Basics
Mexico (Meksiko), also called Gangsters, is a trick-taking game for three players. Mexico Club uses a 32-card deck: 7 through Ace in hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades.
- Each player is dealt 10 cards.
- Two cards stay face down in the center as the talon.
- A regular or private game is a race to 51 points. Mini games race to 10. Tournaments use the target set for that event (often 10).
Card rank
When taking tricks, cards rank from strongest to weakest. The Ace is the strongest card of its suit — the “11” you see in file names is only an ID, not the rank.
- Ace — strongest
- King
- Queen
- Jack
- 10
- 9
- 8
- 7 — weakest
Bidding
After the deal, players bid how many of the 10 tricks they think they can take. The player on lead must open at least 5 — they cannot say NEXT before any bid is on the table.
- The next player may raise to 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10, bid Mexico, or say NEXT and drop out of this deal’s auction.
- Once you say NEXT, you cannot bid again on that deal.
- Bidding ends when two players have said NEXT. The remaining highest bid wins the auction.
- Mexico immediately ends the auction. Nobody can overcall it.
Ten versus Mexico
A bid of 10 and a bid of Mexico are not the same contract.
- 10: you take the talon, discard two cards, choose trump, and must take all 10 tricks. If you make it, you score 10.
- Mexico (20): you do not take the talon. You still choose trump, and you must take all 10 tricks. If you make it, you score +20.
At Mexico Club, Mexico is the all-or-nothing bid without the talon — not a no-trump hand. You still pick a suit.
Talon and trump
Unless the contract is Mexico, the auction winner:
- Turns the two talon cards face up so everyone sees them.
- Adds them to hand (12 cards) and discards any two cards face down, so the hand is 10 again. The scrap is unseen.
- Chooses trump: spades, hearts, clubs, or diamonds.
On Mexico the two talon cards are set aside unseen. The caller still picks trump, then play starts.
Playing tricks
The auction winner leads the first card. Play goes around the table. These are the only play rules:
- Follow suit if you have a card of the suit that was led. You do not have to play a higher card.
- Cut with trump if you have none of the led suit and you still have trump.
- Any card if you have neither the led suit nor trump. That card cannot win the trick.
Who wins the trick?
- If nobody cut, the strongest card of the led suit wins.
- If someone cut, the strongest trump played wins.
The player who wins the trick leads the next one. After 10 tricks the deal is scored.
Scoring
Count the tricks each player took. The auction winner is the caller. The other two are the Gangsters.
If the caller makes the bid
- They score the tricks they actually took, not only the bid. Bid 5 and take 8 → +8.
- A made Mexico scores +20, not 10.
If the caller falls — public, mini, and tournament
Public tables, mini games, and tournaments use Normal scoring. If you called and took fewer tricks than you promised, the fall is twice the bid.
| Bid | Needed | Fall (public) |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 5 tricks | −10 |
| 6 | 6 tricks | −12 |
| 7 | 7 tricks | −14 |
| 8 | 8 tricks | −16 |
| 9 | 9 tricks | −18 |
| 10 | 10 tricks | −20 |
| Mexico | 10 tricks | −40 |
The other two players
- They score exactly the tricks they took, whether the caller made or fell.
- On a Mexico deal those tricks are doubled (2 tricks → +4).
- In Normal scoring, zero tricks costs the bid. If someone called 7 and you took nothing, you score −7.
Private Easy mode
Private rooms can choose Easy instead of Normal:
- A fall writes only the bid (7 → −7, Mexico → −20).
- A Gangster with zero tricks scores 0, not a minus.
The game ends when a player is over the target at the end of a deal. If more than one player crosses it in the same deal, the highest score wins.
