with the cards face-up I saw cheating twice that I am 100% certain of. Cards came out the wrong hands during the play. There were other times when I felt that it happened but I was not 100% sure.
I have heard that the game will take steps to ensure that the human player's stats will not become too horrible. After I reset the stats on my Win 7 laptop I played 20 games where I tried to lose. I did not ever see the game passing up a chance to sting me when it could. Maybe you need to lose more games than that. Having said that I managed to shoot-the-moon twice inadvertently while doing that experiment.
I started dumping games late so my record is only 33-0 so far since I started it.
I don't know what dumping games means. If I quit a game, and don't save it for later, it counts as a loss for me.
Playing MS Hearts probably isn't good for me as a player because I've adopted all kinds of strategies that would be stupid against real players. I will often keep the AS and KS in my hand because I "know" that I'm going to get passed the QS (which often happens). I sometimes pass small cards of a particular suit just to unload the QS if I get the chance. If I'm dealt the QS, it's very rare that I pass it to another player (if I have a few other spades) unless it's to the right. It's definitely not a random game.
I need to Google how to play the game with the bots' cards showing just to experience it sometime. If I catch it outright cheating as you claim, I think I'll just quit playing (even though I somehow manage to beat the game most of the time).
@ Aug 22 Anon - Dumping is what some of us do when MSHearts pulls a blatant cheat on us. Some examples are: odds-defying apportioning of the cards like getting AKQ Spades in consecutive hands, getting a lone QS on a hold hand,etc.
Do a ctrl-alt-del to open Task Manager. Highlight Hearts and end it. Two windows will then open. On the second window click on "end now" and the game will not count as a loss. This works for Win 7.
As for playing with the cards face-up, it can be done with the XP version of MSHearts, I don't think you can do it with 7. Someone posted the procedure here and I will re-post it later when I get home.
Playing with the cards face-up is a real treat even if you don't see what I saw re: outright cheating. You will see ahead of time how cards are placed in the exact place they need to be to sting you. Frequently you will be able to plot your way out out a jam but just as frequently you will see a situation that is hopeless.
Good luck and have fun.
To play the cards face-up in Win XP:
1. in the Start menu select run
2. Type in "regedit" and then hit Enter
3. Click on H_KEY_CURRENT_USER
4. Click on Software
5. Click on Microsoft
6. Click on Windows
7. Click on CurrentVersion
8. Click on Applets
9. Click on Hearts
10. Select New String Value from the Edit menu
11.Name the string ZB and give a value of 42
Now, after the cards have been dealt all you have to do is "ctrl-alt-shift-F12" and the cards will flip over. It will stay in this mode until you exit the game.
Oh most powerful Gods of Randomness, this most unworthy player of Microsoft Hearts feels bound to tell you that someone within your realm has failed to serve you faithfully.
You see, this week I was playing Hearts on my lunch break on Wednesday and I received the combination A-K-Q of Spades dealt to me in two consecutive hands.
According to my mathematically-inclined friends the chance of this happening is one in 1,308,736. Then today, Friday it happened again.
So ummmm, could you ask your staff to fix this? Respectfully...
I'm still trying to figure out one of the strangest plays I've seen, even in this crap game. The score was like 19, 17, 60-something, 70-something. On a "pass across" hand, I passed AC, KC, JH and got back 3S, 7S, 9S. North led 2C and I took the trick with JC. I led a spade,followed by QS, AS, 10S. Watching the rest of the hand, neither west or north held any other spades. Why would north pass me 3 small spades and keep the ace? Did "chosen one" west hold QS or was it passed to him? North held several small cards, including 5H and 8H, which argues against him setting up a moonshot. Was this just an elaborate scheme protecting the "chosen one"? Smelled pretty fishy to me.
When I played the XP version with the cards exposed I observed that the bots always pass the QS. I never saw it held. So the West in your game had it passed to him. We know that the bots protect each other but North could have done that by simply holding the AS. I almost never pass small Spades and it gives me pause when a bot does it.
I think your scenario just shows how stupidly the game plays the cards.
I wish someone from the game designer would come to one of these forums and talk with us. Anyone who worked with BASIC on his 1980's home computer knows how easy it is to write code for a random distribution of 52 cards into 4 groups. That is not the problem.
I think the problem is writing AI that plays the cards like a human would. I do not think they know how to do that and so they rely on pre-determined sets of cards to even the odds.
When I had Win 95 I had a CD with Hearts and Spades on it. With Hearts the deal seemed random but the problem was the stupid play. I could win nearly every game and that's no fun either.
Got the A-K-Q of Spades dealt to me in consecutive hands again today. I guess the gods of randomness didn't hear my prayer.
I have a 74% win percentage on Win 7 Ultimate version of hearts. My current best strategy to defend against the obvious cheating is very funny. I always play a game of freecell in between games of hearts. I would love it if someone else would try this and see if it ups their win percentage because it has helped mine incredibly. Previously, I would only play one game per day, which seemed to help tremendously, but this new strategy has worked much better. Other than that, I just assume all of the worst cheating will occur, which allows me to predict the computer players' cards. I also try to shoot the moon whenever it seems like I might have a slim chance, because this version of the game is ridiculously bad at defending against it.
@ Sep 4 Anon Person - I congratulate you on your success. But it seems to me that there must be more to your strategy than what you have shared. In my experience more than 26% of games are simply not winnable because of the number of unplayable hands that the game presents from it's cache of fixed apportioning of the cards. Could you please share more of your strategy?
I am particularly interested in what you do with singleton A or K or Q Spades on a hold hand. Since I started dumping games where my intelligence has been insulted, I have been getting singletons more often.
I agree that the human player should be able to shoot-the-moon more often than in a game played with people and random deals. One has to learn to recognize those opportunities but always be aware that the "magic 10" is sometimes waiting to squash your plans.
I've only come across this blog recently. What a treat!
I've been convinced certain MS Hearts cheats for a while now. Basically, I see these weird distributions all the time. In my experience, the program picks the winner from the get-go and selects a designated loser who vacuums up all the points if the human player is behind. It's still vaguely interesting to see if I can dump enough points on the designated winner to steal a game.
I'm interested in the comments about game-dumping. I've never done this, as I'm still (inexplicably) curious about the best winning percentage that can be achieved even though the machine cheats. I currently on a 57% winning percentage after ~ 6900 games. I was wondering how good/bad this is, without employing game-dumping. Anyone know?
