What Is Shooting the Moon?

Shooting the moon means taking ALL 26 penalty points in a single round:

  • All 13 hearts (13 points)
  • The Queen of Spades (13 points)

The Reward

  • You score 0 for the round
  • Every opponent scores 26 points

The Risk

  • If you miss even one heart, you score all the points you collected
  • Failed attempts can result in 20+ points — devastating

When to Attempt a Moon Shot

Ideal Hand Characteristics

You need overwhelming strength in high cards and suit control:

Strong indicators:

  • A♠, K♠, Q♠ — all three top spades (guaranteed the Queen)
  • Multiple high hearts — A♥, K♥, Q♥ ensure you win heart tricks
  • A long suit with top cards — control a non-heart suit to lead repeatedly
  • A void or short suit — ability to take control early

Minimum requirements (rough guidelines):

  • 3+ of the top 5 hearts (A, K, Q, J, 10)
  • Control of the spade suit (or the Queen with protection)
  • 2+ Aces across all suits
  • No more than 1 weak suit

Hand Example

♠ A K Q 7 3
♥ A K Q J 4
♦ A 2
♣ — (void)

This hand is a strong moon shot candidate:

  • Top spades guarantee the Queen
  • Strong hearts capture hearts
  • Ace of diamonds provides a lead winner
  • Club void allows early dumping

Moon-Shooting Strategy

During the Pass

  • Keep all your high cards — don’t pass away Aces, Kings, or Queens
  • Pass your worst suit — try to create or strengthen a void
  • Don’t pass the Queen of Spades (you need her)

During Play

  1. Lead your strong suits — win tricks with Aces and Kings early
  2. Draw out opponents’ cards — force them to follow suit until they’re empty
  3. Capture the Queen of Spades — either play it yourself or let someone play it on your trick
  4. Sweep up hearts — once hearts are broken, lead high hearts to collect them all
  5. Watch for blockers — if an opponent takes even one heart, abort

The Abort Point

At some point, you may realize the moon shot won’t work:

  • An opponent took a heart you can’t reclaim
  • You’ve lost control of a suit
  • Stop trying immediately — shift to damage control
  • Try to minimize how many points you end up with

Blocking a Moon Shot

If you suspect an opponent is shooting the moon:

Warning Signs

  • One player is winning many tricks
  • Hearts keep falling on one player’s tricks
  • A player keeps leading high cards
  • Someone passed you all low cards (they kept their power)

How to Block

  1. Take exactly one heart — that’s all it takes to kill the moon shot
  2. Lead low cards in suits where the shooter is weak
  3. Play high cards strategically to steal a trick with a heart
  4. Cooperate with other players — everyone should try to prevent the moon

The Math of Blocking

Taking 1 heart to block costs you 1 point. If you don’t block, you get 26 points. The break-even is obvious: always block if you can.

Even taking 5-6 points to block is worthwhile — you’re saving 20-21 points.

Moon Shot Variants

In some rule variations:

Variant Rule
Standard Score 0, opponents score 26
Subtract 26 Instead of opponents getting +26, you get -26
Choice The shooter chooses: +26 to opponents or -26 to self
Partial Moon Not standard — some house rules reward taking 20+ points

Strategic Context

Moon shots are most valuable when:

  • You’re in last place — shooting the moon can erase an opponent’s lead
  • Scores are close to 100 — 26 points could end the game for multiple opponents
  • It’s a hold round — you can’t be passed bad cards

Moon shots are most risky when:

  • You’re in first place — a failed attempt could cost you the game
  • Opponents are experienced — they’re better at blocking
  • Your hand is borderline — only attempt with genuinely strong hands