Shoot the Moon in Hearts
To shoot the moon in Hearts, you take every penalty card in one hand: all thirteen hearts and the Queen of Spades. Instead of 26 points landing on you, each of your three opponents takes 26 and you take none. Miss by a single heart, though, and you have just taken 25 points yourself.
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A moon starts at the pass
Most moons can be seen in the deal, and the pass is your one chance to fix the hand. Say you pick up this on a pass-left hand:
♥ A K Q J 9 ♠ A K Q ♦ A K ♣ 9 6 3
Pass all three clubs. Every other card is a winner or a top heart. The clubs are the only cards that can't win a trick, and a trick you lose is a trick someone can throw a heart on. Passing them doesn't make the hand safe, though. You get three cards back from your right, and if they are low clubs or other losers the moon may be off before it starts. Even void in clubs, you lose the 2♣ trick, and whoever wins it can lead clubs again. Once you win a trick, your aces and kings can keep the lead, and while you hold it nobody else gets to lead clubs.
The 2♣ lead on trick one costs you nothing here: on our tables no heart and no Q♠ may be played to the first trick. At tables that allow points on trick one, a heart thrown there ends the moon before it starts.
The card that can still beat you is the 9♥. The other eight hearts are out against you. Your A, K, Q and J draw four rounds; if one opponent started with five or more hearts including the 10, your 9 loses a heart trick at the end and the moon is gone.
If you were not going for the moon, you would pass this hand very differently. That is the point: decide at the pass, because the pass that sets up a moon wrecks a normal hand, and the other way round.
What is shooting the moon worth?
| Outcome | You | Opponents |
|---|---|---|
| Moon shot successfully | 0 | +26 each |
| Missed by one heart | up to +25 | +1 for whoever took that heart |
That second row is the whole risk. There is no partial credit. A moon that fails is one of the worst hands you can have.
Our tables add one rule: if adding +26 to the other three would end the game with someone else winning, the moon counts as −26 off your own score instead, so a successful moon can never cost you the game. Full detail in Hearts scoring.
When should you shoot the moon?
You need to win every trick that has a point in it. High cards alone won't do it; you need control of the hand.
- Long, strong hearts. Five or more hearts headed by the ace and king. You have to win all thirteen, and length is what stops someone else winning a heart trick late.
- The Queen covered. You need the Q♠ yourself, or the ace and king above her so you can win the trick she falls on. A moon dies the moment someone else wins the Queen.
- No holes. A suit where you hold only low cards is where the moon breaks. Hold ♣ 4 3 2 and someone leads clubs: you lose that trick, and if a heart is thrown on it, you are finished.
- Voids cut both ways. There are no trumps, so being void means you can never win a trick in that suit. That is fine while you hold the lead and nobody else gets to start the suit.
A hand that looks on and is not: ♥ A K 9 5 3 ♠ J 8 4 ♦ Q 6 ♣ K 7 2
Five hearts, but no way to win the Queen of Spades when she comes, and she will come.
How to play a moon attempt
- Take the early tricks quietly. Win them with side-suit aces and kings before anyone works out what is happening. The longer nobody suspects, the less defence you face.
- Make the Queen yours early. With ♠ A K Q, cash the spades so the Queen is safely in your pile before anyone thinks to protect a heart.
- Expect to wait for hearts. On our tables you can't lead a heart until one has been played, so you may have to wait for an opponent to throw one, or run your other suits until only hearts are left in your hand.
- Know when to stop. The moment a heart goes to someone else, the moon is off. Switch to dodging straight away; pressing on turns a bad hand into a disaster.
How to spot someone shooting the moon
You will defend against a moon far more often than you try one. The signs:
- Someone starts winning tricks they were ducking. Hearts players duck by habit. A player suddenly taking tricks with aces has a reason.
- The Queen of Spades hasn't appeared and one player keeps running a side suit.
- Hearts are being taken, not dodged. Look at the trick piles, not only your own hand. Our tables show each player's points for the hand at their seat.
- Nobody else has a point and the hand is half over.
How to stop someone shooting the moon
One heart is enough. Taking a single heart costs you 1 point and saves you 26.
- Take a heart the first time you can. Don't wait for someone else to do it. Three players each waiting for another is how moons get through.
- Use your highest heart when you try to win a heart trick, not your lowest.
- Keep the Queen away from the shooter. If you hold the Q♠, drop her on a trick another player is winning, or win a trick with her yourself. Thirteen points to you still beats 26.
- Don't sit on your aces. An ace that wins a trick with a heart in it ends the moon. An ace you are still holding at the end has stopped nothing.
Moon rules at other tables
- The shooter chooses
- The standard rule on pagat.com: the shooter picks either 26 off their own score or 26 added to everyone else.
- Always one way
- Some tables always add 26 to the others; some always take 26 off the shooter.
- Add 26 unless it hands someone else the game
- Then the shooter takes 26 off instead. This is what our tables play, and the app makes the call for you.
- Shooting the sun
- Taking all thirteen tricks, not only all the points. Where it is played it is sometimes scored as 52. Our tables don't score it separately.
Shooting the moon: quick answers
Do you have to win every trick to shoot the moon?
No. You need every point, not every trick: all thirteen hearts and the Queen of Spades. Tricks with no penalty cards in them can go to anyone. Taking all thirteen tricks as well is a separate house rule, shooting the sun, described above.
Does the Queen of Spades count toward the moon?
Yes, and you can't shoot the moon without her. The moon is all 26 points: 13 for the hearts and 13 for the Queen. Take every heart but let someone else win the Queen and you simply score 13 points.
What if giving everyone 26 would end the game?
In this app the moon then counts as −26 off your own score instead, whenever +26 to the others would end the game with you not winning it. Otherwise the result is the usual 0 for you and +26 for each opponent. The full rules are on our how to play Hearts page.
Keep reading
- How to Play Hearts: the full rules, starting with the pass.
- Hearts Scoring: points, the Queen and worked examples.
- Hearts Strategy: passing, ducking and keeping your score low.
- Hearts for 2, 3, 5 and 6 Players: how the rules change when there are not four.