How to play Conquián: rules of Mexican rummy

Rules in short: two players get nine cards each from a 40-card Spanish deck. There is only ever one card in the middle. On your turn you may take it, but only to lay it down at once in a meld (three or four of a kind, or three or more in a row in one suit), and then you discard a card, which becomes the new middle card. If you can’t or won’t use it, pass, and a new card is turned from the stock. The first player to lay down ten cards, every card in hand plus one more, wins the game.

The deck Deal and swap Melds A turn Your melds on the table Forcing Going out Tablas Example Variations Strategy History FAQ

The deck

Conquián is played with the Spanish deck that is sold all over Mexico. It has four suits: oros (coins), copas (cups), espadas (swords) and bastos (clubs). Each suit runs 1 to 7, then 10, 11 and 12. The picture cards are the sota (10, a page or squire), the caballo (11, a knight on horseback) and the rey (12, the king). There are no 8s or 9s, so in a run the 7 is followed directly by the 10.

No standard deck at home? Take out the 8s, 9s and 10s and play with A–7, J, Q, K: the jack plays the sota, the queen the caballo and the king the rey. On Snug Table you can switch between the two looks in Settings; the game is the same.

The deal and the swap

The dealer gives nine cards to each player, one at a time, starting with the opponent. The rest of the pack goes face down as the stock. The deal alternates after each game.

Before play starts, each player chooses one card they don’t want and passes it face down to the other. You pick your card before you see the one you receive. (On Snug Table the computer’s card is chosen before you choose yours, and it never sees your hand.) You can switch the swap off in the new-game options.

Melds

• Set: three or four cards of the same number, in any suits, such as 5 of coins, 5 of cups, 5 of clubs.
• Run: three or more cards of the same suit in a row, such as 3-4-5 of swords, or 6-7-10 of cups.

A card belongs to only one meld at a time. Melds are always laid face up in front of you; you can never add cards to your opponent’s melds.

A turn

The non-dealer starts by turning up the top card of the stock. From then on there is always exactly one face-up card in the middle, and on your turn you have two choices:

1. Take it. You may take the middle card only if you can meld it right away, either with cards from your hand or by adding it to your own melds on the table. Lay the meld down, then discard one card from your hand face up. That discard is the new middle card, and it is your opponent’s turn.
2. Pass. If the middle card was discarded or passed by your opponent, it goes out of play and you turn up the next card of the stock. You may take that one, on the same terms. If you pass it too, it stays in the middle and your turn is over.

Two things make Conquián different from other rummy games. The middle card can never go into your hand; it is melded at once or not taken at all. And you can lay down cards from your hand only in the turn when you take a card. A complete set in your hand stays there until you take a middle card.

Your melds on the table

Whenever you take a card, you may rearrange your own melds however you like, as long as every meld is valid when you finish. For example, with the four 6s on the table you can take the 6 of cups out of the set to start a 5-6-7 run in cups, because three 6s still make a set. On Snug Table the game works out the arrangement for you; when there is a real choice of which cards to lay down, you pick from a short list.

Forcing

If the middle card fits one of your opponent’s melds on the table, without needing any card from their hand, you can force it on them: they must meld it and then discard, and the turn comes back to you. Likewise, if you pass a card that fits your own melds, your opponent may force you to take it.

Forcing moves the other player one card closer to going out, so it is a double-edged move. It is worth it when their discard is likely to break up a hand that was close to going out. You can switch forcing off in the new-game options.

Going out

You win the game when you take a middle card and can lay down every card left in your hand with it, without discarding. With nine-card hands that means ten cards on the table. If you meld everything but must still discard your last card, you have not won yet: you sit with nine cards on the table and an empty hand, and the next middle card that fits your melds wins.

Tablas: when the stock runs out

If a card has to be turned up and the stock is empty, nobody has gone out and the game is a draw, called tablas. Traditionally the next game is played for a double stake. On Snug Table a game won counts 1 point, a game after a draw counts 2 (4 after two draws in a row), and the match goes to 3 or 5 points.

An example turn

On the table you have 2-3-4 of coins. In your hand are the 5 of cups and the 5 of swords. Your opponent discards the 5 of coins. You take it: it extends your run to 2-3-4-5 of coins. You may now rearrange: move the 5 of coins into a new set with the 5 of cups and the 5 of swords, leaving 2-3-4 of coins as a run. You have laid down two cards from your hand along with the one you took, and you finish by discarding a card.

Variations

• Hand size: the classic Mexican count is eight cards (nine to win); many two-player games deal nine (ten to win), and the American version deals ten (eleven to win). Snug Table offers all three.
• Without the swap or without forcing: both are common house rules and can be switched off.
• Three players: either opponent may claim a discard they can use, by saying “me sirve” (“I can use it”).
• Wild card: some players make the 2 of coins wild.

Strategy

• Every take is progress. Each card you meld leaves one fewer card in your hand. Take a card that fits unless it forces you to break up a pair that is about to become a meld.
• Discard what fits nothing. Throw cards with no nearby partners, and avoid discarding a card that fits your opponent’s melds: they will take it for free.
• Watch what goes out. With only 40 cards, each card that goes out of play changes your chances. If two 6s are gone, a pair of 6s in your hand is nearly dead.
• Keep runs flexible. A run on the table can grow at both ends, and you can split a long run or a four-card set later to make room.
• Remember the swap. You know one card in your opponent’s hand: the one you gave them. Don’t discard its neighbours carelessly.

A short history

Conquián is the oldest rummy game on record. The first known mention of it comes from Mexico City in 1857, and it was being played in Texas by the 1860s. It was always a game for the Spanish-suited deck. As it spread through English-speaking North America it gave rise to the whole family of rummy games: rum, gin rummy, and the many games that grew from them. In Mexico it is still played at family tables today.