@ as_phito: When I played the XP version with the cards face-up I got stuck at 55-56% even though I could see everything as it happened. There were so many unplayable hands presented that I could not do better than that. With my Win 7 laptop I was also stuck at 50-55% without cheating before I started dumping games. Now I am 68-1 and the unplayable hands are astounding. My record for dumping is 16 in a row, others have reported a higher number.
As for your other question, people come to this forum and other forums claiming win ratios of 70% and higher. They claim that they know how to exploit the flaws in the program and sometimes suggest that we complainers are simply poor players. These people are trolls, shills and liars. When you ask them to share their strategies, they stop responding.
I suggest you read the comments here at Mrs B's. Many people have fascinating observations to share.
Well Mrs B I like your thought process.
I have played well over 2000 games and am sitting on a 62% win rate, however, just like you I think the game "cheats" at times.
I had a real problem at around the 700 game mark where I couldn't consistently keep over 55% but I found the answer was to trust your instinct and play against your normal game a bit more often, for example I would keep an average hand and try to get by with a few points but once I decided to go for the moon more often I actually got through a lot more with pretty average hands than I did with pretty crappy hands.
I also started giving away more "good" cards to ensure at least some suits were covering my remaining cards.
Good luck, I am sure you will pass 40% easy sooner or later.
Gbert
Like Will, above, I learned to cheat by dumping. I got so fed up of Hearts cheating I now dump as and when it is possible to beat me. I then start another game. The pc hasn't won for two months in that time, and I have won maybe thirty times. The pc game is desperate to get the stats sorted, and is sending out incredible batches of impossible hands. Even then I play until I can be beaten by a pc player Shooting the Moon, and before playing another hand I dump the game.
It's a pity to do this as I love the real game from some 60years ago, but once the competitive element is absent and the results are controlled, cheating the system is all that is left, unless one is a submissive!
Hi Dave. It has become tiresome for me. I have to dump 10 games for every one that I can play through without having my intelligence insulted by unplayable hands. Like you, I have played this game for decades and I have only 2 wishes: 1. play against the computer with random deals; and 2. play online with real people and not have the first person who takes the Queen quit.
I've played hearts against real people for over 50 years, (I started playing at age 10) & real play people play hearts completely different than the computer. The thing is, - you must take advantage of all the quirks in the computer program. I have played hearts on microsoft since it first game out & it is a lot harder now than when it first came out. At first I could win on a regular basis in 4 hands by taking control of every hand. Now I relish the times I can do that, (since it only happens now & then). I have played over 5000 games & I have a 65% win rate. The only reason it is so low is because I try to take control to often.
I visited this site to see if I could learn some good strategies to improve my 65% win record & I realized that in fact I was doing very well compared to all the losers out there who do not know how to play hearts. The computer does not cheat, - but it has quirks (which you can exploit). My advise to all you losers is to get off your computer & get out of the house & play real people more often & your game will improve.
@ wild bill - You're an amateur. Other shills & liars have come here boasting of win rates as high as 85%, citing their intelligence and ability to exploit the weakness in this game. You'll have to try harder. A good start would be to elaborate on your strategy for all of us losers out here.
Your statement about the game not cheating is ridiculous. Examples are numerous but here are a few:
1. cards coming out of the wrong hands during the play
2. being dealt A-K-Q spades in consecutive hands and see it happen the next day
3. being dealt or passed Q spades 8 hands in a row but never, never, ever play 8 hands without getting her
4. and the guy who actually kept track over hundreds of games of how many times each of the 52 cards is dealt as a singleton in the human player's hand. Guess which card is the runaway winner!
Like I said, in this blog you will have to try harder.
You have got it all wrong Will Shank. Its not about intelligence, - its about the fact that playing the computer is nothing like playing real people. All the computer can do is "count" cards, (which it does perfectly), - but it cannot recognize the difference between when you are playing safe or when you are going for control. Real people can figure this out very quickly & more important they adjust their play based on your history & preferred tendencies, - which the computer cannot do. I do not play microsoft hearts for a challenge, - I play it for mindless fun & an way to escape my thoughts. Other than when microsoft hearts first came out, I have never been able to hit a 85% success rate, - but I do believe it is possible, especially if you play a more conservative game than what I play. I just enjoy going for control as often as I can. The fact that I have good card sense has little to do about my intelligence & more to do with the fact that I have played serious card games since before I was 10 & I continued playing serious card games in High School & more important I played cards at work for money as a full time fire fighter for over 37 years. As I said in my first blog, - if you really want to improve your game, - play real people.
Christ, there's a lot of dumb people on here ...
No, the game doesn't cheat. But the AI IS very very bad at Hearts, which means it will often make dumb decisions (like avoiding taking 1 point to stop someone from shooting the moon), but they'll make these same decisions against you and the other AI. (so you can shoot the moon much more against the AI than you can against humans, because they'll regularly needlessly throw away the only card that can stop you)
Often the AI's stupidity will hurt you if you aren't in the lead, because they'll cause you to lose by ending the game faster, but just as often the bad AI is helping you.
That's why everyone is beating the game at a rate of over 25%. Of course not everyone that's visited here is a good player. But they're still better than the horrible AI. (and btw if the AI wanted to cheat they could surely keep you from winning at all)
And yes, for the record, it is very possible to maintain a winrate of well over 38%. I'm at 57% over my last 350 games, and as I keep finding ways to improve my play I notice my winrate steadily creep upwards. (I use to have a hard time winning more than 50% of the time, largely due to not trying to shoot the moon enough)
One last thing: People keep saying that East seems to win more often than not. That's probably due to how you're playing.
Leading spades into east allows them to dump the Ace or King of spades if they have it, so it's very beneficial to them. But of course you often want to lead spades anyways to get the Queen out.
So a good way to counter this advantage is to look for opportunities early in games to go out of your way to hit East with the Queen of Spades. Then you can regularly lead spades into them without worrying about helping out the AI with the lowest score.
Common hearts strategy means you have to not just play your hand, but play the score. Go out of your way to hurt the low scores and help the high scores. The AI is too stupid to do this, but that's not an excuse for you. If East is beating you too much it's because you're being to nice to east.
Adjust your strategy instead of turning your brain off and just assuming the AI is cheating you!
I played my first game of Hearts in 1971; against people of course. I played my first MS Hearts game in 1995. And yes, I noted right away that it does not play like people.
I agree that the AI is stupid. You can shoot-the-moon way more often against this game than you ever could versus people. When was the last time you finessed a 6 Hearts against human beings?
