Shooting the Moon

What shooting the moon actually is

The moon is not "most of the hearts plus the queen." It is all of it. Thirteen hearts, one each, plus the queen of spades for 13. Twenty-six. The ace of spades and the king of spades are not point cards. They just tend to win the trick that holds the queen.

A common house choice: you may subtract 26 from your own score instead of dumping 26 on the others. Near 100 that choice matters. One path can push three people over the line. The other can drop you out of last. Standard CardPractice teaching is the dump-26-on-everyone-else version. Say which one you are playing.

Why it is hard

You must take every heart and the queen of spades. Not twelve hearts. Not the queen and a pretty pile. All of it. One dumped heart on someone else's trick kills the moon, and you are left holding whatever you already ate.

Hearts has no trump. Highest of the led suit wins. A void does not ruff. If someone leads a club or a diamond you cannot beat, and a heart is in that trick, that heart is gone. The moon is dead even if you still hold the queen.

• Every heart has to land on your pile, including the 2.
• The queen of spades has to land on your pile too. Taking her and missing a heart is still a failed moon.
• You do not need every trick in the round. You need every point card. Clean club tricks that other people win are fine, as long as no heart rode along.

When to try

Most nights you should not. A moon is a late-hand read, not a personality. The picture that is actually on:

• Long hearts. Ace, king, queen, and length. You can run them once hearts are broken and nobody else can get in.
• The queen of spades, or control of spades. Ace and king with the queen is the clean version. Ace and king without her can still take her if she is dumped on a spade lead you win.
• A way to keep or regain the lead. A void in clubs or diamonds is useful only after you already have the lead and can run winners. It is not a ruff. If you lose the lead into that void, a dumped heart ends it.
• A late-hand read that nobody else can duck. The remaining hearts are sitting in your hand, or the other players are following with cards that cannot get under you.

When not to try

• Someone else already took a heart. The moon is already dead. Stop taking winners. Duck. There is no partner in Hearts. Any one of the other three players eating a single heart is enough.
• Weak clubs and diamonds. If you cannot get the lead back, someone will eventually lead a suit you lose, and a heart will go with it.
• You passed the queen, or you passed a stack of high hearts. You just armed someone else. Watch them. Do not join their run.

First-night advice is the same as how to play hearts: do not start a moon because the hand looks exciting. Start one because you can already see the last heart landing on you.

Passing left, right, across, and hold

The pass is where moons get built or blocked, before anyone leads the 2 of clubs. Direction rotates each round:

1. Pass left.
2. Pass right.
3. Pass across.
4. Hold. Nobody passes. You play the hand you were dealt.

If you are trying to set a moon up:

• Keep long hearts. Passing the ace or king of hearts is how you donate a stopper.
• Keep the queen of spades if you also have the ace or king, or enough spades to take her yourself. Passing her is fine when you are not shooting.
• Pass side-suit losers: low diamonds and clubs that cannot win a trick and cannot get you back in.
• Do not pass a low heart just to "get rid of points." That heart is how someone else ducks your moon.

If you are trying to block one:

• Do not pass a pile of high hearts to one player. You may be gifting the run.
• Keep one low heart you can throw on their winner. That is the whole defense: take one point.
• On a hold hand, you cannot fix the deal. Count winners. If the moon is not in your thirteen cards, play for zero as usual.

Pass left and the player on your left sees your three cards, then often plays right after you when you lead. Passing them a low heart can be the card that later sits under your ace. Pass right and they play before you on those leads. Pass across and you are staring at the person who got your rejects all night. None of that changes the rule. It changes who can duck.

Walk through one moon hand

You are South. After the pass left, your thirteen cards look like this:

• Hearts: ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8
• Spades: ace, king, queen
• Clubs: ace, 2
• Diamonds: none

Long hearts. Queen of spades with both bosses. An ace of clubs to get in. Void in diamonds, which is a problem until you have the lead. West has the 2 of clubs and leads it. You play the ace and take the trick. You still cannot lead a heart until hearts are broken, so you cash the ace of spades, then the king, then the queen. The Black Lady is on your pile.

Someone had to follow those spades. Hearts are still locked unless your table treats the queen as the card that also breaks them. If they do not, you lead the 2 of clubs back and hope a heart gets discarded. When a heart finally hits, you take that trick if you can, then run hearts until they are gone. If a diamond gets led while you are void, you cannot win it. Play a heart only if you already know you will take this trick another way, which you will not. A diamond lead with a heart in it is the moon dying in public.

Replay that layout on the hearts practice table with every card visible if you want to see the one dumped heart that would have wrecked it. The slow version of the rule is the shooting the moon lesson.

Stopping someone else

The tell is a player who is happy to take hearts. They are not confused. They are shooting. You do not need a pile. You need one heart. Bleed it onto your own score if you have to. A single point that kills a 26-point dump is cheap.

If you cannot take a heart, duck their winners and wait. Do not help by throwing the queen onto their already-fat pile unless you are sure the moon is already dead.