Glossary
Terms are listed in English, with the Serbian word in brackets. If you play with friends from the Balkans you will hear the Serbian words far more often, even when everyone else is speaking English.
- Bid (licit, licitacija)
- The number of tricks a player promises to take in one deal: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10, or Mexico. The highest bid wins the auction and fixes what the caller must take, and how much a fall will cost.
- Bidding (licitacija)
- The auction after the deal. Players speak in turn and either raise the bid or say NEXT. Whoever says NEXT is out of the auction for that deal, and the bidding ends when two players have said NEXT. A bid of Mexico ends it at once.
- Caller (nosilac, nosilac licitacije)
- The player who won the auction. The caller takes the talon (unless the bid is Mexico), chooses trump, leads the first trick and plays alone against the other two.
- Card ranks (jačina karata)
- In every suit the order is Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, from strongest to weakest. In Serbian: kec, kralj, dama, žandar, desetka, devetka, osmica, sedmica. On a Hungarian deck the Ober (gornjak) and the Unter (dolnjak) stand where the Queen and the Jack are.
- Cutting (sečenje, seći adutom)
- Playing a trump on a trick led in another suit. You must cut when you have no card of the led suit and still hold a trump. Any trump will do; you do not have to cut higher than someone who already cut.
- Deal (deljenje, runda)
- One hand of the game: each player gets 10 cards, two go face down to the talon, then come the bidding, the trump choice, ten tricks and the scoring. A game is a series of deals until someone reaches the target.
- Deck (špil)
- Mexico uses 32 cards: 7 through Ace in four suits. Take a standard poker deck and remove the 2s to 6s and the jokers, or use a 32-card Triestine or Hungarian deck.
- Discard (škart, škartirati)
- After picking up the talon the caller has 12 cards and puts two of them face down. Nobody sees the discard, and it plays no further part in the deal. What to throw away is one of the most important decisions in the game.
- Easy scoring (Easy, lako bodovanje)
- The forgiving way to score, used on the public and Mini tables at Mexico Club: a fall costs the bid, and a Gangster who takes no tricks scores 0 instead of a minus.
- Fall (pad, pasti)
- A caller who takes fewer tricks than the bid has fallen. The fall costs the bid in Easy scoring and twice the bid in Normal. Bringing the caller down is the whole aim of the two Gangsters.
- First hand (igrač od ruke)
- The player who speaks first in the auction. The role moves round the table from one deal to the next, and the first hand must open with at least 5.
- Floor at zero (zbir ne ide ispod nule)
- A total never goes below 0. If a fall or a zero-trick deal would take a player under zero, the total simply stops at 0.
- Follow suit (odgovoriti na boju)
- If you hold a card of the suit that was led, you must play one. You may play any card of that suit; you never have to beat the cards already on the table.
- Gangsters (gangsteri)
- The two players who did not win the auction. They play as a temporary team against the caller, and each scores the tricks they personally take. The word is also the game's second name.
- Lead (voditi, prva karta)
- To play the first card of a trick. The caller leads to the first trick, and whoever wins a trick leads to the next one.
- Made bid (proći, prošao)
- The caller made the bid by taking at least as many tricks as promised. A made bid scores every trick taken, not only the bid: bid 5 and take 8, and you write +8.
- Mexico, the bid (Meksiko)
- The highest call: the player promises all 10 tricks without taking the talon, which stays face down and unseen. The caller still names trump. A made Mexico scores 20, a failed one costs 20 (Easy) or 40 (Normal), and the Gangsters' tricks count double on that deal.
- Mexico, the game (Meksiko, Gangsteri)
- A three-player trick-taking game with bidding, a two-card talon and trump, played across the former Yugoslavia. It has nothing to do with the country; the history page explains where the names come from.
- Mini game (mini partija)
- A short game at Mexico Club with the same rules and Easy scoring, played to 10 points instead of 51.
- NEXT (Dalje)
- Passing in the auction. A player who says NEXT cannot bid again in that deal. NEXT is not allowed before anyone has bid: the first hand has to open.
- Normal scoring (Normal bodovanje)
- The strict way to score, used in tournaments: a fall costs twice the bid, and a Gangster who takes no tricks loses the bid. Private rooms can choose Normal or Easy.
- Opening bid (otvaranje)
- The first bid of a deal. It must be at least 5, which means somebody always plays: if the other two say NEXT, the first hand plays the 5.
- Private room (privatna soba)
- A table at Mexico Club for friends only. The host chooses Easy or Normal scoring and can play to 31, 51 or 101; friends join through an invite link, even without an account.
- Raise (dizanje, podići)
- To bid higher than the current bid: from 5 to 6 and so on up to 10, or straight to Mexico.