I have not played against real people with real cards in many years but I remember what it was like. Here are some of the things I remember:
1. in a game with real people 3 of them do not generally gang up on and pound the points to the 4th when he already has the high score
2. in a game with real people you do not often see one player intentionally gobble up points and bust themselves so another will win
3. in a game with real people you almost never see one player hit 99 and stick there for several hands
4. real players do not generally slough off their high cards after it has become clear that another is trying to shoot-the-moon
5. real players do not let another renege and get away with it
6. in a game played with real cards you never see the Q Spades and six other Spades in one hand and the other seven Spades all in another
7. in a game played with real cards, one player would not be dealt A-K-Q Spades in consecutive hands more than once in their lifetime
8. in a game with real cards you hardly ever see one player taking 25 points more than once in a game
9. in a game with real cards no one player sees the Q Spades dealt or passed to them in 8 or more consecutive hands.
I think when people talk about cheating they are mostly referring to the non-random nature of the deals. Having said that, when I played the XP version with all four hands face-up I witnessed cards coming out of the wrong hands on several occasions.
If you have read the comments here that were written by people who made a study of this game and you still dispute that the deals are fixed then I suggest that you look closely at the games that you do not win and ask yourself "Why?".
2008? it's now 2014 and NOTHING had been done to fix this.
On Microsoft forums they have the patronizing recovery advice to re-install Windows implying that we all have had a bad installation lololol
I would also like to point out that not just Hearts but ALL!! the games that come pre-installed with Windows do the same thing.
@ Anon Dec 8 - MS Spades is like that too. It's different because you play against 4 humans (until the inevitable quitting starts). I used to have a win percentage of about 20% because I quit so many games. Now I don't quit when something stupid happens, I dump. I have an 80% win rate in Spades since started to dump. What I consider to be "stupid" is:
1. someone bids blind nil on the first hand
2. someone bids blind nil for any reason other than a "Hail Mary" situation
3. someone has a temper tantrum and bids 13 to punish their partner
4. I am the only human player remaining.
Anyway, I suspect that MS Spades massages the hands.
I heard that there is a Hearts for the Android platform that plays pretty strongly. The person who told me says he doesn't remember which one he tried. So I spent 99 cents and installed the AI Factory version of Hearts on to my Android tablet. It's a disappointment.
The first two games were clearly gifted to me, winning was so easy. The bots played so stupidly. But the hammer fell on me after that.
AI Factory Hearts isn't as blatant as MS Hearts but it uses many of the same tricks: the 2-3-4-5 cutsie, suits split between only two players, the holder of the Q Hearts is void in one suit, the bots help each other to shoot-the-moon, the bots pound the points on the human player even when he already has the high score. Bots will sometimes bust themselves so that another will win. But mostly the AI in the play is erratic, unpredictable.
Games are mostly decided by the apportioning of the cards. I have been dealt a singleton Q Spades on a hold hand many times. I have captured the Q Spades with a 4 on the first time around for a suit many times.
When I win, I win easily. When I lose I have no chance.
But the thing that gets AI Factory Hearts deleted from my tablet is seeing a bot lead a Heart before they were broken. If that kind of program error exists then you can't trust anything.
On the manufacturer's web site their usual response is "it's proving more difficult to [insert the glitch you saw] than we thought.
AI Factory Hearts is worth 99 cents.
If all players played the same your win % would be about 25% over time. I believe the computer is just a good player - the XP version seems like it was not that good. I win about 67% of the time with the Windows 7 version and won once with 0 points.
Some things that helped me...
You have to adapt your strategy to the cards.
- Obviously count the number of cards played in each suit as the game progresses.
The computer usually passes a combination of hearts and spades. I adapt my strategy to counter this:
- I very seldomly pass hearts cards.
- And depending on my cards I seldomly pass spades.
- I usually keep all my spades even if I have only 3 spades with a K of spade. This is to have a safeguard against the Q of spade being passed to me.
- I typically pass clubs so that I can throw an Ace or K of spades on the first trick. Obviously only if you do not have the Q in hand.
- If I have just a few diamonds and a lot of clubs I pass diamonds.
- If I have low diamond I would rather pass clubs. If I have low clubs I would rather pass diamonds.
- Special pass if passing to right. If I have lowish cards in clubs and diamonds and a few spades with a Q and A (or K) of spades. I just pass the Q and keep the other 2 (or 3) spades.
An enjoyable game where I feel skill does give you some edge over the computer. Good Luck!
Mrs. B here...as in, yeah, the one who posted this post almost 6 years ago seven years ago now~!
My most recent run is decent; 57% win rate (have played 52 games).
It does seem one has to reset everyone once in awhile in order to keep the percentage higher.
I no longer believe it cheats per se but I wonder at some of the improbable hands I am dealt. Is that cheating? Luck of the draw?
In any event, I've definitely improved my play in the past years!
Hello Mrs B and thank you for starting this blog. The things that people have written here have been a revelation to me.
I am saddened that the shills & liars who have come here to defend this game have got to you as illustrated by your statement that you no longer think it cheats. But I suppose that depends on what you consider cheating.
In my opinion an allocation of cards that is not random is a cheat. No one gets A-K-Q of Spades in consecutive hands 3 times in one week in games played with real cards. As you surely know, that is only one example.
After finding this blog I dug out my old XP machine and played 100 games with the cards face-up. Yes, I won too often but the games I lost were the education.
And then there's the fellow who kept track over hundreds of games exactly how often each of the 52 cards is dealt to the human player as a singleton in that suit. You can guess which card was the runaway winner.
I no longer play it. Dumping games and getting the "win" rate up to 99% is no fun either. Every.Single.Hand is about managing the permutation of A-K-Q of Spades that is dealt to you.
Thanks again. Regards...
You have to be pretty dense to be a loser at Windows Hearts and then suspect foul play.
The basic probability of winning is 0.25 and if you are losing over 75% of the time then you are pretty bad at the game.
My long-term average over more than 100 games is 42% and that's without counting and a lot of showboating, going for the Moon.
Anything over a win rate of 25% and you are beating chance. Less than that and you need to learn how to play better.
The AI in Windows Hearts is not good. Especially, with AI players shotting themselves in the foot by stopping another loser from getting a Moon to even the game up and draw the leader back.
Don't know if someone has posted one, here is one of my perfect games
http://s18.postimg.org/zcm3ka0zd/Perfect_Game.jpg
Have done so three times and it was before I knew of the trick to see all open hands.
