Mexico is the call that gave the game its name: all ten tricks, no talon, no second chances. Made, it is worth 20 points and often ends the game. Missed, it is the most expensive mistake on the scoresheet. The good news is that a real Mexico hand is easy to recognise once you know what to look for.
What calling Mexico means
- It ends the auction. Nobody can bid over Mexico, so once you say it, the contract is yours.
- No talon. The two talon cards stay face down and nobody sees them. You play the ten cards you were dealt.
- You still choose trump. At Mexico Club, Mexico is not a no-trump game: you pick the suit, then lead the first trick.
- You need all ten tricks. One trick for the Gangsters and the contract is down.
- The score: +20 if you make it. A fall costs −20 with Easy scoring and −40 with Normal scoring. The Gangsters write down their tricks doubled: one trick is two points.
In Normal scoring there is one more twist. A Gangster who takes no trick loses the bid, and on a Mexico the bid is worth 20. So when a Mexico is made in a tournament, the caller gains 20 and each Gangster loses 20 (but never below zero): a 60-point swing in one deal.
Mexico or 10?
A bid of 10 also promises all ten tricks, but it takes the talon: you see two more cards and throw away the two you like least before choosing trump. It scores only 10 when you make it, and a fall costs −10 (Easy) or −20 (Normal).
So the trade is simple: Mexico pays double and risks double, and gives up the talon. If your hand already takes ten tricks, Mexico is better, because the talon cannot improve a hand with no losers. If your hand has one loser, the talon might replace it, but only if one of the two cards happens to be a winner. That is a long shot, and it is why a plain 10 is the worst contract in the game at our tables (more below).
Remember too that a made bid scores the tricks you actually take. With a hand that takes nine tricks for certain and ten with luck, you do not need to bid 10 at all: win the auction as cheaply as you can and you will score nine or ten anyway.
What a Mexico hand looks like
Mexico has a useful property: if you are going to take every trick, you win the first lead and keep the lead to the end. You never have to answer an opponent’s lead. So the question is not “is my hand strong?” but “can I lead ten times in a row and win every time?”
That gives a checklist:
- Trumps you can draw without losing one. Count the trumps the opponents hold (8 minus yours) and check that your top trumps can pull them all. Six trumps headed by the ace, king and queen are ideal; with five, the top three or four should be yours.
- Side suits that are winners from the top. After trumps are drawn, every side card must be a winner: an ace, an ace–king, an ace–king–queen. A small card in a side suit is a loser, unless your top cards in that suit will exhaust the opponents first.
- No “probably”. A king without the ace, a queen that needs the king to drop, a trump suit missing the ace: each one is a loser most of the time, and one loser is enough.
Mexico at our tables
Across 125,391 deals between players at Mexico Club tables (mostly with Normal scoring), Mexico was called 156 times and made 42.9% of the time. A plain 10 was bid 110 times and made only 13.6% of the time. Mexico callers usually had a real hand; a 10 was usually a bidding war that went one step too far.
| Caller held | Calls | Made |
|---|---|---|
| 4 trumps | 40 | 22.5% |
| 5 trumps | 70 | 57.1% |
| 6 trumps | 21 | 71.4% |
| 0 or 1 ace | 35 | 0% |
| 2 aces | 56 | 39.3% |
| 3 aces | 56 | 67.9% |
Now the uncomfortable part. At 42.9%, a Mexico call loses points on average: with Normal scoring each call is worth about 0.429 × 20 − 0.571 × 40 ≈ −14 points to the caller, before the Gangsters’ doubled tricks. Even with Easy scoring it comes out at about −3. As a group, players call Mexico too often. To break even you need to make it more than half the time with Easy scoring, and about two times in three with Normal scoring.
Three hands
Hand 1: a certain Mexico
The opponents hold two hearts, 8♥ 7♥. Lead the ace and king of trumps and both are gone, whatever the split. Then four trumps, A♠ K♠, A♦ and A♣ are all winners. Ten tricks with no luck needed. Call Mexico: a bid of 10 would give away ten points for nothing.
Hand 2: nine sure tricks and a hope
Six trumps missing only J♠ 7♠: two rounds draw them. Hearts ace–king and the diamond ace make nine certain tricks. The tenth depends on Q♦, which wins only if the K♦ is in the talon or sits alone in an opponent’s hand and has to fall under the ace. That is about 13%.
What about 10, using the talon to throw the queen away? Then the card you keep from the talon must be a winner: the jack or seven of spades, the king of diamonds, the queen of hearts or the ace of clubs. Five useful cards among the 22 you cannot see give roughly a 41% chance. Neither gamble is worth it. Win the auction as cheaply as you can, take your nine tricks, and score ten whenever the diamond king falls.
Hand 3: a real decision
Everything is a winner except one danger: the opponents hold Q♥ 8♥ 7♥. If one player has all three, the queen survives your ace and king and takes a trick. If the three cards are split, or one of them is in the talon, the queen falls by the second round. One opponent holding exactly those three happens about 16% of the time, so Mexico succeeds about 84% of the time.
With Easy scoring that is worth about +14 points per deal on average, clearly better than the nine or ten you would score in a lower contract: call Mexico. With Normal scoring it is about +11 before the Gangsters’ doubled trick, close to the safe alternative. Let the score decide: call it when a made Mexico wins the game or you need to catch up, and take the safe ten tricks when you are comfortably ahead.
When not to call it
- You are missing the ace or king of trumps. Unless it is in the talon, it takes a trick. With only one or two side aces, the numbers above say you almost never make it.
- You have one side card that needs luck. A king or queen without the cards above it is the classic Mexico-killer. Use a lower contract and collect the overtrick if it comes.
- The opponents’ trumps can hide. Five trumps without the queen, or four trumps of any kind, leave room for a guarded honour. Four-trump Mexicos were made only 22.5% of the time at our tables.
- A fall would hand someone the game. The Gangsters’ doubled tricks can push a player close to 51 over the line.
The test. Lay out your ten cards and play them in your head, leading every trick yourself. If every lead wins no matter how the other cards lie, call Mexico. If even one depends on where a card sits, bid something lower.
Facing a Mexico
As Gangsters, you and your partner need just one trick between you: the easiest job in the game, as long as you work as a team. Keep any card that could beat the caller’s: a guarded king, a trump that might become the highest, the last card of a suit the caller may run out of. Throw away your truly useless cards first, and watch what your partner throws: the suit your partner keeps is the one to hold on to. More on teamwork in playing as the Gangsters.
Next: when the contract is yours with the talon, which two cards go into the discard and which suit becomes trump? See the talon, the discard and choosing trump.