Hearts program cheats! I've specifically caught the game cheating. Passed Ace & King Spades to the right & they ended up across the table. I think this is BULL I would expect a program to play by the rules!

Marilyn, that would make sense if it were an issue with Windows 7. But this is an issue with Microsoft's Hearts game in every OS they've put it on! They just put the same game on all systems with the same cheating nonsense every time!!

The hearts game in Win 7 absolutely cheats.

It's simply not within the bounds of probability to be saddled with some permutation of A,K, or Q of spades (with little other spade support) nearly every hand. And I've never seen IRL the number of times where one suit would be completely split between two players and the other player can get under every card you have plus one of the other two players conveniently has the Queen of spades.

The other typical tactic will have one player getting excellent hands the entire game taking almost no points and even if you play perfectly, down to the wire, on one of the last hands it it will either give you the Death Spade deal/pass or have that low man shoot the moon.

When you start kissing a 52% win rate the program becomes too frustrating to enjoy as it's too obvious it's screwing you by stacking the deck against you. 

It gets to the point where every deal feels like you've seen the same thing one too many times.

The funny thing is that, programming wise, it would probably be easier to write an excellent computer player given true random deals than to to write all those different deck stacking rules and contingencies.   

Playing a more random card deal like the hearts game on vex.net feel completely different and not suspect.

I wish I could post an image, but I just Shot the Moon 2 hands in a row; won the game.

Sure, it happens; I win a lot of the time, too.  That doesn't change the essential fact that the game still cheats.  Even a human being wouldn't win all the time if he or she cheated; it's not a guarantee.

 

Steve, make no mistake, I don't dispute the fact that MS Hearts cheats.  I just had to brag a little. ;)

(I don't know if anyone has brought this up, but have we noticed how one player will have a really low score for a long string of hands while the other three will have 30-40 points or more?  Does anyone really think that's from strategy/smart play?)

btw, on a slightly different note: I feel like I'm a little better than average at MS Solitaire (just regular old Solitaire).  I feel like I win a lot more than when I'm playing with a real deck of cards.

I wish I could post an image, but I just Shot the Moon 2 hands in a row; won the game.

Sure, it happens; I win a lot of the time, too.  That doesn't change the essential fact that the game still cheats.  Even a human being wouldn't win all the time if he or she cheated; it's not a guarantee.