Mus rules with 8 kings

Mus in a minute

• Each player gets 4 cards. Before betting, if all four want to, they change cards: that's asking for “Mus”.
• Each hand has four parts, called lances: the Grande (won by the highest cards), the Chica (the lowest), the Pares (matching cards) and the game (Juego: adding up to 31 or more).
• In each lance you can bet points, called piedras (“stones”) in Spanish. If your bet isn't accepted, you take 1 point straight away; if it is accepted, it's settled at the end by showing the cards.
• A game is won by the first pair to reach 40 points.

The table

Four players in two pairs; partners sit opposite each other. The 40-card Spanish deck is used (no eights or nines). Suits don't matter.

The player to the dealer's right is the Mano: speaks first in everything and wins ties. With each new hand, the Mano passes to the next player.

How to win

• A game is won on reaching 40 points. They are counted in points and amarracos: an amarraco is worth 5 points, so 40 points make 8 amarracos.
• A set is won with 2 games (best of 3).
• The game is won with 2 sets (best of 3).

8 kings and 8 aces

The three counts as a king and the two counts as an ace, for all purposes. That's why there are 8 kings and 8 aces in the deck.

Dealing and Mus

Each player gets 4 cards. Starting with the Mano, each player says “Mus” if they want to change cards, or “No mus” if they want to play with what they have. As soon as someone says “No mus” (this is called “cutting the Mus”), the betting starts. If all four say Mus, each player discards 1 to 4 cards and gets the same number back. This repeats until someone cuts.

The four lances

Each hand is played in four rounds of betting, always in this order:

1. Grande. The hand with the highest cards wins, comparing card by card: king, knight, jack, 7, 6, 5, 4, ace.
2. Chica. The hand with the lowest cards wins, comparing card by card from the lowest.
3. Pares. Each player says whether they have Pares. There are three combinations, from lowest to highest: pair (two matching cards), Medias (three of a kind) and Duples (two pairs, or four of a kind). Between equal combinations, the one with higher cards wins. There is only betting on Pares if players from both pairs have them.
4. Juego. Add up the cards: face cards and threes are worth 10, aces and twos 1, and the rest their number. You have Juego with 31 or more. The order is: 31, 32, 40, 37, 36, 35, 34 and 33. If nobody reaches 31, you play for point: the highest total wins (30 is the maximum).

Bets

Pass

You don't bet. If everyone passes, the lance is left “all pass”: nobody has bet and it's settled at the end.

Envido

You bet 2 points (or as many as you say).

Quiero

You accept. Whoever wins the lance collects the bet at the end.

No quiero

You decline. The bettors immediately collect the deje: 1 point if it was the first bet, or whatever had already been accepted if there were raises.

Raise

You answer a bet with a bigger one (“five more”).

Órdago

You bet the whole game. If it's accepted, the cards are shown and the pair that wins that lance wins the game.

To decline a bet, both opponents must decline it; if one accepts, the bet is accepted.

The count

When the lances are over, the cards are shown and points are collected in order: Grande, Chica, Pares and Juego. As soon as a pair reaches 40, they win the game even if there are lances left to count.

Ties go to the player closest to the Mano.

Signals

Signals are optional: against the computer you choose whether to play with them, and in rooms the room creator decides. When playing with signals, during the hand you can make up to 2 to tell your partner what you hold. They're true: you can only make the ones your cards match. Your partner always sees them. Your opponents only see them if they catch them: a flash appears next to whoever makes it and you have to tap it in time. The computer also tries to catch yours.

Differences from a real table

• Pares and Juego declarations are automatic and always true.
• The first hand of each game is played with normal Mus (no mus corrido).
• Signals are made with a button, not with gestures.

Variant

Fournier rules, with 8 kings and 8 aces and no 31 real: the tournament variant.