How to play Mexico
The rules used at Mexico Club. Open a section to read more.
Players and the deck
Mexico is always played by three players. The deck has 32 cards: 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace in hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades.
Card rank from low to high is 7–10, Queen, King, Ace, then Jack. The Jack is the strongest card in its suit (rank 15 in play).
Dealing
Each player receives 10 cards. The remaining 2 cards go to the pot in the center of the table. Those two cards can come into play later depending on the bid and scrap.
Bidding
Players bid clockwise. You may pass with NEXT, or bid a contract of 5 to 10 tricks, or bid MEXICO (the highest bid, worth 20).
- A higher bid always beats a lower one.
- NEXT means you pass for this round of bidding.
- MEXICO is the top bid and immediately moves to trump selection.
The highest bidder becomes the declarer. The other two players defend together.
Choosing trump
The declarer chooses the trump suit: hearts, diamonds, clubs, or spades. If the bid is MEXICO, trump is chosen right after the bid. Trump cards beat any non-trump card.
Playing tricks
There are 10 tricks in a round. The lead player plays a card; the others must follow suit if they can. If you cannot follow, you may play trump or discard.
The highest trump wins the trick. If no trump was played, the highest card of the led suit wins. The winner of the trick leads the next one.
The contract
The declarer must take at least as many tricks as the bid:
- A bid of 5–9 means that many tricks.
- A bid of 10 (or MEXICO) means all 10 tricks.
The two defenders try to stop the declarer from making the contract.
Scoring
If the declarer makes the contract, they score the tricks they took (or 20 for a successful MEXICO). If they fail, they lose the bid value (double in normal mode).
Defenders score the tricks they took. On a MEXICO bid those tricks count double. A defender who takes zero tricks scores 0 in easy mode, or minus the bid in normal mode.