- Suits (boje)
- Hearts (herc), diamonds (karo), clubs (tref) and spades (pik). No suit outranks another, except the one chosen as trump for the deal.
- Sure trick (siguran štih)
- A card that will win a trick whatever the others hold, such as the Ace of trumps. Counting sure tricks is the first step in deciding how high to bid.
- Talon (talon)
- The two face-down cards left in the middle after the deal. The caller turns them face up for everyone to see, adds them to the hand and then discards two. On a Mexico bid the talon is not used.
- Target (cilj)
- The score that ends the game, 51 in a standard game. The score is checked at the end of every deal; once someone has reached the target, the highest total wins.
- Ten (desetka)
- A bid of 10 promises all ten tricks, like Mexico, but with the talon. A made 10 scores 10, a made Mexico 20.
- Tenace (viljuška)
- Two cards of a suit with a gap between them, such as Ace and Queen or King and Jack. A tenace wins the most when an opponent has to lead into it, so you rarely lead from one yourself.
- Tournament (turnir)
- An event at Mexico Club with a bracket of tables. Tournaments use Normal scoring and their own target, often 10.
- Trick (štih, ruka)
- One card from each player, three in all. The highest card of the led suit wins, unless someone cut, in which case the highest trump wins. Note that Serbian players also call a trick ruka, the same word as for the cards in your hand.
- Trump (adut)
- The suit the caller names after the talon (or straight after the auction on Mexico). Any trump beats any card of another suit.
- Void (nemati boju)
- Having no cards of a suit. When that suit is led you must cut with a trump if you have one. Callers often discard to create a void on purpose.
- Zero tricks (nula, bez štiha)
- A Gangster who takes nothing in a deal. In Easy scoring that costs nothing; in Normal it costs the bid, so on a made 10 or Mexico both Gangsters lose.
Frequently asked questions
How many players does Mexico need?
Exactly three. Each player gets 10 cards and two go to the talon, which uses all 32 cards of the deck. With fewer or more players the numbers no longer work.
Can four people play Mexico?
The game itself is for three. Some groups who meet as four rotate the players, so that one person sits out each deal and the others keep score for everyone. That is a house custom, not part of the rules. Every table on Mexico Club seats three.
What is the difference between a bid of 10 and Mexico?
Both promise all ten tricks. With a 10 the caller takes the talon and discards two cards; a made 10 scores 10. With Mexico the talon stays face down and unseen, a made Mexico scores 20, and the Gangsters' tricks count double. In both cases the caller names trump.
Who bids first?
The role of first hand moves round the table from deal to deal. The first hand must open with at least 5; after that each player in turn raises or says NEXT.
What happens if everybody says NEXT?
It cannot happen. The first hand is not allowed to say NEXT before a bid has been made, so every deal starts with a bid of at least 5. If the other two players then say NEXT, the first hand plays that 5.
Do I have to play a higher card?
No. You must follow suit if you can, but any card of that suit will do. If you have none of the led suit you must play a trump if you hold one, again any trump. Only with neither the led suit nor a trump may you play anything, and that card cannot win the trick.
What is the difference between Easy and Normal scoring?
In Easy scoring a fall costs the bid and a Gangster with no tricks scores 0. In Normal scoring a fall costs twice the bid and a Gangster with no tricks loses the bid. Public and Mini tables at Mexico Club use Easy, tournaments use Normal, and private rooms choose.
Can your score go below zero?
No. A fall or a zero-trick deal can take a total down to 0 but never under it. With 5 points, a fall of 7 leaves you at 0; with 20 points, the same fall leaves you at 13.
What happens if two players reach 51 in the same deal?
The game ends after that deal and the higher total wins. Reaching exactly 51 is enough to finish. If the two best totals are exactly equal, both count as winners.
Which deck do I need?
Any 32-card deck: a poker deck without the 2s to 6s and the jokers, or a Triestine or Hungarian deck. The rank order is the same in all of them: Ace, King, Queen (Ober), Jack (Unter), 10, 9, 8, 7.
How long does a game take?
It depends on the bids and the falls, since one failed bid can throw a leader back by a dozen points. A game to 51 usually takes well over ten deals, so it suits an evening rather than a coffee break. A Mini game to 10 is over in a few deals.
Is it free to play Mexico online?
Yes. Mexico Club is free in the browser on a phone or a computer, with no app to install, and you can try a guided round in the tutorial without an account. The site is paid for by advertising.
How do I keep score when I play with real cards?
Use the free Mexico score sheet. Enter the caller, the bid and the tricks after each deal, and it applies the Easy or Normal rules, the floor at 0 and the target for you. It can also print a blank sheet for the table.
Still unsure about a rule? The full rules page covers every case, and the strategy guide explains how to bid and play once the rules are clear.