How to Play Shoot the Moon Bid Euchre
Shoot the Moon is a four-player Bid Euchre variation that takes a familiar Euchre deck and turns every hand into an auction. Instead of turning up a card and deciding whether to order it up, players bid on how many of the six tricks they believe their team can take and name the suit they want to play. If you're new to the auction format, our guide to Bid Euchre rules, bidding and scoring explains the basic structure first. Or if you need refresher on how to play Euchre, check out our Euchre beginners guide.
The bidding starts at three tricks and can climb all the way to two special bids: Shoot and Moon. A Shoot means trying to take all six tricks alone after receiving one card from your partner. A Moon means trying to take all six with no help at all. The rewards are big—12 points for a Shoot and 24 for a Moon—but so are the penalties if you fail.
If you've played this version before but haven't sat at a Bid Euchre table in a while, the rules should come back quickly. If you're new to it, this guide walks through the game from the deal through bidding, trick play, scoring, and the unusual way a successful Shoot or Moon can move the winning score.
One thing to know before starting: there is no single universal version of Shoot the Moon Bid Euchre. Deck sizes, bidding rules, partner-card exchanges, scoring, and even the meaning of “shoot the moon” vary from one group to another. The rules below describe a four-player, single-deck version that we play.
What You Need to Play Shoot the Moon
Shoot the Moon is played by four players divided into two teams of two. Partners sit across from each other, just as they do in traditional Euchre.
The game uses a standard 24-card Euchre deck:
9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace in all four suits.
All 24 cards are dealt, so each player receives six cards. There is no kitty and no turned-up card. Because every card is in someone's hand, there are six tricks available on every deal.
Shoot the Moon Terms to Know
If you're coming from traditional Euchre, most of the card-play terminology will be familiar. Bid Euchre adds a few terms that are important to understand before the auction begins.
Bid
A bid states how many tricks you are promising to take and the contract you want to play.
For example:
3 hearts
4 spades
5 high
6 low
The number tells everyone how many of the six tricks your team must take. The second part identifies the trump suit or the type of no-trump contract.
Contract
The contract is the game you're agreeing to play if you win the bidding.
Traditional Euchre
A bid of 4 hearts, for example, means your team is committing to take at least four tricks with hearts as trump.
High No Trump
In high no trump, there is no trump suit and cards have their normal ranking:
A, K, Q, J, 10, 9
Low No Trump
In low no trump, there is also no trump suit, but the card ranking is reversed:
9, 10, J, Q, K, A
You're still trying to win tricks in low no trump. The goal isn't to avoid tricks; only the card ranking changes.
Void
If you're void in a suit, you have no cards of that suit remaining in your hand.
Shoot
A Shoot is a bid to take all six tricks while playing without your partner. Before play begins, you discard one card and your partner chooses one card from their hand to give you. Your partner then sits out.
A successful Shoot is worth 12 points.
Moon
A Moon is the highest bid in the game. You must take all six tricks completely alone, using only the six cards you were originally dealt. Your partner does not give you a card and sits out for the hand.
A successful Moon is worth 24 points.
The Deal
The dealer distributes all 24 cards among the four players, giving everyone six cards. Cards are dealt in the usual Euchre style: combinations of 2 or 3 cards.
There is no kitty, so nothing is left in the middle of the table. There is also no up card to determine a possible trump suit.
Once the cards have been dealt, bidding begins with the player to the left of the dealer.
How Bidding Works
Shoot the Moon uses one round of bidding. Each player gets one opportunity to either bid or pass.
The minimum bid is 3, meaning the bidder believes their team can take at least three of the six tricks.
A bid must include both a number and a contract. A player might say:
“3 hearts.”
The next player could pass or make a higher bid:
“4 low.”
The important part is that each successive bid must be higher than the previous bid. Changing the suitor switching between trump and no trump does not allow you to repeat the same number. If the current bid is 4 hearts, you cannot bid 4 spades or 4 high. Your bid must be at least 5.
The normal bidding ladder is:
3 → 4 → 5 → 6 → Shoot → Moon
A Shoot therefore beats any normal six bid, and a Moon beats a Shoot.
Shoot and Moon bids also name a contract, so bids such as Shoot clubs, Shoot low, Moon hearts, and Moon high are all possible.
The Dealer Is Stuck
There is no all-pass redeal.
