Shooting the Moon in Hearts: When and How to Do It
Shooting the moon in Hearts means winning all 13 hearts and the Queen of spades in a single hand. Instead of taking 26 points, you score 0 and every other player scores 26. Try it only with a hand full of high cards and long, strong hearts, and give up the moment another player takes a point.
What shooting the moon means
Every hand of Hearts has 26 penalty points in it: 1 for each heart and 13 for the Queen of spades. Normally you want as few of them as possible. Shooting the moon (also called running the cards) turns that upside down: if one player collects every single one of the 26, the points go to everybody else instead.
| You | Each other player | |
|---|---|---|
| A normal hand where you take 26 | +26 | +0 |
| You shoot the moon | +0 | +26 |
| You take 25 of the 26 | +25 | +1 between them |
The last row is the danger. Miss by a single heart and you've just had the worst hand possible. That's why the moon is a calculated risk, not something to try every game.
Which hands can shoot the moon?
To take every point, you need to win every trick that has a point in it, and usually most of the others as well. That takes a lot of high cards. Look for:
- Long, high hearts: five or more hearts including the Ace, King and Queen. Once you lead them, nobody else can win a heart trick.
- Aces and Kings in the other suits, so you can win the lead back whenever you lose it.
- Few low cards outside hearts. Every 2, 3 or 4 in clubs, diamonds or spades is a trick someone else might win, perhaps with a heart thrown on it.
- Control of the Queen of spades: holding her yourself with the Ace or King of spades, or plenty of high spades so you can catch her.
How to pass when you're going for the moon
If your 13 cards already look like the hand above, change how you pass. Instead of throwing away high cards, pass your lowest cards, especially small cards outside hearts. In the example, passing the 2 of spades removes the trick you'd most likely lose. Keep your hearts: you'll need every one of them.
Remember that the three cards you receive can help or ruin the plan. If you're passed a low heart or a lot of small cards, think again before going ahead.
How to play a moon shot
- Win tricks early with your safest high cards, so you keep the lead.
- Draw out the hearts once they're broken: lead your top hearts from the Ace down, so nobody can keep a heart back to win a trick late.
- Collect the Queen of spades. If you don't hold her, keep high spades to catch her when she's played.
- Hide your plan as long as you can. Taking a few hearts early looks like bad luck; leading your Ace of hearts on trick two tells everyone what you're doing.
- Know when to quit. As soon as another player wins a point, the moon is gone. Switch back to normal play straight away and get rid of your high cards before they collect even more points.
In the GameLake Hearts game, turn on Teach me with a strong hand: if Hops spots a moon shot, he tells you to keep your hearts and pass your smallest cards, then highlights the strongest card to win each trick.
How to stop someone else's moon
Watch the points each player has taken during the hand. If one player has all of them and there are plenty of hearts still out, a moon shot may be on. To stop it you need just one point to go somewhere else:
- Win a trick that has a heart in it, even if it costs you a few points. A few points for you beats 26 for you.
- Keep a high heart back. One heart higher than the shooter's can be enough to win a heart trick at the end.
- Don't feed them. When the shooter is winning a trick, throw a non-point card instead of a heart.
Hard bots in GameLake do exactly this: when one player has taken every point so far, they grab a heart to break the run. Medium and Easy bots don't, so moon shots succeed more often against them.
When is it worth the risk?
A successful moon gives each opponent 26 points, which is huge in a game to 100. It's most worth trying when you're behind and need a big swing, or when one opponent is close to 100 and 26 more would end the game with you in front. When you're already winning comfortably, a quiet hand with a few points is usually the safer choice.
Some house rules let the shooter choose to subtract 26 from their own score instead of adding 26 to everyone else's, which matters when an extra 26 would push an opponent past 100 before you're in the lead. GameLake uses the common rule: everyone else gets 26.
Where the moon comes from
Hearts grew out of older trick-avoiding games such as Reversis, and the Queen of spades as a penalty card arrived with the variant called Black Lady in the early 1900s. The moon came later: card historians trace it to a British version called Hitting the Moon in 1939. Today it's part of the standard game almost everywhere, from kitchen tables to computer versions. For the full rules, read how to play Hearts, and for everyday play, our Hearts strategy tips.
Frequently asked questions
What is shooting the moon in Hearts?
Taking all 13 hearts and the Queen of spades in one hand. You score 0 for the hand and each other player scores 26.
How many points do you get for shooting the moon?
You get 0, and every other player gets 26 points added to their score.
Do you need the Queen of spades to shoot the moon?
Yes. You must win all 26 points, and the Queen of spades is 13 of them. All the hearts without the Queen is just 13 points for you.
What happens if you almost shoot the moon?
You keep the points you took. Taking 25 of the 26 points scores 25, which is why a failed moon is so costly.
How do you stop someone from shooting the moon?
Win a trick with at least one heart in it, or make sure the Queen of spades ends up with someone else. Once two players have points, nobody can shoot the moon that hand.