Rummikub - To Practice Set Theory, Groups, and Probability Part 4

The Initial Meld A player's first meld must meet certain minimum requirements. 1. If laying down sets and runs, a player must begin by putting down sets and runs from hand with a total value of at least 101 in a single turn. For this purpose, tiles have their face value - for example a red seven is worth 7 points and a green three is worth 3 points. A joker has the value of the tile it represents. For ease of calculation, it is worth noting that a 3-tile combination is worth three times the value of the middle tile. So for example a player wishing to put down 7-8-9, 11-11-11, 4-5-6, 11-12-13 would add the middle numbers 8+11+5+12 making 36. The total value is therefore 108 (=3×36) and this is a valid initial meld. As a shortcut, one can just check that the middle numbers add up to at least 34. For melds of four, the value of the end tile must be added to the total. For example 5-6-7-8, 13-13-13, 9-10-11, 2-2-2 gives 6+13+10+2 which is only 31 points for a total of 93, but adding the fourth tile (8) of the first run brings the total to 101 which is just sufficient. After a player has melded sets or runs to the value of 101 or more, that player can, in the same and future turns, lay down additional sets and runs irrespective of value, and add tiles to sets and runs laid down by other players. 2. If laying down pairs, a player must begin by putting down at least five pairs from hand in a single turn. In this case the values of the tiles do not matter. After a player has melded five pairs, that player can, in the same and future turns, lay down additional pairs, and add tiles to sets and runs laid down by other players. Note that a player is not allowed to add tiles to sets or runs on the table before putting down his or her own initial meld. Having made an initial meld, tiles can be added to other melds in the same turn, but the value of those tiles does not count towards the 101 required for the initial meld of sets and runs. If a player who has not yet laid down any tiles wishes to take the previous player's discard, that discard must be used as part of the player's initial meld of at least 101 points or five pairs, and its value counts towards the initial meld. Note every turn, even the last of the game, must end with a discard. Therefore it is not legal to meld all the tiles in your hand, leaving yourself with nothing to discard. For example if you have only two tiles in hand: 7-8 and you draw a 9, you cannot put these three down as a run. You will have to discard one of them and find another way to dispose of the other two. If a player is able to put down 21 tiles at once in sets and runs, all created from hand, without adding to any other players' sets or runs, then the player is allowed to put down these tiles, discard the last tile and finish the game, even if the total value of the tiles is less than 101 points. Scoring In each deal, the winner gets a negative score and the other three players score penalty points based on the tiles remaining in their hands. Ordinary tiles have their face value, and unplayed jokers have a value of 101 penalty points each. In a normal game in which the winner melded sets and runs and finished by discarding a tile that was not a joker: • • • • The winner scores minus 101 points. Other players who have melded sets and/or runs score the total value of the tiles remaining in their hands as penalty points. Players who have melded pairs score twice the total value of the tiles remaining in their hands as penalty points. Players who have not opened, and still have 21 tiles in their hands, score 202 penalty points. If the winner melded sets and runs, and finished by discarding a joker: • • • • The winner scores minus 202 points. Other layers who have melded sets and/or runs score twice the total value of the tiles remaining in their hands as penalty points (unplayed jokers . Players who have melded pairs score four times the total value of the tiles remaining in their hands as penalty points. Players who have not opened, and still have 21 tiles in their hands, score 404 penalty points. If the winner melded pairs and finished by discarding a tile that was not a joker: • • • • The winner scores minus 202 points. Players who have melded sets and/or runs score twice the total value of the tiles remaining in their hands as penalty points. Other players who have melded pairs score four times the total value of the tiles remaining in their hands as penalty points. Players who have not opened, and still have 21 tiles in their hands, score 404 penalty points. If the winner melded pairs and finished by discarding a joker: • • • • The winner scores minus 404 points. Players who have melded sets and/or runs score four times the total value of the tiles remaining in their hands as penalty points. Other players who have melded pairs score eight times the total value of the tiles remaining in their hands as penalty points. Players who have not opened, and still have 21 tiles in their hands, score 404 penalty points. If a player puts down all 21 tiles in one turn, before any other player has put down any tiles at all, and discards a tile that is not a joker: • • The winner scores minus 202 points. The other players each score 404 penalty points. If a player puts down all 21 tiles in one turn, before any other player has put down any tiles at all, and discards a joker: • • The winner scores minus 404 points. The other players each score 808 penalty points. When the agreed number of deals has been played, the scores for all the deals are added together and the player with the lowest score is the winner. Penalties Players receive an additional penalty of 101 for the following actions. These penalties are added to the total points for that deal. • • • • A player who discards a joker receives 101 penalty points. If a player throws away a tile that can be added to a set or run that is already on the