Mus strategy

Use the mus

The mus is where good hands come from. Ask for it when your four cards are worth little in every round, and cut it off with no mus as soon as you hold something worth betting — kings for grande, aces for chica, a pair, or 31.

When you throw cards, keep the kings and the aces: they are the two ends of the pack, and both ends win rounds.

Know what wins each round

The same four cards play four times. Two kings and two aces are strong at grande, strong at chica and a pair of duples besides. A hand of fives and sixes is weak everywhere.

Juego is its own question: 31 is the best there is, and 33 the worst juego. A hand of 32 is excellent; a hand of 33 often loses to anybody with juego.

Mano is worth a lot

The mano wins every tie. In chica and grande, where ties are common, that makes a middling hand much better in the mano's seat than anywhere else.

Bet more freely as mano, and more carefully when the mano is on the other side.

Refusing is cheap, accepting is not

A refused bet pays only what was on the table before it — one stone for a first bet. Accepting puts the whole bet on the cards. Refuse when you are not sure; accept when you hold the round.

Bet small to win stones from players who refuse, and keep raises for the rounds you are certain of.

Play with your partner

You cannot see your partner's cards and here you cannot signal, so read their bets. A partner who bets grande has kings; a partner who passes in pares has no pair at all.

Count stones across the hand: every round adds to the same score, and at the end the side ahead takes the game.