Cheers
Countless times I have seen this pattern in MS Hearts. I hold the Q + 2 smaller spades, East starts a spades around to North's Ace, North continues spades around to West's King, West plays once more & drops my then lone Queen.
Yet I have never seen this pattern occur to East i.e. North plays first to West, West continues to me then I drop East's Queen. Never!!
.
I have played this game over 30,000 rounds. No doublt that I'm a expert in playing this game. My average winning record is 61% but never over 64%. Whenever when I reach 64% the game starts playing tricks and cheats to let me down to the 58% or 59%. This game is not designed to develop your skills, talents, membery capability, or any other positive stuffs. It was designed to let you down at all. I wonder why a hugh computer company designed such a bad game to let his customers upset and frustrated. Why? Oh! It's Microsoft - so self-arrogant at all. So, give up this company and all its products maybe the best way for all of us.
I have been playing hearts with an eye towards catching it cheating. Didn't take long either. The 1st hand of the game dealt and I had all the high diamonds and all the high hearts....not the kind of hand you would ever see in the real world, I admit. After the 3 card pass the game began. East took the first clubs hand (no hearts or queen of course). With my excellent hand, I won all the rest of the plays. Game ends and it shows north got the 6 & 7 of hearts. When? I won all the hands, so where did North get
the hearts? I don't THINK hearts cheats, I have personally observed it cheat.
Looking back on the many comments on these pages, let's see what we've established:
1. Some people lie about their hearts prowess.
2. Exhaustive examples that hearts cheats
3. The game knows where ALL the cards cards are, at all times
4. The game decides which cards to deal you in a non-random way
5. It's not you against 3 other players, it's you (with your 1 hand) against the game with it's access to 3 hands.
Now that that's established, the question is: What to do about it? Simple answer.
The only effective (and legal) action to take is to use the social media to find out the name of the person who programmed the hearts game or signed off on its release (the persons name, not the company name) AND MAKE IT PUBLIC.
Credit where credit is due, right?.......and shame where shame is due!
Spread the word, broadcast it, pass the word around, put it on YouTube, Twitter, and
any other media you can reach. Find out who created this hearts program that is so
offensive to so many people, and publicize who that is!
I honestly don't think the game cheats. When you get random deals, weird things happen. When you cap out at a high win percentage, it just means you've reached your level. I win between 63-66% of the time. That's a fairly typical number. The computer players have a really stupid algorithm: play the lowest card they can (except to hold high cards to stop you from shooting; i.e. they tend to not throw the Ace of Hearts). When I get a run of randomly generated good hands, I think I'm a hearts genius. When random factors don't fall in my favor I don't get upset or angry at the game BECAUSE IT'S A STUPID PROGRAM.
The cheats you people are talking about are ridiculous, it would be completely cost-ineffective to put all that effort in a silly game. If they really wanted to cheat, people wouldn't win 65ish percent of the time.
If you are getting upset about hearts and want to harm the developers, perhaps you should step back and examine your life. And when the whole world is using Win 10, it will be gone and you'll have to find something else to hate.
I've read almost all the comments, and found them so reflective of society, most are emotional and very little rational.
First of all, to all comments about "the game reflects Microsoft behaviour", sorry to bust your bubble, but have you bothered yourself to check the ABOUT page of the game? On Windows 7, it says "developed by Oberon Games".
This reminded me of an event that I attended last week where presenter from Nascar said "At Nascar we are all fans of open source stuff, so I'm using a Mac as you can see". And nobody had the courage to stop the idiot and tell him that Mac is not open source. Apparently, many people think that anything not Microsoft must be absolutely good or open source. This is how ignorant some people are.
Most those with rates below 60% are average players. 70% or 80% should be no troubles for seasoned players. This explains most comments with "proofs" of "cheats". You don't know how to play, so you think those moves are weird and "cheating". Most of those moves are also done seasoned players. Few comments explained some tricks already, so I will just give a few more examples:
1- Passing QS early before a chance of knowing who has what: Some comments already explained some possible reasons (testing the waters and preparing for a run), but there are other reasons. If you feel that the chance of sucking up the Q is too high (e.g. you only have 1-2 other spades (and not K and A), try to play them and then lay the Q hoping for another player having only the K or A or both. After playing 4 or 8 spades, your chances of getting rid of the Q by laying it are much better than if you keep it when your other cards are bad. This is basically playing with chances.
2- Somebody mentioned that he can never find a reason for passing 2,3,4 hearts. Really? Let's say you have high cards in all suits and then A,2,3,4 of hearts, then what do you do?
3- Several comments said that a possible run cannot be detected in the first few hands. Really? You should be trying to detect it even when passing the cards before any hand is played. If you're passed low cards, then please... I beg you... think of a possible run. Even if you don't detect it, you should be actively preventing it whenever possible by laying a heart card to two different players (including yourself when necessary).
This reminds me of a girl used to play with us sometimes. When one of us lays a card and demands from another player to lay a specific card (because it was the last card left), she shouts "guys, how did you know that?". We tried to explain counting, but it was pointless. It was still magical to her. When we don't have enough knowledge or understanding of what's going on, we tend to think it's magical or cheating or something else. We don't easily admit our shortcomings.
Is the dealing skewed? Yes the dealing seems to be off. Was that intentional (to control the difficulty) or bad programming? Both are not good, as many of you said. Are the bots teaming up? Maybe, but certainly not always. Humans team up too, so that's not bad, but again, maybe it’s not programmed perfectly.
As for those who asked for a comparison between MS Hearts and playing with humans. I did both for much longer than I care to remember. Interestingly, playing against average players was much easier than MS Hearts. I played with a group back in high school and I won almost 100% even when they teamed up until they gave up in frustration and we switched to other games. When I played against seasoned players, we maintained close to 25% each. This tells us two things: 1) MS Hearts level can reach above average (if played by a seasoned player). Some moves and patterns are bad and predictable, but the cards counting is perfect and some patterns are good. Average players should score 40-60%. 2) Those who are very frustrated with their below 60% score with MS Hearts should not attempt to play against seasoned players if they want to live a bit longer.
How to prove to YOURSELF whether Win-Hearts Cheats
We all know that in regular real-life hearts games, the other players do not know what is in your hand. So, if you prove that the Win-Hearts game not only knows what's in your hand, but ACTS on that knowledge, then you have proved it cheats. Here are step-by-step directions on how to do this. My system is Win 7, if yours is different, the details will be slightly different as to file locations.
