What is an 'Envite' in Spanish card games?

An envite is a spoken proposal to increase the points at stake in a round or hand. The opponent can accept by saying “quiero”, refuse with “no quiero”, or raise the proposal. It is a hallmark of Mus, a popular Spanish bluffing game, as well as Truco and Envite canario.

Origins

The word comes from “envidar”, which in Old Spanish already meant to invite someone to bet. This is also why the Spanish expression “al primer envite” is used when something is achieved at the first attempt.

How to respond

• Quiero: you accept, and the round is played for the amount offered.
• No quiero: you fold, and the opponent takes whatever was already at stake.
• Raising or reenvidar: you accept and propose an even higher stake.

Famous envites

In Mus, there is the órdago, which involves staking everything on a single round. In Truco, there are the truco, retruco, and vale cuatro. And in the Canary Islands, the entire game is called Envite.

Envidar is not gambling

In these games, envites represent points or tokens (often called “stones”). At Lascuarenta, we play this way for the joy of outsmarting the opponent, without any money involved. You can find more terms like this in the glossary.