Marjapussi is a traditional Finnish trick taking game for 4 players playing in 2 partnerships and is one of the Mariage family, its key feature being that the trump suit is determined in the middle of the play by declaring a marriage (a king and a queen of a same suit). There are variants of marjapussi for two and three players.

Origin

Marjapussi is Finnish for 'bag of berries', but is derived from the French mariage which is the name of the game ancestral to it in which a 'marriage' is a king/queen combination held by one of the players. According to Kokko, the game was originally Spanish, although Mariage itself, despite its French name, appears to be a 17th-century German game.

Later, marjapussi evolved into huutopussi ("auction bag"), which involves bidding and contracts. The exact winning condition was dropped, but the trump determining process remained. In fact, in huutopussi the trump suit may even change in the middle of the play if players declare further marriages.

Rules

Marjapussi is a trick taking game for four players in fixed partnerships with the partners sitting opposite one another. After the first deal, the player who was forehand in the previous hand deals. The dealer gives an equal number of cards to each player.

Play

In the first deal, forehand, the player who leads to the first trick, is either the one who has the or is the player to the left of the dealer.

Other rules are the same as the four-handed game, except that there are no partnerships, and consequently the rules on asking a partner for a whole or a half do not apply.

References

Literature

  • Kokko, Petri (1999). Pelien parhaat, WSOY (rules of avomarjapussi).
  • Kurki-Suonio, Ilmo (1962). MMM Korttipelikirja, Otava.
  • Parlett, David (1996). Oxford Dictionary of Card Games, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Parlett, David (2008). Penguin Book of Card Games, Oxford: Oxford University Press. (mention only)
  • Ranta, Pekka (1993). Marjapussissa Porvooseen. Porvoo: WSOY.
  • Sandgren, Tore (2003). Pelataan korttia. WS Bookwell OY.
  • Huutopussi at lautapelaaja.net (in Finnish)