1. Start Win hearts.
2. Under game pull-down menu, un-check all the boxes (because you must be able to
restart a saved game).
3. Select the 3 cards that you want to pass to the left....just select them, don't
pass them yet.
4. Close the game (the X in the upper right corner)....when it asks to save game,
save it.
5. Click open the Computer (or My Computer) shortcut.
6. In the column on the left, find "Saved Games".
7. In "Saved Games" find "Microsoft games"
8. In the "Hearts" folder you will find a file "Hearts.HeartsSave-ms". Copy this
file to your desktop.You will now be able to recreate the exact hand and
circumstance of that last hand at any time.
9. Start up hearts again and "continue the saved game".
10. Take note of which cards you pass to the left and then pass them.
11. Play out the rest of the hand, keeping track of the cards held in the other 3
"players" hands as they play.
You will now know exactly what cards are in the hands of the other 3 players.
12. Close the game again.
13. copy the Hearts.HeartsSave-ms file on your desktop, back into the Hearts folder
you opened earlier.
14. restart the hearts game and "continue saved game"
Everything will be as it was before, particularly the exact cards in the hands
of the other players.
You are now able to choose completely different cards to pass to the left.
IF THE CARDS PASSED BY THE OTHER 3 PLAYERS REMAINS THE SAME (NO MATTER WHICH CARDS YOU PASS), THEN THE GAME IS FAIR.
IF THE CARDS PASSED BY THE OTHER 3 PLAYERS CHANGE (WHEN YOU CHANGE YOUR 3 PASS CARDS),
THEN THE "GAME" NOT ONLY KNOWS WHAT CARDS YOU HAVE, BUT WHICH CARDS YOU ARE
PASSING........THIS WOULD BE PROOF OF CHEATING.
**To recheck what different cards have been passed, simply play out the game and keep
track of what the 3 players NOW have in their hands. You can repeat this as
often as needed by simply copying the saved game (from desktop) back into the
hearts folder.
One further note.
This process will not work on the very first hand of a game.
Best to do it at a point in the game when you are doing very well.
To Anonymous November 15 & 17:
I went through your procedure on my work laptop. It's Windows 7 Enterprise. In my case the saved file was in users/shankw/savedgames etc.
I replayed the saved file twice and all the cards were in the correct hands. There was no re-dealing behind the scenes. So this shows that in this case there was no cheating. This experiment in no way invalidates the many observations made by myself and many others.
One more time: Yes, any decent player will win at MS Hearts much more often that they would when playing human beings. It's how you lose that is annoying. I would like to think that I have a shot at winning every game but my experience while playing 100 games with all cards face-up clearly showed that you don't. In some games, you have zero chance.
Lately I have been playing Hearts Gold on my Android tablet. It's different from MS Hearts. At first I didn't get the feeling that the deal was fixed or the bots were teaming up against me or helping each other. My win rate there is about 75%. The bots play really stupidly. But recently something has changed. I'm now seeing the same old stuff: the Q Spades in my hand either from the deal or from the pass as many as seven hands in a row, pass the Q Spades and get the A or K or both in return, the "cutsie", take the Q Spades with a 4 the second time around for a suit, get dealt the Ace or King or Queen with no protectors in the Hold hand.
With Hearts Gold as with MS Hearts, you can lose the games you're supposed to win, but you can never win the games that you're supposed to lose.
If you're not a believer yet, how about this? Several tricks were played and then East took a Heart. I won the next trick and led the 3 of Hearts. West played the Queen of Spades, North played the 2 of Hearts and East sloughed off something. Yes, I won the trick (and the Queen)with a 3 the first time around for Hearts. After that it turned out that every remaining Heart was in either my hand or West's hand. Every Heart I led out was under cut by west and I ended up taking 25 points.
That was the 3rd consecutive hand where I took the Queen of Spades and so the score at that point was me having 63 points and the bots having the other 13 split amongst them. Yep, that happens with a random deal.
And of course there is my favorite example how MS Hearts is rigged. I think I might have told you about it already but it bears repeating.
I had 22 or 23 points, the bot players all had over 70. I had brought the old Athlon desktop system out of retirement so I could play the XP version with the cards face-up. Yes, I could see all the cards and I still could not stop what happened. Three consecutive hands in which I took 20+ points and the game was over with me not winning.
There is no way you can massage that into "random deal", no matter how hard you try.
I'm playing Hearts on Windows 7. I'd already noticed that it cheats. I caught it reneging at least twice and the other three players routinely conspire to increase my points/losses rather than playing as individuals. But today it actually LET me win. I was trying to shoot the moon but miscounted and on the last hand I played 10 of Diamonds. West played Ace of Diamonds and one of the other players played a heart. Thus, West should've won the hand. But instead I won and shot the moon. I've played nearly 900 times for relaxation. But now that I'm fully aware of all the cheating and programming errors it's not fun anymore.
^^to add to my above Anon comment...after reading through the other comments here I'm most appalled by the people claiming the computer does not cheat. That begs the questions—which is worse, to notice the cheating and be frustrated because you can't stop it, or to not notice the cheating at all and think you're playing a fair game? My opinion: I'd rather know. Otherwise, you're just a sheep.
To Anon Dec 27 - I recommend that you dump games when you feel that you have been cheated and then it won't count as a loss. If you dump those games you will accumulate a really high win rate. Yes, it's a fake but it makes playing more fun because the game will fight back the only way it knows how: it will rig the deal. Above 90% you will see other-worldly stuff like getting the Queen of Spades in the deal 8 hands in a row and getting dealt the A-K-Q of Spades in consecutive hands. You can find a way to have fun with it or not play.
I don't really play win hearts because it cheats. I just wanted to get my 2 cents in. The game has a fixed set of hands that it deals out, already knowing that the results will be within a known acceptable range. The game can just randomly assign the 3 non-heart suits to that fixed set of hands since it won't really matter to the outcomes. Add to that the 3 bots working together against you and you end up with the situation superbly described by a previous commenter: You can lose the hand you are supposed to win, but you cannot win the hand you are supposed to lose (well said, sir or madam)!
Hello, Anon Jan 9.
Terminology can be different from place to place, eh? Where I live, a game of Hearts is over when one player has 100 points and typically consists of from 5 to 14 hands. Each of those hands consists of 13 tricks. Your terminology may differ.