If the first three players pass, the dealer must make a bid of at least 3. The dealer can choose any available contract, such as 3 diamonds, 3 high, or 3 low. Once the dealer bids or passes when there is already a bid, the auction is over. The highest bidder wins thecontract.
Choosing Trump, High or Low
There are three basic types of contracts.
Suit Contract
The bidder names one of the four suits as trump:
Hearts
Diamonds
Clubs
Spades
Trump works much like it does in traditional Euchre, including the right and left bowers.
High No Trump
There is no trump suit and the highest card of the suit led wins the trick.
Cards rank:
A → K → Q → J → 10 → 9
Low No Trump
There is again no trump suit, but the ranking is reversed:
9 → 10 → J → Q → K → A
That reversal can completely change the value of a hand. A collection of nines and tens that looks terrible in high no trump can become very strong in low.
How a Shoot Works
A Shoot is the first special bid above 6. The bidder is promising to take all six tricks, but gets one card of help from their partner before playing alone.
The order matters.
First, the Shoot bidder discards one card face down from their six-card hand.
Next, the bidder's partner looks at their own hand and chooses one card to give the bidder. The bidder does not ask for a particular card.
After giving that card to the bidder, the partner sits out for the rest of the hand. The Shoot bidder once again has six cards and plays alone against the two defenders.
To make the Shoot, the bidder must win every trick.
The fact that the bidder discards before seeing what the partner will contribute adds some uncertainty. You may know exactly what would make your hand nearly unbeatable, but your partner has to decide what card will help you most.
A successful Shoot scores 12 points. Failing costs the bidding team 12 points, and the defenders also score the tricks they take.
How a Moon Works
A Moon takes away even that one-card safety net.
When you bid Moon, your partner sits out and you receive no replacement card. You play the six cards you were originally dealt and must take all six tricks by yourself.
Moon is the highest possible bid, so once someone bids Moon, the auction is effectively over.
The reward is substantial:
A successful Moon scores 24 points. But failure costs the bidding team 24 points, while the defending team also scores whatever tricks it takes.
That makes Moon a serious commitment. One losing trick can produce an enormous score swing.
Card Ranking When There Is Trump
Trump follows the familiar Euchre ranking.
From highest to lowest:
Right bower — Jack of the trump suit
Left bower — Jack of the same color as trump
Ace
King
Queen
10
9
For example, if spades are trump, the trump cards rank:
J♠ → J♣ → A♠ → K♠ → Q♠ → 10♠ → 9♠
Remember that the left bower changes suits. If spades are trump, the Jack of clubs is considered a spade, not a club, for the entire hand. That matters when following suit. If clubs are led and you hold only the Jack of clubs while spades are trump, you are actually void in clubs.
How to Play the Hand
After bidding is finished and any Shoot card exchange has taken place, the winning bidder leads the first trick.
Players must follow the suit that was led whenever possible. If you cannot follow suit, you may play any card. You are not required to play trump just because you're void.
In a trump contract, the highest trump played wins the trick. If nobody plays trump, the highest card of the suit led wins.
In high or low no trump, there is no trump suit, so the highest-ranking card of the suit led always wins according to that contract's ranking.
The player who wins a trick leads the next one. After all six tricks have been played, the hand is scored.
How Scoring Works
Scoring is a little different from traditional Euchre because both teams can score points on the same hand.
Making a Normal Bid
If the bidding team takes at least as many tricks as it promised, it scores the amount of the bid. The defending team scores one point for every trick it took.
Suppose Team A bids 4 hearts and wins four tricks. Team B wins the other two.
Team A scores:
+4
Team B scores:
+2
If Team A had taken five tricks instead, it would still score only 4 points, because it bid 4. Team B would score 1 for the remaining trick.
Getting Euchred
If the bidding team fails to take enough tricks to make its contract, it loses the value of its bid.
Suppose Team A bids 5 spades but takes only four tricks. Team B takes two.
The scoring is:
Team A: −5
Team B: +2
The bidders don't simply score zero. Their score actually moves backward.
Shoot Scoring
A successful Shoot is worth: +12
A failed Shoot is: −12
The defenders also receive one point for every trick they take.
Moon Scoring
A successful Moon is worth: +24
A failed Moon is: −24
The defenders again score the number of tricks they win.
Because a Shoot or Moon requires a clean sweep, even one defensive trick is enough to defeat the contract.
How Do You Win Shoot the Moon?
The game begins with a winning target of 32 points.
