Comparing hands · Reviewed 2026-10-18
Mus card game: players, deck & rules
Compare the same four-card hand in four contests, with team betting and an option to decide the game at once.
Version used: Eight-kings / eight-aces Mus; one game to 40 points, using score counters
- Players
- 4
- Deck
- 40-card Spanish pack; no eights or nines
- Learning
- Involved
Be the first partnership to reach 40 points, or win an accepted órdago.
Need a term explained? Suit, rank, trick, trump and meld.
Prepare the pack and exchange
- Partners sit opposite. Use Spanish A, 2 through 7, Sota, Caballo, Rey. Threes count as kings and twos as aces. Suits do not matter.
- Deal four each anticlockwise. Dealer’s right-hand player is mano and speaks first. If all four say “Mus”, each discards one to four and receives replacements; repeat until someone says “no Mus”. When stock runs short, shuffle discards; if only the last player needs replacements, exclude their current discards.
Compare four contests with the same hand
- Grande: compare ranks high to low. Chica: compare low to high. Rank is king/3, Caballo, Sota, 7, 6, 5, 4, ace/2.
- Pares: two pairs beat three of a kind, which beats one pair. Four equal ranks count as two pairs. Compare pair ranks, not kickers. Juego: totals at least 31 rank 31, 32, 40, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33. Count court cards/3 as 10 and ace/2 as 1; other cards have face value. If nobody has Juego, compare highest total as Punto.
Announce eligibility, then pass or bet
For Pares and Juego everyone truthfully declares whether they qualify; bet only if both teams qualify. One qualifying team automatically wins that contest. No pairs means no Pares. When nobody has Juego, everyone may bet on Punto. Each contest starts with mano: pass or bet at least two counters. Opponents fold, see or raise by at least two. Declining an opening bet awards one point immediately; declining a raise awards the previous stake. Accepted bets wait for showdown. An accepted órdago instead settles the entire game immediately by that contest.
Reveal and count in order
After all contests, show hands and score Grande, Chica, Pares, Juego/Punto in that order. Each team uses its better qualifying hand; exact ties favour the earliest player anticlockwise from mano. Stop immediately at 40. For Grande/Chica, an accepted bet scores its stake; all pass scores one. Pares, Juego and Punto add the winning team’s base points to an accepted stake, or score just base with no bet. Fold winners retain those base points too. Thus a Punto win adds one base point even after a fold.
Base points after the betting
Only the winning partnership receives these base points. For Grande/Chica, a fold has already settled the contest; do not add another one-point baseline.
| Contest | Winning team’s base points |
|---|---|
| Pares | Each partner: pair 1, trips 2, two pairs 3 |
| Juego | Each partner with Juego: total 31 scores 3; other qualifying total scores 2 |
| Punto, when no Juego exists | 1 point for the winning team |
Worked example
Rey, 3, 7, 4 counts as a king pair and totals 31. Caballo, Caballo, Sota, 5 has a lower pair and totals 35. The first hand wins both those individual comparisons. Before awarding the team contests, compare the partners’ hands too: either partner may hold the team’s better hand.
Use counters and say the stake aloud
Mus betting can use counters with no monetary value. Write each contest’s agreed stake separately so an accepted bet is not confused with an immediate fold award. For example, opening two, raising to four and then folding pays the previous two, not four. Agree whether table signals are allowed before dealing; the full reference lists that separate convention.
Rule sources and version notes
Rules checked on 2026-10-18. The named version above is the one taught here. Examples and learning suggestions are written for this guide.