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Queen of Hearts rules
Queen of Hearts rules and jackpot math
How the game is played, what goes in your written rules, how the pot usually gets split, and what to do when the jackpot outgrows your permit. Plus a sample set of rules you can copy and a calculator to see where your jackpot could go.
The game
How to play Queen of Hearts
- Set up the board. A full deck of 52 cards plus two jokers is shuffled and placed face down on a board of 54 numbered spots. Nobody knows which number hides the Queen of Hearts.
- Sell tickets. Each ticket goes on one card number. A player can put all their tickets on one number or spread them across several, and any number of players can pick the same card.
- Draw one ticket. At the scheduled time, one winning ticket is drawn from that drawing’s tickets. The card assigned to that ticket is then revealed. Online, that’s the moment the card is decrypted and exposed.
- Not the Queen? The ticket holder wins the weekly prize. The card stays face up and is no longer eligible in later drawings, and the jackpot rolls into the next drawing.
- The Queen of Hearts? The ticket holder wins the jackpot and the game is over.
Because the drawn ticket picks the card, every drawing has a winner. A card nobody selected can’t come up, since there’s no ticket on it to draw.
Tickets are usually good for one drawing. Most games sell a fresh round of tickets for each drawing, and only that round’s tickets go in. Put whichever way you do it in your written rules.
Before you launch
What goes in your written rules
There’s no single standard way to run Queen of Hearts. That’s fine, as long as your rules are written down, posted where players can read them and followed every single week. Clear rules protect your organization and make players trust the game.
| Decide this | Common choices |
|---|---|
| Drawing schedule | Weekly is the classic. Every two weeks, monthly or tied to a recurring event all work. Pick a day and time and stick to it. |
| Ticket price and bundles | Something like 1 for $5, 3 for $10 and 10 for $25. Bundles push the average order way up. |
| How the pot is split | A percentage of each drawing’s sales to the weekly winner, a percentage to the jackpot and the rest to your organization. Or fixed prizes by card. |
| What the jokers do | Play like any other card, pay a bonus, or reset the board. More on that below. |
| Eligibility | Minimum age, who can’t play (often board members or whoever runs the drawing), and any location limits your state sets. |
| Claiming prizes | How winners are contacted, how long they have to claim, and what happens to an unclaimed prize. |
| In-person sales | Whether you sell at the post or hall too, and the cutoff for those sales before the drawing. |
| How the game ends | The Queen is found, or a final draw if the jackpot hits a cap or a deadline. Write this down before you start. |
The money
How the jackpot math works
Most games use one of two setups.
1. Percentage split
Each drawing’s ticket sales get divided three ways. Here’s an example with $2,000 in sales for the week. These numbers are only an example. Your rules, and often your state, set the real split.
| Where it goes | Share | This week |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly winner (if it’s not the Queen) | 20% | $400 |
| Added to the jackpot | 30% | $600 |
| Your organization | 50% | $1,000 |
| Ticket sales | 100% | $2,000 |
Some games also pay the Queen winner only part of the jackpot, say 50%, and roll the rest into the next game as seed money. If you do that, say so clearly on your page. It’s the number one source of confusion when a big jackpot is announced.
2. Fixed prizes by card
Instead of a percentage, each revealed card pays a set amount. For example, $100 for a King and $200 for an Ace, with the full jackpot only when the Queen of Hearts comes up. Simple to explain, but you need to know your sales will cover the prizes.
Try it
Jackpot calculator
Plug in your numbers to see how big the jackpot could get if the Queen stays hidden. Sales tend to climb as the jackpot grows, so there’s a weekly growth setting too.
Total ticket sales: $0. Heads up: your jackpot and weekly shares add up to more than 100%. Example only. Your rules and your state set the real split.
Wild cards
What to do with the jokers
Most games use the full 54-card deck, jokers included. Your rules decide what a joker does. The three most common choices:
Just another card
A joker pays the weekly prize like any other card. Simplest option.