That sounds straightforward until somebody successfully Shoots or Moons. A Successful Shoot Raises the Winning Score Every successful Shoot increases the target score by 4 points for both teams.
So a game might progress like this:
32 → 36 → 40 → 44 → 48
The winning target never rises above 48.
This can create an unusual situation where a team scores 12 points on a Shoot but also moves the finish line farther away.
For example, suppose the target is still 32 and your team has 22 points. You make a Shoot and score 12, bringing your score to 34. Normally, 34 would be enough to win a game to 32. But the successful Shoot also raises the target to 36, so the game continues.
A Successful Moon Moves the Target to 48
A successful Moon immediately makes the game to 48, regardless of the previous target. If the game was to 32, it's now to 48. If successful Shoots had already raised the target to 40 or 44, a Moon still takes it directly to 48.
What If Both Teams Cross the Winning Score?
Because the defending team can score tricks even when the bidding team makes its contract, it's possible for both teams to reach or exceed the winning target on the same hand.
When that happens, compare the scores after the hand. If one team has the higher score, that team wins. If the teams are tied, keep playing additional hands until a hand ends with one team ahead.
So reaching the target matters, but a tied score doesn't end the game.
Example: A Shoot from Bidding Through Scoring
Suppose you're the dealer and your six cards are:
J♠, J♣, A♠, K♠, A♥, 9♦
Remember that if spades become trump, J♣ will be the left bower.
The bidding goes:
Player to your left: 3 heartsYour partner: 4 lowNext player: PassYou: Shoot spades
Your Shoot is the highest bid, so you win the auction.
You now have to discard before receiving a card from your partner. You discard the 9♦.
Your partner looks over their hand and decides that Q♠ is the card most likely to help you, so they give it to you and sit out.
Your six-card hand is now:
J♠, J♣, A♠, K♠, Q♠, A♥
With spades trump, you hold the five highest trump cards plus the Ace of hearts.
You lead the first trick and must take all six to complete the Shoot. If you sweep the hand, your team scores 12 points and the game's winning target increases by 4.
If either opponent manages to take even one trick, the Shoot fails. Your team loses 12 points and the defenders score the tricks they took. Obviously, in this example you're not going to lose a trick, but you get the point.
That's why the distinction between a strong six bid and a Shoot matters. With a six bid, your partner remains in the hand. With a Shoot, you're accepting considerably more risk in exchange for the much larger score.
Shoot the Moon Rules at a Glance
Players: 4
Teams: 2 teams of 2
Deck: 24 cards, 9 through Ace
Cards per player: 6
Kitty: None
Bidding starts: Left of dealer
Auction: One round
Minimum bid: 3
Normal bids: 3, 4, 5, 6
Special bids: Shoot, Moon
Contracts: Hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades, high no trump, low no trump
Stuck dealer: Yes; dealer must bid at least 3 if everyone else passes
Opening lead: Winning bidder
Shoot: Discard one, receive one partner-selected card, then play alone
Moon: Play alone with no partner card
Successful Shoot: +12
Failed Shoot: −12
Successful Moon: +24
Failed Moon: −24
Starting winning score: 32
Maximum winning score: 48
Shoot the Moon Rules Can Vary
If someone tells you they play Shoot the Moon differently, they may very well be right—at least at their table.
Bid Euchre is a family of regional games rather than one standardized ruleset, and special all-trick bids vary especially widely. In other versions, a lone bidder may receive a different number of cards from a partner, use a kitty, play with a different deck, follow a different auction, or score a successful sweep differently.
Before playing with a new group, it's worth confirming a few basics: deck size, minimum bid, whether high and low no trump are allowed, how Shoot and Moon work, who leads, and how the game is scored.
Those few questions can prevent a surprisingly long argument after the cards are already dealt.
Final Thoughts
Shoot the Moon keeps much of what makes Euchre familiar—the bowers, trump suits, partnerships, and trick-taking—but adds the auction and much bigger risk-and-reward decisions.
For a new player, the main things to remember are simple: bid the number of tricks you think you can take, name your contract as part of the bid, and know exactly what you're committing to before jumping from six to a Shoot or Moon.
Once everyone understands the scoring, the game moves quickly. And when a player announces a Moon with the score getting close to the finish, the next six tricks can change the entire game.
What's Trump? can help keep track of dealer, score, trump, and other game information while playing this version of Shoot the Moon, along with many other Bid Euchre variations.