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Marjapussi is quite popular in Finland, and there are many variations. The version described here is Partnership Auction Marjapussi.
My description is based on an anonymous account from the mathematics department at Erlangen, Germany, which was supplied to me by Frank Sven Nestel. It is possible that the game was extended somewhat by the Erlangen mathematicians - for example, the Finnish book Marjapussissa Porvooseen by Pekka Ranta (1993) describes various kinds of Marjapussi but does not mention Kontra and Re, so those may be German additions to the game.
There are 4 players in fixed partnerships; you sit opposite your partner. A 36 card pack is used - a standard pack from which all the cards below 6 have been removed. The cards in each suit rank A (highest), 10, K, Q, J, 9, 8, 7, 6. The game is played clockwise.
It is a trick taking game. There are no trumps at the start, but if the side winning a trick hold the king and queen of a suit, they can make that suit trumps. Trumps can change in this way several times during a hand. Points are scored for cards won in tricks, for making trumps, and for winning the last trick.
Players bid according to how many points they think their side can take. The partnership that wins the bidding is allowed to exchange some cards and lead first, but they must take as least as many points as their contract in order to score. The side which first reaches or exceeds 500 points wins.
The point values of the cards taken in tricks are as follows:
Ace 11 points
Ten 10 points
King 4 points
Queen 3 points
Jack 2 points
Nine 0 points
Eight 0 points
Seven 0 points
Six 0 points
The total value of the card points in the pack is thus 120.
When a partnership who hold the king and queen of a suit use them to make trumps they get additional points depending on the suit as follows:
Hearts 100 points
Diamonds 80 points
Clubs 60 points
Spades 40 points
Finally, whichever side wins the last trick gets an extra 20 points.
The first dealer is chosen at random, and turn to deal rotates clockwise after each hand. The dealer shuffles, the player to dealer's right cuts, and the dealer deals out all the cards one at a time, so that each player has nine.
Bidding begins with the player to dealer's left and proceeds clockwise. The bidding is by numbers, representing the number of points which the bidding side expects to take. The minimum bid allowed is 120, and all bids must be multiples of 5 (120, 125, 130, 135, ...). Each bid must be higher than the previous one. Any player who does not wish to bid may pass, but a player who has passed is not allowed to bid in later rounds of the auction (unlike in Bridge).
If all four players pass, there is no declarer and the hand is played with no contract and no exchange of cards. In this case the player to dealer's left leads to the first trick.
Usually someone does bid, and the bidding then continues for as many rounds as necessary until three players have passed. The highest bidder is then the declarer, and has the right to exchange some cards with partner as described below and to lead to the first trick.
The declarer's partner chooses any four cards from his hand and passes them face down to the declarer. The declarer then has 13 cards and passes any 4 of them face down to her partner.
After the card exchange, the declarer announces the contract, which must be at least as high as her last bid, and must be a multiple of 5. The declarer's side have to take at least as many points as their contract to win, but however many points they take, they only score the value of the contract. It therefore pays (except near the end of the game), to announce the highest contract you can safely make, but not too high because if you fail to make enough points for your contract, you will score minus the value of the contract.
The declarer leads to the first trick (or if there is no declarer because everyone passed, the player to dealer's left leads). This first trick is subject to some restrictions:
Furthermore, in cases 2 and 3, whoever has the ace of the suit led is obliged to play it.
Despite the restrictions above, there is no obligation during the card exchange for the declarer to keep an ace (or a spade) in order to be able to lead it - you can give all your aces to your partner if you wish.
The general rules of play are as follows, in order of priority:
If a trick contains a card of the current trump suit (if any), it is won by the highest trump in it; otherwise the trick is won by the highest card of the suit led.
The winner of a trick leads to the next. After the first trick there is no restriction on what may be led and no obligation for the holder of the ace of the suit led to play it.
At the beginning of a hand there are no trumps. Trumps can be made only by a player who has just won a trick, before leading to the next trick. The trump making side must possess the king and queen of the suit which is made trumps. They score the relevant points, and the new trump suit comes into force immediately, replacing the previous trump suit if any.