I am up to 51% after playing over 500 games, The trick is do not be consistent. Change your modus operandi and ALWAYS include a few "hit the moon" games. It makes the computer feel good when you lose.
After 2 - 3 attempts go back to the way you were playing. Never delete spades when given the option to change three of your cards/ NEVER
Cheers
Alwyn
i have been playing hearts for a very long time,i.e since XP.but tell me how do you maintain your 67+% in 7 while 25+% is impossible to!!?? my best scores are 3,6,9,12 and 14 and yet i'm at 12% after 111 games this session. this game does not cheat it simply simply f***s you once you are ready and rolling after winning a few hands!!!
1. always be ready to shoot the Moon, sometimes you will be dealt a hand that is a gift and you will be passed the cards you need;
2. try to void yourself in Clubs and/or Diamonds;
3. never pass a low Spade unless you are seriously thinking about shooting the Moon;
4. some games you will lose, nothing can be done, you will know it after 2 or 3 hands;
5. Pay attention and don't lose the games you should win.
My favorite hand is when I take 'em all without even trying!
I think a better IQ and mental sharpness will help most players. I have been playing it for over 2 years now and after playing about 3000 games. I have been able to maintain a win percentage of 64.56%. My top 5 scores are 0,0,0,0,1. My longest winning streak is 17. There have been numerous occasions when I shot the moon 4 times in a game, handing out all the computer players a shameful 100+ scores.
I have so many outstanding scores with screenshots. I am not boasting or thinking too much of myself but I can say there is no cheating by computer when you cross 37% or 40% etc. I am almost at 65% and it keeps on improving though quite slowly. It takes some mental acuity to win consistently.
Contact me if you need any help. I would be glad to assist you with this game by showing tips and tricks to beat the computer. You can share my screen and watch me beat the hell out of the 3 computer players. You may pick up some tricks in the process that will help you increase your win %.
my email = mudit1001@gmail.com.
It is absurd to claim that MS Hearts cheats. What benefit could it possibly give to Microsoft to rig the game against the player?
I have played many thousands of games of Microsoft Hearts, currently in Windows 7 and previously in XP and Vista. I play in sets of 100 games and have NEVER won fewer that 50% of the games, and often win over 60%. The last set, which I completed today, showed 67% wins for me. I have played several games, with a score of zero, and have a perfect game, with four "Moon Shots" in a row.I have screen shots to verify these claims.
My games played is 3050. My games won is 1952. Expecting to have a winning percentage of 64%, I was surprised to still be stuck at 63%. So I brought out my hand calculator which said 64%. And then I used paper and pencil, which also gave 64%.
Suppose you hold Hearts of A, K, 7 and are trying to run. You know that your opponent has Hearts of J, 10, and 6. If you lead the seven of hearts, your opponent will always play the 6. Then your A and K will complete your run successfully. This would seem to be the opposite of cheating or even falling on the sword.
I am currently on a streak of 15 consecutive wins in Microsoft Hearts. How does this fit with the theory that Hearts cheats? As I posted above, I have never won less than 50% of 100 game sets, and often win more than 60% of the games. Although I haven't finished the current 100 game set, I am at 71% wins halfway through. MS Hearts does not cheat.
Actually, in fact, the game IS rigged, and it DOES cheat. If you have ever played the game with real cards and real players, you would see this pretty quickly. I have been playing Microsoft Hearts for many, many years – thousands of games. Until I installed Windows 7 Professional on a new machine three years ago, I maintained a 58% win rate. Now it is at 57%, and I can’t increase it at all. Here are some of the inconsistencies I have noted:
1. The computer players will NEVER prevent another of them from shooting the moon, but will ALWAYS try to prevent you from doing it.
2. Although I will always try to “drive out” the queen of spades by leading small spades, the computer players will only seem to try that tactic if I hold the queen.
3. The computer players seem to know what I hold in my hand and play accordingly. I am convinced that the programmers who developed the game installed logic that takes advantage of the fact that the program knows what and where all the cards are.
4. I just completed a game where I was winning, and was beating North by about 8-10 points. East was losing with 94 points, and it looked like I was headed for a sure win. North passed me the queen of spades and held on to 4 other small spades (guards). North would only do that if it knew that I was short in spades and he could stick me with the queen. The Final score was that East broke 100 with 106, and North won the game, beating me by a point or two. They never do this sort of thing to each other.
5. In a real game of Hearts, each player is on his own, trying to win. It is always a “cutthroat” style of game. Not so with Microsoft Hearts, where the other three (computer) players team up against the human player. This isn’t anything like a real game of Hearts.
6. The computer players seem to know exactly how to transfer the lead so that a small spade can be led through my ace or king to West’s queen. It happens too often to be coincidence.
7. I can predict with about 80% accuracy that if North or East leads a spade into my ace or king, that West will hold the queen and drop it on me. This is a statistical improbability.
There are other indications of cheating, also, but I won’t go into them here. As a person who has played cards all of his life, I have learned to recognize cheating when I see it. I wouldn’t play this game at all if I could find a decent Schafkopf (Sheephead) computer game, but they either cheat also, or the computer players are idiots.
Hearts cheats in that it isn't 4 players against 4 players, it's 3 players against YOU. That's cheating enough for me. By now everyone knows Hearts cheats.
I just wanted to mention that after examining the Minesweeper program, it will suprise no one that Minesweeper cheats. Now, which ever square you uncover first, the game shuffles the bombs around so that the first "reveal" is not a bomb. That is not cheating. It's how the rest of the game proceeds that is called cheating.
This is with the win7 version. The game keeps track of what's exposed and so when you have to reveal a square about which there is no logical info (as to a bomb or not a bomb), the game knows whether there is specific info, or if you must be guessing. And that is where the cheating comes in. If you are guessing at what's under the square, the game will shuffle the unreveled bombs and squares around so that there is a bomb under the square 78% of the time. That is cheating. Of course there are 2 situations where the game CAN'T cheat: 1. there is enough "revealed" square info that the game can't shuffle bombs around without the known info revealing a "paradox" (this is rare). 2. If you have blown a game and restart it, the bombs will then be fixed. When I play the game I reveal the 1st square, I then turn it over to my wife who deliberately blows the game (with me NOT looking), she takes a screenshot, restarts the game, and reveals the same 1st square. I take it from there, since the game can't cheat after a restart.