Bonus prize
Hitting a joker pays a little extra, which gives people one more thing to root for.
Reset the board
Every card goes back face down and gets reshuffled, while the jackpot keeps growing. Makes the game run longer.
When it takes off
Permit caps and draw-downs
Plenty of permits cap how big a prize can get. A Queen of Hearts jackpot that runs for months can hit that cap, so decide now what you’ll do if it happens.
The usual answer is a draw-down: you announce a final drawing date, then keep drawing tickets that night until the Queen of Hearts is revealed. The game ends on schedule, everything stays above board, and somebody walks away very happy.
From the Raffle Hotline: “Our Queen of Hearts hasn’t been revealed in 18 weeks. Half the town is obsessed, the other half is jealous. Now our permit caps the prize at $50,000, and we’ve hit it. What do we do?” They announced a draw-down the following week and kept drawing until the Queen turned up. Know your permit limits before you start, and have an exit plan.
Copy and edit
Sample Queen of Hearts rules
Here’s a plain-English starting point. Fill in the highlighted parts, match it to your permit and your state’s rules, and have someone qualified look it over before you publish it.
[Organization name] Queen of Hearts Raffle Rules
- This raffle is run by [organization name] under [license or permit number]. Proceeds support [cause].
- Players must be [18] or older. [Board members and drawing staff] may not play.
- The board has 54 numbered cards, a standard 52-card deck plus two jokers, shuffled and placed face down.
- Tickets cost [$5 each, 3 for $10, 10 for $25]. Each ticket is assigned to one card number chosen by the buyer. Tickets are good for one drawing only.
- Drawings are held every [Friday at 7:00 PM]. Online sales close at [6:00 PM] on drawing day.
- One ticket is drawn from that drawing’s tickets. The card on the drawn ticket is revealed and stays face up for the rest of the game.
- If the revealed card is not the Queen of Hearts, the ticket holder wins [20%] of that drawing’s ticket sales, and [30%] of sales is added to the jackpot.
- If the revealed card is the Queen of Hearts, the ticket holder wins [the jackpot / 50% of the jackpot] and the game ends.
- If a joker is revealed, [the ticket holder wins the weekly prize / a bonus of $___ / the board is reset].
- Winners do not need to be present. Winners will be contacted by [email and phone] and have [30 days] to claim their prize.
- If the jackpot reaches [$ cap], a final drawing will be held on [announced date] and tickets will be drawn until the Queen of Hearts is revealed.
- Results of every drawing are posted on [raffle page link].
Running a paper game too? The free printable board kit comes with an 11 by 17 board, envelope number cards, a weekly drawing log and a jackpot tracker spreadsheet.
Rules questions
Can more than one person pick the same card?
Yes. Any number of players can put tickets on the same card number. Only the drawn ticket’s card gets turned over.
What if nobody picked the Queen of Hearts?
It doesn’t matter. The drawing picks a ticket first, and then that ticket’s card is revealed. A card nobody selected can’t come up, so the Queen is only found when someone’s ticket is on it.
How long can a Queen of Hearts game last?
Until the Queen is found. That can be the first drawing or more than a year, especially if jokers reset the board.
Does the winner have to be present?
That’s up to your rules. Online games usually don’t require it, since players can be anywhere. Whatever you choose, write it down.
What is a draw-down?
A planned final drawing. You announce a date, then keep drawing tickets that night until the Queen of Hearts is revealed. It’s the usual way to end a game when a jackpot hits a permit cap.
Who decides the split?
Your organization, within whatever your state and your permit allow. Look at what similar raffles near you do and check your local rules before you settle on one.
Raffle and charitable gaming laws vary by state. Some states treat Queen of Hearts differently from a regular raffle and many don’t, so check with your regulator before you launch. This page is general information, not legal advice. How to check the rules in your state.
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Tell us about your raffle. We’ll review it, build your Queen of Hearts website and get your board ready, usually within days once your information and payment setup are in.