Rules of Mus

Mus is the most famous and popular Spanish card game. Its unique attraction and peculiar features make each game an exciting experience.

Aim of the game

The aim of the game is to win eight amarrakos (40 stones) in one or several partial games. It can also be played to six amarrakos (30 stones).

Deck of cards

A Spanish 40-card deckis used.

Number of players

It can be played individually between two or more players, up to a maximum of six. It can also be played by four or six, forming two teams of two or three players respectively. The most popular game is that of four players, in pairs, which we will explain here.

Order and value of the cards

The order of the cards, from highest to lowest, is: king or three, knight, jack, seven, six, five, four and two or ace. There is no trump nor distinction between suits.

The value of the cards is the following:each king, three, knight or jack is worth 10 points; the rest of the cards have their corresponding value, except the twos and aces, which are worth one point. The kings have the same value as the threes, and the twos are equal to aces, which is equivalent to playing with 8 kings and 8 aces. It can also be played with just the four kings and the four aces, maintaining the normal values of the threes and twos.

Distribution of cards

Each player takes a card and those with the highest cards pay against those with the lowest cards. Whoever drew the highest card is the “hand” player and their teammate sits opposite them.

The player on the left of the “hand”, after shuffling the deck, offers it to the player on their left to cut, who when cutting must lift more than 3 cards and cannot leave less than 3. Then, they deal four cards to each player, one by one, starting with the “hand” and going from left to right.

After dealing the four cards, each player looks at them to assess their possibilities. The “hand” starts the game and can choose to keep all four cards and say, “No Mus”. Alternatively, they can decide to improve their hand by discarding their cards, saying “Mus”.

On their turn, each player must say whether they wish to discard or not. If a player says, “No Mus”, no one else will be able to discard and the “hand” starts play in a way described later.

In the first round of each game, instead of saying “Mus”, the player who wants Mus will take the deck of cards and place them on their right. If no one cuts the Mus, the player who was the “hand” will be the new dealer, giving each player the number of cards discarded. Finally, the player who cuts the Mus will be the “hand” of this first round.

If the dealer, when making the initial deal, inadvertently uncovers a card, there is “Seen Mus”, and the player who wishes to do so can remain ‘served’ without going to the discard.

A partial game ends when all the plays have been played. At the end, all players must show their cards to avoid any doubts about pairs and disallowed cards to settle the bets. A full game finishes when, after the necessary partial games, one pair reaches or exceeds 40 stones or 8 amarrakos. A complete game can also end without any scoring when a player accepts an Órdago, showing all his cards to see who wins.

Note: If a very strong bet is made, even if it exceeds 40 stones or 8 amarrakos, and a player accepts it, the game has not yet been won or lost, so the game must continue being played until the end. A game of Mus consists of three complete games, with the winners being the first pair to win 3 complete games of 8 amarrakos.

Betting in Mus

Each player with their four cards can form the following plays:

• High: Consists of having the highest possible cards, according to their rank.
• Low: The opposite to the one above, consisting in having the lowest cards possible.
• Pairs: Having two or more cards of the same value.
• Pair: When only 2 cards are equal.
• Trio: When only 3 cards are equal.
• Double Pair: Consists of having two pairs.
• Game: A player has a Game when the sum of the value of the four cards is 31 or more, with the best Game being 31, then 32, then jumping to 40, then down to 37, 36, 35, 34 and 33, which is the worst. Whoever has the best Game wins. If no player has a Game (a total of less than 31), then the bet is to see who has the best score. The best score is 30, descending until 4, which is the worst.

Discard

If everyone has said “Mus”, each player in turn discards the cards they do not want and the dealer gives them an equal number of new cards, which can be up to a total 4 cards.  The “hand” starts, placing the cards face down on the table.  This discard can be repeated as many times as the four players wish.

When the deck runs out of cards without having been able to complete the deal, the discarded cards are collected up and shuffled, except when only one player needs cards, in which case their discard is left to one side and their cards are completed using the discards of the other players.

Announcing bets

Mus is not a trick winning game; using the 4 cards in their hand, each player must make the opposing players think that they hold the best cards.  However, sometimes a player will do the opposite in order to surprise their opponents.