Yes, it cheats, and the way it does it is really reprehensible, but it wouldn't be interesting at all if it didn't cheat, since you would win most of the time! The way it is able to always beat you (when it applies the "kill" command, is to play all three hands against your one hand. That is, the computer is able to shift cards between it's three hands (as long as this cannot be proven by you), and like someone else said, it willingly cooperates in allowing one of it's fellow conspirator hands to discard stopper cards (to enable shooting by one of the hands that can blow you faster toward 100. It is extremely hard to foil the built-in cheat programming when the "kill" command is activated. Plus, I think it deceives you when passing cards on the deal by showing the computer's three hands as ready to pass, but then alters these at will AFTER is sees what you pass! Call me paranoid, but I'm pretty sure this happens.
Kenny Gee
Earlier i pointed out that the minesweeper program cheated. That if you were guessing about an as-yet unrevealed square, there was a 78% chance that minesweeper would shuffle the bombs around so your guess would reveal a bomb. I wanted to make it clear that that value was obtained from actually examining the code, and that it isn't a guess, or an estimate from numerous game trials. The percentage is actually precisely 78%. You could say that the programmer gave it a mandate to cheat 78% of the time.
I will now study the Hearts program, although it isn't just a question that it cheats, of course it cheats, I just think people will be interested in learning all the ways that it cheats.
okay. the Hearts game is pretty complex and is going to take quite some time to sort out. I'll post the "revelations" as I "decrypt" them. For now, it is positively confirmed that the 3 bots activities are interconnected such that they are most definitely working against the human and NOT for "themselves". It is also confirmed that the game has a "library" of hands which it deals, according to the existing score, to force losing outcomes for the human. These things happen on a percentage basis that I haven't yet nailed down (yet), but it's already obvious that
players who "dump" the bizarro hands they get are using the only defensive tool they have against the game.
So, the game goes against the rules of play for a regular 4 human hearts game.
more to come.
you are my new hero. why did no one do this before now
okay! I hope you read the previous posts about the "library" of hands that the game has, because it's the most important part of the games play.
First of all, the "hands-library" is what allowed the original game programmers to dramatically skimp on the sophistication of the hearts-playing A.I.
If your game only deals a "limited" set of hands, then you don't have to make the game so sophisticated that it can handle every possible card-combination scenario. In other words, a less complex game requires a less complex A.I.
I'm not anywhere near tracing down all the game-play decision options, but a win percentage of 60 is, indeed, when the hammer drops and the
hands mostly come from a library cluster that I think I'll call "The Hands of Doom".
all i have time for, gotta go. more later.
In the program, the decision trees are all about probability.
No decision outcome is set to 100% (although some are set high).
The upshot of this is that you might, through sheer luck, score some
victorys against the game, but just in the short term. Over time, the unrealistic probability numbers are going to drag you down (assuming you aren't a hand "dumper").
Moving on:
Here's an interesting fact: the 3 cards that you pass, at the beginning of
each hand, can have unexpected effects on the gameplay. The hearts A.I.
selects the hands it deals to you and "itselves". Nothing you can do about
that (except hand-dumping). But the 3 cards you pass can occasionally
flummox the limited A.I. If they are so outside it's decision expectations, you could say that it boggles it's little A.I. brain. THIS is when the reneging, and the "breaking unbroken hearts" show up. As the hand progresses, your 3-card bombshell has forced it's limited A.I. down it's limited decision trees to a dead end. It's only option to recover is what we would call obvious cheating. Most recreational players don't pay close enough attention to the cards to catch this. The seasoned player will.
taking a break. this is really starting to eat up my spare time.
Okay. Let's put this controversy about Hearts "cheating" to an end. I have probed the code enough to see what's actually going on.
1. You are not really playing the game of Hearts, you are playing a simulation of
the game of Hearts with MOST of the rules of the classic Hearts game, but not all
(for instance 3-against-1 instead of every-bot-for-himself).
2. Whatever Hearts skill level you are playing it, the games design is to give you a
challenge.
If you are a weak player the game bots, and card-deals, will help you out (up to
a point).
If you are a strong player, the game will "dose" you with unrealistic hands (and
even illegal game play)so that the bots eventually win and you are forced to play
your best to keep up.
The game is programmed to be better than you in order to challenge you (even
if it has to cheat in subtle or blatantly obvious ways).
3. This is why there is a "chosen one". One bot is set up to win (or at least to
foil you) and you must do your best to even have a chance of keeping up.
Remember: if all the bots tried to win, the good player would always end up
winning and there would be no more challenge.
The bottom line here is that this is NOT really a game of Hearts, it is a Hearts simulation who's purpose is to challenge you. The Hearts A.I. is NOT complex enough
to be able to give you a consistent challenge through normal game-play, so the programmers took shortcuts such as the limited hand library, and the messed-up
"hands of doom".
Want to play "Hearts" ??? Find 3 other "People" !!!
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I have a 94% win rate on MS Hearts using Widows 7 with over 2000 games!!! However, I'll admit that I have resorted to cheating the computer which is only fair as it definitely cheats if it can. What I do is when I'm about to lose I'll open up the Start Task Manager and end the task!! The only reason I haven't won 100% of the time is that I occasionally forget. Sad, but true. :D
I think that there is no real honest hearts program game out there. I'd love to see one and i would pay money for that.
I can't believe it!
Just played a game of Hearts now and East played the Q of spades on the first spade that was put down.
The second time a spade was played... East broke Hearts!
Plus, the first 2 hands after the mandatory clubs opening hand, were the two spade rounds mentioned above.
The weirdest thing... it was on a hand where you pass to the right, and I didn't pass the Q to East!
Therefore... why on earth would East keep the Q of spades when it was his only spade to begin with?! No human player in their right mind would keep just the Q of spades, as they'd instantly win it as soon as a spade was played!
I just broke my previous record of 19 wins in a row with my twentieth consecutive victory. I'm so proud of myself I could cry!
23 and 0 before I finally lost one.
Seven years later and folks are still reading/commenting on this. Amazing what a nerve I struck!
Even Mrs. B's Father wants to comment (and he plays this game A LOT). Here are his observations:
A FEW OF MY FINDINGS AFTER THOUSANDS OF HANDS OF HEARTS
*If you have the lone Ace of Spades and Spades are led by North or East,
West will have the Queen 5 of 6 times.
*The 5 of Hearts is a loser in a Hearts lead 4 1/2 of 6 times.
*A Diamond first lead will be trumped all too many times.
*A 4 of Diamonds is the wrong play all too many times.
*If you think you are one card short of a STM and that you have a 50-50
chance..you don't. The last lead will fail you 4 1/2 of 6 times.
