Mus (card game)
Mus is a popular card game originating in the Basque regions of Spain. From there it spread all over the country, where it is now the most played card game, spawning countless mus clubs or peñas and becoming a staple game among college students. It is also highly regarded, being considered by many as one of the finest card games.
It is played (normally in two pairs) with the Baraja deck which is a deck of 40 cards (without eights and nines), and it has a variety of different rules in the different regions of Spain. The game has four rounds:
- Grande (Big): playing for the highest card
- Pequeña or Chica (Little): playing for the lowest card
- Pares (Pairs): playing for pairs
- Juego (Game): playing for the game (attempting to get cards totalling at least 31 points) or failing that for punto (point).
It has an interesting feature in that signals (Señas) between players are an accepted part of the game.
Basque emigrants carried the game to other countries. Nowadays there is an international mus tournament, apart from many national and regional ones.
Set up
Mus is played in pairs (one pair against another). Each pair sits facing their teammate around the table
Every hand consists of four rounds: la grande ('the Big'), la pequeña ('the Small'), los pares ('the Pairs') and el juego ('the Game'). If none of the players have juego then instead the round is played al punto ('for the Point'). After each hand the results of that hand are calculated and a new hand started.
There are two main forms of rules: "a cuatro reyes" ('to four Kings') - played mostly in La Rioja,Navarre and Guipúzcoa, and "a ocho reyes" ('to eight Kings') - in this case the threes count as Kings and the twos as Aces.
A match (partida) is divided into games (juegos). Each game is won by the first pair to reach 30 points (or 40 depending on the version of the rules being followed). 3 games count as una vaca ('a cow') and 3 vacas win the match, although there are many other scoring variations, for example, in some places the game is played to 5 games and 5 vacas.
Starting the game
Each player draws a cards from the deck and the highest face value is elected as dealer. The dealer shuffles the cards, lets the player to their left cut the deck and deals four cards (one card each time) to each player starting with the player to their right and finishing with themselves. Once they have finished dealing the dealer puts the deck aside and the game begins.
"Mus" or "No hay Mus"
Starting with the player to the dealer's right (known as the mano), each player declares whether they would like to discard any (or all ) of their cards. If they want to discard they say "Mus" or if not "No hay Mus" ('there isn't Mus'). If all four players agree they all discard their unwanted cards and the dealer will redeal as many cards as requested to each player (each player receives all their requested cards in one go). This process is repeated until one of the players declares "Mus", indicating that they are satisfied to play with their current hand. Play then commences starting with the "mano".
If the deck is dealt out before anybody is satisfied with their hand (and calls "Mus") the previous discards are collected, reshuffled and the process continues.
Bidding
The process of bidding in Mus is simailar to other games such as poker. Each player has the opportunity to "pass" or to bid on their hand. The minimum bet is two piedras ('stones') - that is to say that if a players says envido ("I bid") they are betting two piedras, and the maximum bid is the "órdago" (or in the Basque language,"hor dago") which if accepted means the winning pair whin the entire game. When one player from a pair bids either of the opposing players may "see", "fold" or "raise" the bet. If the bet is raised the original pair may then see, fold or raise and so on.
If a player bids and nobody else sees or raises their bet then they automatically receive one piedra; if they raise a previous bet and nobody sees or raises their bet they receive all the piedras bet previously. If their bet is accepted play continues and the bets are paid at the end of the hand except in the case of a bid of órdago in which case all the cards are immediately shown and the result of that game decided without having to play further hands.
Signals
In Mus it is strategically important to know which cards your partner is holding. There a series of signals (señas) allowed in the game which you can use to indicate to your partner what you are holding (while trying to hide the transmission of the signal from your opponents). The signals have a fixed meaning and it is against the rules to use other signals or use false signals (by signalling a hand you do not hold). The señas are:
- Two Kings: biting the centre of the bottom lip
- Three Kings: biting one side of the bottom lip
- Two Aces: poking out your tongue
- Three Aces: poking out your tongue to one side
- Pares (pair): tilting the head to one side
- Medias (3 cards the same): pursing your lips to one side of the mouth
- Duples (two pairs): raising your eyebrows
- La Una (31 points): winking
- Solomillo (3 Kings and an Ace): blowing a kiss
- Treinta al punto (30 points): lifting both shoulders
- 29 points: lifting the right shoulder
- 28 points: lifting the left shoulder
- Ciego ("blind" - having neither pares nor juego): closing the eyes
- La real (3 sevens with a picture card, no 3s): touching the earlobe
Not all of these signals are accepted in all variations and there are other signals that may be in use, so it is always necessary to clarify these when playing for the first time.