The “hand” is the first to announce whether they wish to pass, bet (two stones) or make a bigger bet, and each of the other players in turn must state if they pass, accept the bet or want to increase it.

The “hand” will announce the plays in this order: High, Low, Pairs and Game or no. In Pairs, each player will say if they have pairs or not and will initiate a bet saying whether they think at least one person from each team has pairs or not too. For the Game, it is done in the same way, saying “Yes” or “No”. If no one has Game, bets are made between the players that wish to bet on the best No Game.

A player can pass without being eliminated so long as no one before them has placed a bet, and they can enter the game on their second turn, accepting or raising previous bets. However, if a player passes after a previous player has made a bet, then they are eliminated from that round.

Game vocabulary

• Mus: When a player says “Mus”, they indicate that they want to discard one or all of their cards.
• Pass: This means they don’t wish to bet or wish to sit back to see what other players do.
• I Bet: A player bets 2 stones.
• Me too (bet): Response to “I Bid”, betting another 2 stones.
• I Bet More (re-bet): Response to a bet in which the bet is doubled.
• OK: Other players’ bets are accepted.
• Not OK: Other players’ bets are rejected.
• Órdago: All stones or amarrakos are bet at once, winning or losing the full set of 8 amarrakos.
• Deje o no: The name of the stone that a player takes if no one accepts their bet.
• Stone: Any object used to keep score, usually beans, chickpeas, little stones or coins.
• Amarrako: Represents the value of 5 stones.

Scoring

Since each pair of players plays together, the scoring is shared between them, so they both keep a record: one of them counts the stones and the other the amarrakos.

At the start of the game, a plate is placed in the centre of the table containing the stones needed to play. The amount bet during each game is remembered and recorded at the end of each partial game. The “dejes” or rejections are noted down as they happen.

At the end of each partial game, the players tot up their scores by announcing how many stones they have won and why. They then take as many stones as points that they got during that game, placing them in front of themselves or their partner so it is clear to see who has what at all times.

When the player who counts the stones has five in front of them, they say, “One Amarrako” and their teammate takes a stone, leaving the other four in the centre.

If, at the end of a partial game, a team has reached or exceed 35 stones, one of them must say, “Adentro” (inside) and they place all the amarrakos in the centre of the table. The aim of this is to let their opponents know that they are about to win the full game.

The value of the bets, according to the order in which they are to be collected, is as follows:

When a team needs very few stones to finish a complete game, they have to be especially careful with the bets or Órdago and remember that the first thing claimed is the “No” or “Deje”, collecting stones from each player in the indicated order.  The first team to reach 8 Amarrakos or 40 stones wins the game.

Collection of bets is based on the following rules:

1. High and Low: If all players decide to pass and no one bets, at the end of the partial game, the player with the best bet on High will get a stone, and the player with the best bet on Low will get another stone. However, if a player bets and nobody accepts their bet, this player takes one stone by way of “Deje” (not accepting the bet), which immediately counts towards the score of the game.
2. Pairs and Game: If everyone passes without anyone betting, at the end of the partial game, the player with the best hand will receive the value of the move, also adding the stones that correspond to their partner for these moves. If a player bets and no one accepts their bet, a “Deje” stone is immediately taken, and at the end of the partial game the value of their hand is also taken, plus the value of their partner’s, even if their cards were worse than those of any other opponent.
3. No Game: If everyone passes and there is no bet, the one with the best point takes a stone.  If a player bets a point and nobody accepts, a “Deje” or “No” stone is immediately taken and another can be taken for the point at the end of the game, even if this was inferior to another player’s point.
4. Any player who renounces a bet loses all right to collect the bet, even when at the end of the partial game and after showing the cards it can be seen that their cards were better.  In any of the bets, the teammate who has best cards wins, even if the one who made the bet or announced Órdago has worse cards than the opponent who accepted.
5. If a player forgets to pick up a stone, he or she loses the right to do so once the deck is cut to deal the cards for the next partial game.

Value of bets

• No or Deje (leave) -> 1 Stone
• High during pass --> 1 Stone
• Low during pass --> 1 Stone
• Pair --> 1 Stone
• Trio --> 2 Stones
• Double Pair --> 3 Stones
• Game --> 2 Stones
• Game 31 --> 3 Stones
• No Game or Point --> 1 Stone