How to Shoot the Moon

 This rule was made so that players unlucky enough to receive a really bad hand after the deal would still get a fighting chance. This special rule is called shooting the moon and though it is a very risky move to take, the reward is worth the risk.

In fact, the rules of Hartenjagen make it so that players able to shoot the moon take no penalty points for the round, instead the three opposing players take a total 26 penalty points each! Such a reward has inspired many players to try and incorporate this move into their strategies. However, this is far more difficult than it sounds, Hartenjagen is a game of wit and efficiency, without the proper guidelines, players may find that shooting the moon is beyond their capabilities.

The first essential guideline to shooting the moon is to deplete your low rankling cards as soon as possible. In a normal game, players often pass to the left the three worst cards in their hand. This usually consists of face cards and penalty cards, namely the hearts. Use this to your advantage and play poorly! This means one should always take the trick whenever possible. Essentially the strategy here is to do the opposite of what one normally does in a normal game of Hartenjagen.

The second essential guideline to shooting the moon is to never let your opponents catch wind that you’re going to shoot the moon. This is the biggest problem of any Hartenjagen player aiming to shoot the moon encounters. It takes only one missing heart for the entire move to crumble and backfire. To avoid this, one must keep his or her head down. In a normal game, players are often too preoccupied with depleting their own hearts and high cards to care about whose getting all the penalty cards after each trick. So, keep your head down long enough to collect all the heart cards.

The third and final essential guideline to shooting the moon is to think of the bigger scheme of things. In hartenjagen, things don’t always go as planned. When opting to shoot that moon always focus on following the first and second essential guide however keep in mind that the strategy can fail. Never dwell on failure, always focus on the bigger picture. Remember, shooting the moon is a just rule to give players with a bad hand a fighting chance, it does no in anyway guarantee overall victory.