The rounds
Grande
The first round is the Grande in which the two pairs compete to see who has the highest cards. The highest cards are the threes and the Kings - these are called Cerdos. To work out who has the best hand first the Kings and threes are counted and if this results in a tie Caballos(11) are counted then Sotas(10) and so on. As it a bidding game, if one pair does not accept the bid then they may not win the hand even though they have higher cards.
Pequeña or Chica
The next round is the Pequeña or Chica, in which the object is to have the lowest cards. In this case the lowest cards are the Aces and twos - these are called the Pitos. Aces and twos are counted first, then, if tied, the fours (as threes are counted as high cards), the fives and so on.
Pares
In order to play the Pares, it is first necessary to declare whether you have any pairs (two or more cards of the same value). If a team has no pairs they can not bet. The best pairs are the duples which are two pairs (having four identical cards has no special significance), followed by medias which are three of a kind, and finally the simple par which is two of a kind. If the result of the Pares round is a draw then the values of the pairs are taken into account. In this case the values are as follows: first the Kings, then the Caballos, then the Sotas etc. In the case of tied duples the highest pair wins (for example: Kings and Aces beats Caballo and Caballo and both beat Aces and fours)
Juego
The last round is the Juego. For this round it is necessary to add up the value of the cards. Picture cards are worth 10, Aces 1, and the remaining cards their face value. To begin the bidding you must declare whther you have juego or not - if your cards add up to 31 or more. If the opposing team does not have juego then they can not bet. If nobody has juego then the round is played by betting on punto: who has the highest value hand. At the end of the bidding the player with the best juego wins. The best juego is 31 points (also known as La Una), next 32 points, then 40, 37, 36, 35, 34 and the worst juego is 33. If there is a tie at the end of the round then the mano is declared the winner of the round. There is no way of scoring either 38 or 39 points, as only four cards are dealt and and there are no nines or eights.
Named hands
Some hands have particular names:
- Duples gallegos ("Gallician duples") and Duples polacos ("Polish duples") : The duples gallegos are duples made up of two Aces and two Kings. The duples polacos are those made up of two Kings and two Caballos
- La Real ("The Royal"): La real is a hand that adds up to 31 for the purposes of betting on the juego and if this hand is admitted in the rules (which must be agreed beforehand) then in case of a tie this hand will win rather than the mano. These are the combinations that may be considered la real :
- 3 sevens and a picture card (threes do not count in this case).
- 3 sevens and a King (traditional).
- 3 seven and a Sota (more modern).
- seven of cups, seven of swords, seven of clubs and the Sota of coins (the most stringent version).
- La Jugada del tío Perete ("The hand of Uncle Perete"): This consists of a 4, a 5, a 6 and a 7 of any suit.It is the worst hand it is possible to be dealt. If a rival player calls "Mus" a player with this hand may throw in their cards and automatically be awarded a piedra (although they would then forfeit the right to play in that hand)
- In some places (La Rioja for example) this hand is called Tanganete.
- As with La Real it must be decided at the start of the game whether to allow this rule
- Some variations allow a player to throw this hand in after the Grande and Chica rounds.
- Solomillo ("Loin") or la bonita ("The Pretty one"): 31 points made up of 3 Kings and an Ace.
External links
- Rules of Card Games: Mus (by John McLeod)
- Ontario Basque Club: Mus (rules, vocabulary, etc.)
- DUPLES e.V.: Mus (german mus club; rules etc.)
elmus.org (internet portal devoted to mus)- IRCMUS (a program that allows to play mus over an IRC channel)
