This video is about playing defense against players shooting the moon. The host lays out a simple hand that shoots the moon because of players dumping and ducking.

The host illiterates why you need defensive plays to be a winning hearts card game player. And shows clearly the follies of just a lazy dumping and ducking game strategy.

The Video Transcript:

Now we come to a topic that really, well kind of boils my blood. People that either don’t want to play defense to stop the moon, or they just want to duck every, dump out every high card they have.

For example, this is not a great hand. Let us just say for the sake of discussion. Deuce of clubs is lead and out comes the ace of clubs and immediately they try a chip to spades and you get rid of this one. Now you really have a bad hand here, if you throw a heart on a spade lead, you’re going to be thrown in with absolutely everything. Your only chance is a moon here.

For example let’s just say the nine of spades doesn’t win, but somebody takes it with th jack or the ten or the ace or the king and they continue spades. What is your best play?

Well,you want to leave your options open. In fact you’ve already played one club and your only chance is to really start thinking about the moon because it’s the only fair chance that you have.

So you lead the ten and boom, right away somebody comes up with a diamond and maybe they push another club or another spade. It ally doesn’t matter.

Well it does, because on the spade lead, you’re going to have to make a decision on what to get rid of, but if they push another spade, you get rid of another club and hope. Anyway, you are in with this king of clubs, and low and behold, somebody throws a heart on you.

Well you kind of like that, because you know that you don’t have any chance in the world of making it without another heart discard. So you lead the queen of clubs, maybe this queen of spades comes out and low and behold. Out comes a card that just absolutely tickles your fancy and there she is.

Now, once that queen of hearts comes down, you really feel good about your prospects for the moon.

Now you need the jack of clubs and out comes the ten of hearts, and they’re ducking everything they can, they’re  dumping everything they can. They’re just basically dumping and low and behold you come down to this position. The king of diamonds was good and three hearts already thrown on you. You’re off to the moon.

So the person with the queen of hearts could of kept two hearts to stop the moon. You got a moon that you didn’t deserve.

They’re duckers and dumpers. Awful.

You should certainly try to play defense when you can.