Meksiko
Introduction
Meksiko is a three-player game using a 32-card pack, said to be the most popular trick-taking game in Serbia.
It was probably inspired by Preference, in that the players are dealt 10 cards each and the player who bids to take most tricks picks up the 2-card talon and chooses the trump suit. However in Meksiko, unlike Preference, the opponents of the bidder have no duty to win a minimum number of tricks and no opportunity to drop out. We have therefore categorised it as an Auction Whist game.
The game is named after its highest bid "Meksiko", which is an undertaking to win all the tricks without the help of the talon and with no trumps. "Meksiko" is of course just the Serbian spelling of the name of the country Mexico, but in common with many others this card game has no connection at all to the country that shares its name.
This page is based on information from Aleksandar Sredojevic who has played Meksiko in Novi Sad (northern Serbia) with players from various parts of the country.
Players and Cards
Meksiko is a game for 3 players, but can be played by 4 if the dealer sits out of each hand.
It uses a 32-card pack in which sevens are the lowest cards.
It is often played with "Hungarian cards" (мађарске карте) - cards of the William Tell pattern with suits of hearts, bells, acorns and leaves, but it can also be played with an international 52-card deck with French suits of hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades from which the ranks from 2 to 6 and any jokers have been removed.
The ranking of the cards in each suit from high to low is:
- Ace, King, Over, Under, X, IX, VIII, VII if using Hungarian cards;
- Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7 if using French suited cards.
Deal and play are counterclockwise and the turn to deal passes to the right after each hand.
Deal
There isn't a commonly accepted way to pick first dealer, other than whoever happens to be holding the deck when the game starts. The dealer shuffles, the person on dealer's left cuts, and then the dealer deals 10 cards to each player and two to the talon or kup (куп). People tend to deal however they please. Aleksandar Sredojevic's preference is to deal a packet of 3 cards to each player, then 2 to each player, then 2 to the talon, then once again 3 to each and 2 to each.
Bidding
After the deal there is an auction. The possible bids are the numbers from 5 to 10, in which the bidder undertakes to win at least that many tricks, and above 10 is the special bid "meksiko", in which the bidder promises to win all 10 tricks without trumps and without using the talon.
The person on the dealer's right speaks first and must bid at least 5. Then subsequent players in turn must bid higher or pass. A player who has passed is not allowed to rejoin the auction. The auction ends once two players have passed, and the last player, who bid highest, is the declarer.
If the final bid was a number the declarer flips the two talon cards for all to see. These are then added to the declarer's hand for a total of 12 cards, and the declarer discards any two of these cards face down. Finally the declarer announces the trump suit for the hand.
If the final bid was meksiko no one sees the talon, there are no trumps, and the play begins immediately.
Play
The declarer leads to the first trick and subsequently the winner of each trick leads to the next.
Any card can be led, and each of the other two players in turn must play a card to the trick. They must play a card of the same suit as the led card if they have any. A player with no card of the suit that was led must play a trump if possible. A player with no cards of the suit led and no trumps can play any card.
The trick is won by whoever player played the highest trump, or if there are no trumps in the trick by whoever played the highest card of the suit that was led. The winner of the trick takes the three played cards and stacks them face down in front of them, keeping won tricks overlapped but separate so that everyone can see how many tricks each player has won.
Note that there is no obligation to beat the highest card in the trick - a player is free to play any card of the appropriate suit, higher or lower than previous plays.
Note also that the two opponents of the declarer must store their tricks separately since each will score separately for the tricks that they won.
Scoring
Once all 10 tricks are played each player counts the tricks they won.
If the declarer won at least as many tricks as were bid, the declarer scores positive points equal to the number of tricks won (which may be greater than the bid). If the declarer won fewer tricks than were bid, the declarer scores minus the number that was bid.
If the bid was "meksiko" the declarer scores plus 20 points for taking all the tricks, or minus 20 points if any other player took a trick.
Whatever the bid, each of the declarer's opponents scores one point for each trick that they won.
For example if the declarer A bid 6 and won 7 tricks, B won 1 trick and C won 2 the scores are A:+7, B:+1. C:+2. If the declarer had bid 6 but won only 5 tricks, while B won 4 and C won 1, the scores would be A:-6, B:+4, C:+1.
A cumulative score is kept for each player, starting at zero. A player's total score can be negative.
The game ends when any player reaches a cumulative score of 51 points or more (over as many hands as that takes). The winner is then the player who has most points.
- In case of a tie for most points, the player who was declarer in the final hand wins.
- If neither player in the tie was the declarer, the winner is whichever of them won more tricks in the final hand. If they won equal numbers of tricks they share the victory.
Variations
Some players do not allow an explicit bid of 5. Instead the minimum bid allowed is 6 and the first player is allowed to pass. If all three players pass the dealer becomes the declarer and must take at least 5 tricks, scoring as for a bid of 5.
Some play that if the final (and only) bid is 5, the declarer takes the two talon cards without showing them to the other players.
Some players shorten the game by setting the target as 31 points rather than 51.
In at least one group a player unable to follow suit is not required to play a trump, but this way of playing is unusual.
There is an alternative method of scoring, sometimes known as "pub scoring". It is for the most part the same as regular scoring, with the following differences:
- for a failed bid the declarer losers twice the amount of the bid (presumably 40 points for a failed meksiko);
- an opponent of the declarer who wins no tricks at all scores minus the number bid (-20 for meksiko) instead of zero.