*In order to play at 70+%, you must think Defense first in every hand dealt.
There are more.
I will comment nevermore on Microsoft Hearts.
I think the coder pretty much got it right. The game was meant to challenge the user. I've never lost this much playing people. The best I can do is 45% wins @ 60 games.
I don't believe the bots cheat; but they definitely collude. I'm used to three against one when I'm leading....but not when I'm losing! Nor am I used to one player committing suicide to assist another. I didn't know hearts was a team game.
The program overall is pretty good...a bit predictable...and if it weren't I'd never win.
There is one aspect that really tees me off. I play with the sound off because my wife says it annoys her. Let's say I lead the Jack of clubs thinking it is the high club and I want to retain the lead...I'm looking for a run. ( I don't count cards perfectly, but I'm pretty good) Next comes what I call "the snatch". Three cards are played so swiftly and snatched of the table that all I can do is recognize one of them was red....and I didn't take the trick. I know now it is always a heart...sound or not...I go defense immediately.
I do agree that the 5-4-2-3 hearts comes up way to often. Also; you own the Queen of spades far, far more than is statistically possible.
Overall; I still like the challenge of playing with humans. They are not nearly as predictable if they are good; and you have to continually change your strategy. Right now I'm getting too predictable.
I think I'm going to take the anonymous experts advise, and find a senior center where some real hearts is being played.
There are just so many times you can be dealt the b...ch as a singleton on the hold hand, eat the b...ch with the three of clubs, play 15 hands and lose by 1 pt., or watch a beautiful run hand destroyed on the second trick....without throwing your laptop at the wall.
I'll keep watching to see if Microsoft improves the game.
The score was 44 to 46 to 46 to 46 and it said I was in 3rd place. I had 46. Should have said 2nd place.
You're worried about whether you're in second or third place with the game that even?
I'm worried about an opponent going 12 straight hands with zero points in one game.
27 straight wins against the bots! Congratulations! You should take your Mensa certificate, eidetic memory, and horseshoe to Vegas.
Gerry
Nice Blog Post !
Too many posts here to read them all so I read the last dozen or two.
If that coder is right, it makes perfect sense that the game would assign
one of the bots to be the winner. If all 3 bots played single-mindedly to win, the
human would be able to trip them up, and even predict what they would do.
I KNOW the game of Hearts cheats the player. It is absolutely impossible to win more than 4-5 games in a row and that has only happened once or twice. The result is that it is not a fun game. If you know that you can't win because it is fixed, where is the fun in playing? (that actually can't even be considered a challenge.
MBrady Massachusetts
why is femininity so devalued that it is used as an insult? A person can be intelligent in a dress, no matter what genitals hide beneath it.
I just played a game where north was running. With 4 plays left, n played the queen of hearts, east played the king, yet at the end, north had all the hearts.
I haven't been here in a while because the Windows 10 computer I got two years ago doesn't have Hearts. But I noticed something interesting the other day.
On the Spider Solitaire game where you select the difficulty there is a note: "Random deals may not be solvable".
Let's say that again. "Random deals might not be solvable".
So then, if there are random deals then there must surely be non-random deals. It seems to me then that if there are non-random deals in some games then there are non-random deals in other games, including MS Hearts.
18 wins in a row today, two shy of my record
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Hello again. I'm still playing Hearts in my spare time at work. My laptop has Windows 7. I'm performing an experiment. Every game I win, I win fair and square. But if it looks like I am going to lose, I bail out and the game does not count as a loss. I am doing this to see how the game will react to a ridiculous winning record. At this point I am 98-0 for the purpose of this experiment and the game is fighting back the only way it knows how. Everything people have documented in this blog is happening only it's relentless. It takes about 8-9 quits to get a complete game win. I expect it will take a dozen or more attempts to get the 100th win.
I always reset my stats when I drop below 70%. Today I made to 113 games before I had to reset. Took me 6 days.
For those posting the registry key, I see it uses ZB and 42. Fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy know that 42 is "the answer". ZB must then stand for Zaphod Beeblebrox, a character in the story.
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Yep, he cheats but I have played over 6000 games and have a respectable 81% win rate.
Yes, me again. I have discovered an online Hearts game that is worse than the Windows version. It's called Spades Classic. I do not own an Android device so I am limited to the browser version. This game cheats openly. This company also has their own version of Spades and in this one, the bots help each other when one of them makes a nil bid.
Yes, me again. I have discovered an online Hearts game that is worse than the Windows version. It's called Spades Classic. I do not own an Android device so I am limited to the browser version. This game cheats openly. This company also has their own version of Spades and in this one, the bots help each other when one of them makes a nil bid.
This time it took me 422 games to fall below 70%!
18 in a row again!
1 in a row!
So... what is the most you've clicked on of the little hearts that float up when you win? I once got 25 but I'm rarely able to pop more than 22.
It does cheat. It's like playing 3 against 1, when it should be each player trying to win for itself.
I just played a hand where the 5 of spades was led. followed by the ace of spades, so I played my king of spades. Last player, a bot, played a 10 of spades. The next time that bot had the lead, it led with the queen of spades. I already had one point, so it wasn't like the bot could shoot the moon. No, it took the 13 points, to keep another bot from taking the 13 points and thus going out of the game. Had the correct bot got the queen when it should have, it would have been game over due to it's high points.
I've had this happen MANY times. I can tell, usually after 4 hands or so, they will gang up on me - so I plan to shoot the moon and usually do when they try that crap.
I've had a win percentage in the 90% range for over a year before I got a new computer. New computer also does the same stuff to cheat.
For a while, I thought 50% was the limit set in the game but I'm now at 57%. I'm trying to get 50 games over 500 but as soon as I get close, like 46 or 47, I can't get any higher. Crazy - like I'll have the 3 and north will lead the 2 and east will drop the Q of spades and west with drop a heart - 14 points on a 3! Very annoying but I keep on playing trying to get 50 over 500! :-) I sometimes wonder if some of the Hearts programmers are sitting around and getting a good laugh watching the impossible struggle?!
12 years late but whatever. My Hearts record is 113 wins in a row. I am so far beyond 38% it isn't funny. I'm in the upper 90s %. The program is stupid. It has no clue when someone is trying to shoot the moon so yes the other players throw the ace of hearts like you said.... idiots.
I found a new Hearts game recently that supposedly uses real people as your opponents. I think they are bots but I'm not sure. How can I tell? Thoughts?
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