How to Play
Complete Mpirimpa rules guide
General
Mpirimpa (Buraco) can be played:
- Solo (1 vs 1)
- In teams (2 vs 2)
Goal: collect as many points as possible and be the first to discard all your cards.
Winning team: reaches the predetermined score (usually 505–5005).
Played with:
- Two 52-card decks
- Two Jokers
Dealing
- Each player gets 11 cards
- Two extra packs of 11 cards (mpirimpakia)
- One card opens the discard pile
- Remaining cards form the draw pile
The suit of the first card may determine the trump suit.
Card Values
- Joker → 25
- 2 → 20 (wild)
- Ace → 15
- 3–7 → 5
- 8–K → 10
Melds
At least 3 cards of the same suit in consecutive rank.
- 7–8–9
- J–Q–K
Each meld may include one Joker or one wild card.
The same player or teammate may add more cards to existing melds.
Mpirimpa (Special Melds)
A meld of 7+ cards = Mpirimpa.
Mpirimpa (Special Melds)
A meld of 7+ cards = Mpirimpa.
A) Clean
- No wild cards
- +200 points
B) Dirty
- With Joker or 2
- +100 points
C) Clean Trump
- All trump
- +500 points
D) Dirty Trump
- With wild cards
- +300 points
Full Mpirimpa
From Ace to 2:
- Standard → +500
- With trump → +1000
Game Flow
- Turns clockwise
On each turn:
- Draw from the pile
- Or take the entire discard pile
To take the discard pile: immediately use at least one card in a valid meld.
After the move: discard one card.
Mpirimpakia
Picked up after placing all cards and laying at least one Mpirimpa.
End of Round
To close a round:
- All cards down
- Mpirimpakia picked up
- At least one clean Mpirimpa
Closing bonus: +100.
Cards still in hand are subtracted from the score.
Additional Rules
- No mpirimpaki picked up → -100
- Player leaves → standard penalties apply
Winning
The winning team reaches or exceeds the agreed score.
Casual Mpirimpa
- No justification required to take the discard pile
- Melds of identical cards allowed (e.g. AAA)
