Hearts card dealing rigged?

[kmccoy]

I'm not sure if this is an XP game, but this is the closest NG I could find
that anyone goes to.

The Hearts game does not appear to deal the cards in a remotely random
manner. Certain characteristics occur far too often, such as a 4,3,3,3
distribution of the 13 spades, or the 2,3,4,5 of hearts each being with a
different player. Although the computer players are hopeless players, and I
win more games than my three electronic opponents combined, it does get a
little tiresome when you see the same thing happening so often. If the 3 and
4 of hearts are on the table and I'm next with the 5, you can almost count
on it that the last player will play the 2. It's as though the programmer
decided that card distribution should be more even than would occur with a
properly shuffled real deck of cards, and rigged the deal to some extent, or
maybe it's just a lousy random generator being used. Anyway, if someone
knows why the cards are dealt this way, I'd like to hear it.

David

It's rigged all rights, but if you're a good player you should win 70% of the time or more. I'm up to 78.5% after 20 games. I've been playing this for about ten years though and often reset scores when the rigging gets too annoying.

 

[CazT]

OK, I'm coming out as a Hearts nerd, the proof being I have joined a forum to discuss it. It's been interesting reading the thread. I usually play 100 games and see how high I can get the percentage of wins. On average, it tends to be around 67% though often 70% in the first 30 or so games and I have noticed the various aberrations that other posters have mentioned.
Something really annoying has happened twice though, once just today - I have gone in to play to discover that all the stats have reduced to zero without my having initiated it. I also found that Freecell had done the same, and that was really annoying as I had a 100% score with over 80 games. Its's obviously something that has happened with a cleanup operation - could it be the result of Avast's Cleanup and if so, how can I stop it from happening again?

 

[magzsurf]

I'm not sure if this is an XP game, but this is the closest NG I could find
that anyone goes to.

The Hearts game does not appear to deal the cards in a remotely random
manner. Certain characteristics occur far too often, such as a 4,3,3,3
distribution of the 13 spades, or the 2,3,4,5 of hearts each being with a
different player. Although the computer players are hopeless players, and I
win more games than my three electronic opponents combined, it does get a
little tiresome when you see the same thing happening so often. If the 3 and
4 of hearts are on the table and I'm next with the 5, you can almost count
on it that the last player will play the 2. It's as though the programmer
decided that card distribution should be more even than would occur with a
properly shuffled real deck of cards, and rigged the deal to some extent, or
maybe it's just a lousy random generator being used. Anyway, if someone
knows why the cards are dealt this way, I'd like to hear it.

David

I've been playing this game for decades and there are obvious algorithms incorporated into the software design of the program. Sometimes, the obvious pattern is; You can't lose. Or, there's not a hope in hell you can win. There is always a player who loses big time. There is always a player that never loses a trick, except for shuffle number 7 or 8 just to break the pattern. There are games where every hand you are dealt the black maria. Usually the first deal is designed to get a clear sweep of 26 points. The only way to amuse yourself with this biased program, is to recognise the pattern, then break it by not doing the obvious. Like.... when there's a chance to offload the Queen of spades, throw a heart instead. The game usually then has a melt down and Confident Harry who is clearly winning, has a nervous breakdown when you win.