MUS

OBJECTIVE OF MUS: Reach 40 points with your partner first!

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 4 players (2 partnerships)

NUMBER OF CARDS: 40 card Spanish deck

RANK OF CARDS:  R or 3 (highest), C or 11, S or 10, 7, 6, 5, 4, A(1) or 2(lowest)

TYPE OF GAME: Vying

AUDIENCE: Adult

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INTRODUCTION TO MUS

Mus is a card game originating from Basque country, which includes Spain and Southern France. Due to the nature of its geographical origin, it is widely played in Spain and France. The game’s objective is like that of Poker– drawing cards and betting on the best hand- the game is generally not played for money. The oldest known reference to the game was in 1795, when it was quoted in a trilingual dictionary (Basque-Spanish-Latin) by Manuel Larramendi, a philologist.

THE PLAYERS & CARDS

Mus is a 4 player game with fixed partnerships. Partners should sit opposite each other. The game moves counter clockwise.

The Spanish deck has 40 cards.

Suits: Swords, Batons, Cups, & Coins. Suits have no significance in Mus.

Within each suit are Rey (R) or 12, Caballo (C) or 11, Sota (S) or 10, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A. The card ranking can be found above.

Point Value of Cards:

R or 3: 10 points

C: 10 points

S: 10 points

7: 7 points

6: 6 points

5: 5 points

4: 4 points

A or 2: 1 point

OBJECTIVE OF MUS

The game is won when a team hits 40 points. This typically takes several hands. Generally, players play for best 2 out of 3 games. Points are counted with Piedras or small stones. Players gain points by having the best hand in each of the categories: Grande (high), Chica (low), Juego (game), and Pares (pairs). Players increase points gained by betting on a category. The betting on these categories follows a strict order, and only after the four rounds is the showdown. At showdown, the hands are revealed and points determined.

Vocabulary

A round is one betting round for one of the 4 categories. A hand is the play from the deal, the 4 betting rounds, to the showdown and scoring. A game is the amount of hands needed to reach the 40 point threshold. A match is 2 or 3 games. Win 2+ games to win the match. 사설토토

THE DEAL & MUS

The dealer shuffles the cards and the player to their left cuts the deck. After, the dealer passes each player 1 card at a time until everyone has 4 cards. The dealer deals counter or anti clockwise. The player to the right of the dealer is the mano. 

Players can agree to improve their hands by discarding and being dealt an equal number of new cards. However, all players must agree. This is called the Mus. The players declare one at a time, starting with the mano. The others can agree by also declaring “Mus,” or disagree by saying, “No hay Mus.” If anyone declines, there is no discarding, and the first round of betting begins.

If all agree to mus, each player, beginning with the mano, discards between 1 and 4 cards face-down and are dealt a new equal number of cards. After all the players have their new hands, they may Mus again. This continues until players are satisfied. If the dealer runs out of cards, they can collect the cards that were discarded, reshuffle, and continue.