Moon Glossary: Three-Hand 42 Domino Terms

Moon plays with the same tiles, suits, and tricks as Texas 42, so the basics live in the Texas 42 Glossary. These are the words that are new, or mean something different, at a Moon table. For full rules, see Moon Rules.

Moon keeps the bones of 42 and throws out the partners and the count. Three players, seven tricks, one point a trick, and everyone is on their own.

The Moon set

Moon (three-hand 42): A trick-taking domino game for three players, each playing for themselves. It keeps 42's bidding, trump, and tricks, but drops the partners and the count dominoes: every trick is worth one point, and the first player to 21 points wins.
22-tile set (Moon set): A double-six set with the six blank-bearing non-doubles (0-1, 0-2, 0-3, 0-4, 0-5, 0-6) taken out. All seven doubles stay in, alongside fifteen non-doubles.
Double-blank (0-0): The only tile carrying a blank that stays in the Moon set. Because it stands alone, blanks are a one-tile suit: call blanks as trump and the 0-0 is the only trump in the deck.
Widow (kitty): The single tile left face down in the middle of the table after each of the three players is dealt seven. Only the winning bidder ever gets to use it.
21-tile game: A house rule that also removes the double-blank, leaving 21 tiles. All 21 are dealt, so there is no widow and no exchange.

Seats and roles

Three-hand (cut-throat, partnerless): Moon's seating: three players in a triangle, each keeping their own score. There are no fixed partnerships, and alliances last only as long as one hand.
Bidder (high bidder): The player who wins the auction. The bidder takes the widow, names the trump contract, and leads the first trick.
Defenders: The two players who did not win the bid. Each one scores one point per trick they personally take, whether or not the bidder makes the contract. They usually work together against the bidder, since knocking the bidder's score down matters more than a single trick, except near the end of a game when a point or two can win it.
Dealer (shuffler): Shuffles the 22 tiles face down and deals seven to each player, leaving one for the widow. Bidding starts with the player to the dealer's left and moves clockwise.

Bidding and the widow

Bid ladder: The fixed order of Moon bids: 4, 5, 6, 7, then the two shoot contracts side by side at the top. Each player gets one turn to bid or pass, and every bid must beat the one before it.
Trick bid (numeric bid): A bid of 4 to 7, promising to take at least that many of the seven tricks. Making it scores the number bid; getting set loses it. A bid of 7 needs every trick but stakes only 7 points.
Shoot (shoot contract, the 21 bid): Either of the two contracts worth 21 points, made or set. Declaring one ends the auction on the spot.
Shoot it Over: A shoot contract to win all seven tricks. It asks for the same tricks as a bid of 7 but plays for 21 points instead of 7.
Shoot it Under (nil): A shoot contract to win no tricks at all. No trump is named, doubles drop to the bottom of their suits, and taking even one trick sets the bidder.
Shooting the moon: Taking every trick in a hand. The phrase comes from card games such as Hearts, and the game is named for it. Jennifer Kelley's 1999 rules use it for a bid of 7.
Widow exchange: What the bidder does after winning the auction: look at the widow, swap it for any tile in hand if it helps, and discard one tile face down. The discard is out of play for the hand, the bidder is back to seven tiles, and trump is named next.
Redeal: When all three players pass, the tiles are shuffled and dealt again.
Force dealer (forced bid): A house rule for an all-pass auction: instead of a redeal, the dealer must bid 4.

Trump contracts

Pip trump: Naming one number, blanks through sixes, as trump. Every tile showing that number becomes trump, and its double ranks highest. Blanks trump holds only the 0-0.
Doubles (doubles trump): A contract where the seven doubles form their own trump suit, ranked 6-6 high down to 0-0 low. Every non-double plays as an ordinary tile.
Follow Me (no-trump): A contract with no trump suit. The highest tile of the suit led wins, and each double is the top tile of its own suit.
Doubles low: The ranking used in Shoot it Under: each double drops below every other tile in its suit, so the bidder can unload doubles without being forced to win tricks.

Playing tricks

Trick: Three plays, one from each player, clockwise. Seven tricks make a hand, and each one is worth exactly one point to whoever takes it.
Lead: The first tile played to a trick. A non-double leads the suit of its higher end; a double leads its own number. The bidder leads the first trick, and each trick's winner leads the next.
Follow suit: You must play a tile of the suit led if you hold one. A non-trump tile can follow either number on it; a trump tile belongs only to trump. If you cannot follow, play anything, trump included.
Renege: Failing to follow suit while holding a tile that could. In Moon the hand ends on the spot and is forfeited.

Scoring

Trick point: The only kind of point in Moon: one per trick, seven per hand.
No count: The five count dominoes from 42 carry no points in Moon. Four of them (5-5, 6-4, 4-1, 3-2) are in the Moon set and play and follow like any other tile; the fifth, 5-0, is one of the blank tiles taken out.
Game (race to 21): Scores carry from hand to hand, and the first player to reach 21 points wins.
Set: Failing the contract. A set bidder loses the value of the bid, or 21 for a shoot, while the defenders still score the tricks they took.
Overtricks: Tricks taken beyond the bid. They earn the bidder nothing: a made bid scores only its number.
Negative score: Moon scores can drop below zero after a set. A shoot made from below zero wins the game only if the new total reaches 21.
Marks (marks scoring): A scoring variation: a made bid earns the bidder one mark, a set gives each defender one mark, and the first player to seven marks wins.

Variants and regional names

Aggie Dice (dice trump): A college variation reported by Joe Celko: two dice are thrown before each deal, and only the numbers they show can be named as trump. Doubles and no-trump are off the table; Shoot it Under is unaffected.
Called suit (hand control): A Texas A&M no-trump variation reported by Joe Celko: whoever leads a non-double names which of its two numbers is the suit, and everyone must follow that number.
Trump before widow (widow timing): A house rule that makes the bidder name trump before looking at the widow.
Minimum bid: The lowest opening bid. Most tables start at 4 tricks; some open at 3 or 5.
Match (match play): A series of Moon games, such as best of three.
Four-player Moon: A partnership version for four players with the full 28-tile set. A partnership that makes its bid scores a point for every trick it took; one that is set loses the amount of the bid. The opponents always score their tricks, and the first side to 21 wins. Sources disagree on whether the lowest bid is 3 or 4.
Tidewater dominoes: A four-player relative of Moon reported in the Tidewater area of Virginia, where it is simply called "dominoes." Bids start at 5 and are spoken as "5 times," "6 times," or "7 times"; there is no doubles contract; and a "shoot the moon" bid, allowed only after someone bids 7 times, wins or loses the whole game.