It is only possible to make trumps once per trick. A player with two king-queens would have to win two separate tricks to make trumps twice.
A suit which has once been made trumps cannot be made trumps a second time in the same hand - once the trumps change the previous trump suit can never be trumps again.
The king and queen must still be in the hands of the players making trumps - once either has been played it is too late to make this suit trumps.
If the winner of a trick holds both the king and queen of the suit, making trumps is straightforward - she just announces the trump suit - for example: "diamonds are trumps".
In other cases it is more tricky. Instead of making trumps herself, the player on lead is allowed to ask her partner one question to establish whether trumps can be made involving partner's cards. Only certain questions may be asked and they must be answered truthfully. The possibilities are as follows:
The winner of the trick can do only one action - either make trumps or ask one question - before leading to the next trick. Therefore if a player wishes to change trumps again or ask further questions, she must win further tricks in order to do so. Furthermore a player can only undertake actions in a specific order: first making trumps; then asking partner to make trumps; then asking for a half. In other words:
This order of actions applies to each player independently. So for example if one player asks for a half, this does not stop her partner from later making trumps if he wins a trick himself.
If the declarer's side make their contract - that is the card points in their tricks plus any points for making trumps or taking the last trick add up to at least as much as their contract - the contract value is added to their score. If they fail - taking fewer points than their contract - the contract value is subtracted from their score.
In either case the declarer's opponents add to their score the points they actually made - card points plus any points for making trumps and taking the last trick if applicable. These points are rounded to the nearest 5 (112 becomes 110, 113 become 115).
A side which takes no tricks at all is said to be "sent to Porvoo". It is a tradition to ask the losers on such occasions how much a kilo of salted herrings costs in Porvoo market.
If the declarer's side is sent to Porvoo, twice the value of their contract is subtracted from their score, and their opponents score the points they actually made as usual.
If the declarer's side make their contract and send their opponents to Porvoo, the declarer's side add the value of the contract to their score and the opponents subtract twice the value of the contract from their score.
In theory there is a third possibility: the declarer's side win all the tricks but despite this they do not have enough points to make their contract. In this case the declarer's side subtract the contract value from their score, but the opponents suffer no penalty and their score stays as it was. If in this case there was at least one kontra, the first kontra is not counted.
If no one bid then each side scores the points they actually took. There is no Porvoo penalty - if one side takes no tricks they just score no points for that hand.
An opponent of the declarer who thinks that the contract will fail can say "Kontra", which doubles the declarer's side's score for that hand, whether they win or lose. You can only say the first Kontra while you have nine cards in your hand - once you have played a card it is too late.
If an opponent has said Kontra, then either member of the declarer's side may say "Re", doubling their score for the hand again. To say Re you must have at least eight cards in your hand.
After Kontra and Re have been said, either of the declarer's opponents who still has at least seven cards may Kontra again. Then someone on the declarer's side with at least six cards may say Re again. These alternate Kontras and Res may continue in this way, up to a theoretical maximum of nine doubles.
Note that it is only the declarer's side's score that is affected by Kontras and Res. For example if the contract is 150 and Kontra and Re are said, and then the declarer's side make the contract, sending the opponents to Porvoo, the declarer's side score 150 x 2 x 2 = 600, but the opponents just lose 150 x 2 = 300, the same as without the Kontra and Re.
If all four players passed, then no one can say Kontra.
A running total of each side's score is kept. The first side to have 500 or more at the end of a hand wins. If both sides reach 500 in the same hand then the side with the higher total at the end of that hand wins.
The scoresheet looks something like this (a horizontal line after every four deals helps to remember whose turn it is to deal):
Players A and C | Players B and D
Contract Score | Contract Score (Notes)
----------------------+-----------------------
140 +140 | +35 (1)
165 +305 | -295 (2)
+375 | 145* -5 (3)
145 +230 | +85 (4)
----------------------+-----------------------
+380 | 170 -85 (5)
+380 | 180* -265 (6)
150 +530 | -225 (7)
Notes of what happened on each hand:
Return to General Index
Last updated 17th August 1995
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