Black Maria is a popular British card game of the Hearts group for three to six players. It is an elaboration of Black Lady, itself a development of the original American game of Hearts, the progenitor of the group. Black Maria is regarded as one of the best games for three players. The name of the game is derived from the nickname given to the Queen of Spades which plays a key role. The name Black Maria is sometimes used, confusingly, for the related American game of Black Lady; likewise this game is occasionally referred to as Black Lady. While many of the games of the Hearts family may be considered as variants of 'basic' Hearts, Black Maria is "sufficiently different and popular" to justify being described as a separate game.
History and naming
According to Parlett, Black Maria was first described, and possibly devised, by Hubert Phillips, who, in referring to three-player games in The Complete Book of Card Games, describes it as "the best of them all". Although Black Maria is its most common name, it is occasionally called Black Lady which, however, usually refers to the simpler American version of Hearts that features the Queen of Spades as the only high-scoring penalty card, as opposed to the three top penalty cards that characterise Black Maria. One source states that an alternative name is Slippery Anne, although this is also an alternative name for Black Lady, while several sources erroneously give the name Black Maria to the game of Black Lady.
The game is best suited to three players, but may also be played by four, five or six. In the case of the three player game, the is removed from the pack. If five play, the and are removed and, if six play, all four 2s are removed.
Aim
The aim of Black Maria is to avoid capturing the penalty cards in tricks. The penalty cards are all the hearts,, and .
Rules
The following rules are based on Arnold.
Dealing
The dealer may be chosen by cards; lowest deals. Deal and play are clockwise. After shuffling the cards and having them cut, the dealer deals 17 cards to each player, one by one and face down, beginning with eldest hand.
Playing
Players examine their hands and pass three cards, face down, to their right-hand neighbours. They must not view the cards they receive until they have selected and passed on their three discards. Eldest hand leads to the first trick. Tricks are won by the highest card of the led suit and the trick winner leads to the next.
Scoring
The penalty cards score as follows:
Each heart taken – 1 point
– 7 points
– 10 points
– 13 points
At the end of the deal, players tot up their penalty points which should collectively add up to 43 points.
Winning
The winner is the player with the lowest score after an agreed number of deals.
Slam
Arnold mentions a type of slam known as 'hitting the moon' as an optional rule whereby a player with a poor hand is able to capture all the penalty cards. If he succeeds, his score is reduced by 43 points. Most descriptions of the game do not mention a slam or 'take-all', although it is common in other games of the Hearts family.
Footnotes
Literature
_. The Little Giant Encyclopedia. Diagram Group, Sterling, New York/London.
_. The Card Games Bible. Octopus, London.
Bathe, N.A.C. Card Games. Robert Frederick.
Glenn, Jim and Carey Denton. The Treasury of Family Games. Readers Digest Association.
