"Shooting the Moon" playing Hearts????

Question

What is the general criteria for you to shoot the moon? I really suck at it.

When do you KNOW you can do it?

How many of one suit does it normally?

How often should you try?

Thanks.

Answer 1

There's very few hands where you "KNOW" you can do it.
I have to look down and see almost all face cards and Aces to even think about it. Having a large amount of cards (6 or higher) in one suit is also helpful. Nothing more fun than taking the last trick with the 2 of diamonds.

Hearts are the most important suit. You have to have either no hearts, or just a few with at least the Ace, and hopefully the Ace and King, and remember that every one of your hearts HAS to take a trick. So if you've got say, the 9 of hearts, you've got to take a trick with that card, and that is where most people fall short on their run.

The other thing to judge is when you "reveal" your plan. You want to wait until the last possible moment before you make it obvious that your shooting: And, if you wait to long, somebody may throw a trump you weren't expecting, and you're screwed.

I've probably tried about 1 hand out of 50, and been successful about 2 out of 3 times.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Did you ever read the help topics menu on the game Hearts on Windows Me, XP, Etc

The object of shooting the moon is to get all 13 hearts in the game and the queen of spades, this gives you 0 points and gives 26 points to your opponents

In order to do the above you must start the game by trading clubs first

Watch for the hearts suit cards A-K when they appear and try to gain all of them

The queen of spades is the hardest card to get because its so high in value

When you have the queen of spades at the start of game

Don't play when you can not win it back

When you don't have the queen of spades:

Watch for it to appear and play a king or an Ace to get it

Note: watch out for the spades because they can beat almost any cards

good luck

Answer 3

You should try to have a "stopper" in every suit, so that you can get back into the lead. Too many times I have discarded my hand so that it is perfect, only to be passed some fiddling little hearts that I knew would foil my attempt. The great risk is the pass. Try to have Aces. I've had to wrangle a long suit to get the ace to fall, only to have some opponent throw a head and screw up my play. Each hand is different.

Answer 4

It's hard to tell if you can do it, trying always involves at least some risk. In order to do it, you'll have to successfully take all the hearts and the Queen of Spades. Normally having 7+ of one suit is a good sign, and controlling the Queen of Spades yourself helps.