table they receive a 101 penalty. This happens even if the player hasn't opened yet. However, the player does not receive a penalty if it is the last tile they discard when finishing their hand. If a player tries to open, but does not have the required 101 points or five pairs and they have to take back their tiles, they receive 101 penalty points. If a player adds multiple tiles on the table and takes them back they receive a 101 penalty. The player is only allowed to take back the last tile they put down without a penalty. Note that the firat two of these penalties may be unavoidable in certain cases. It may be that all your tiles could be used to extend sets or runs on the table, yet you do not have sufficient value of melds in your hand to be able to put down any tiles. ROMANIAN TILE RUMMY The tiles are mixed thoroughly face down on the table, and then built into a wall of 15 face-down stacks of seven tiles (there will be one tile left over). The wall is straightened by squeezing it between two of the racks, held parallel and on either side of the wall. The dealer of the first game is chosen at random. For subsequent games the turn to deal passes to the right. The dealer turns the extra tile face up and counts out the number on the tile starting at one end of the wall. On the stack represented by the exposed tile, the dealer replaces the top tile with the exposed tile and moves this new spare tile to the top of the next stack, which will then have 8 tiles. For example if the original spare tile was an 8, the modified wall will look like this: The stack with the extra tile goes to the player to the dealer's right, and the dealer continues aroung the table counter-clockwise, giving one of the following stacks to each player in turn (working along the wall to the right if the wall as seen in the above diagram), continuing until each player has two stacks. If the end of the wall is reached the dealer continues from the beginning. The players arrange the tiles on their racks - each player has 14 tiles except the player to dealer's right, who starts with 15. The remaining stacks stay face down in the centre of the table as a drawing stock. The first stack to be drawn from is the next stack in the order in which stacks were taken for the deal. It is customary to place this on top of the following stack, to indicate where the next tile is to be drawn from. As this drawing stack diminishes in size, periodically its tiles are added on top of the next following stack, to make the current drawing stack taller than the others. If a low numbered tile is exposed initially, then the deal will leave the wall in two separate sections. In this case, during tiles are of course first drawn from the section after the dealt tiles, and then from the other sections, working towards the stack with the exposed tile. The exposed tile itself is never drawn. When the other stacks are exhausted the exposed tile is removed from the top of its stack so that the six tiles that were under it can be drawn in turn. Before the play begins, any player who has a pair of identical tiles (the same colour and number) can announce "doubla". Any two players who have doublas may agree to exchange them, each player passing the pair of tiles in question face-down to the other player. Players are not allowed to give exact information about the rank and colour of the tiles they want to exchange - they may only (if they wish) announce their doubla as "high" or "low". If you are dealt the tile that is identical to the exposed tile, you may announce it before your first turn to play, and you will then score a bonus of 25 points at the end of the play. The Play The first player (who has 15 tiles) begins the game by throwing an unwanted tile face up on the table. This tile cannot be used at any time during the game. Thereafter, the turn to play passes counterclockwise around the table. The object of the game is to collect tiles that form valid sets and runs, which can then be melded (placed face up on the table in front of you). Until you have succeeded in melding some tiles, you must begin each turn by taking the next available tile from the wall. Then if you have combinations of sufficient value, you may meld some tiles from your rack. To end your turn you must discard one tile from your hand face up. The discarded tiles are placed near the center of the table in a row, in the order they were discarded. The tile thrown by the first player is placed at a right angle to the others to show that this is the start of the line. There are two types of valid combination. • • A run consists of at least three consecutive numbers of the same color. A 1 may used to make a run of 1-2-3, or may be counted as following the 13 to make a run of 12-13-1. A 1 cannot be placed in the middle of a run: 13-1-2 is not valid. A set consists of three or four tiles of the same number in different colors. The two unnumbered tiles are Jokers. A Joker can be used to substitute for any tile you need to make a set or run. When using a Joker at the end of a run, you must make it clear which tile the Joker is intended to represent. For example the run [blue 9] - [blue 10] - [Joker] with the Joker representing the 11 can later be extended by adding a blue 12, but it's not possible to reassign the Joker to be a blue 8 so that a blue 7 can be added. A combination must always contain at least twice as many real tiles as Jokers. Therefore you cannot use both Jokers in a single set, or in a run of fewer than 6 tiles. For example [yellow 3] - [Joker] - [yellow 5] [Joker] - [yellow 7] is not allowed, but if you added the yellow 8 to it, it would be a legal run. For your first meld, you must put down combinations from your rack with the following constraints: • • 6 the tiles you meld must include at least one run; the total value of the melded tiles must be at least 50 points.6 Some players require only 45 points (not 50) for the first meld. For this purpose the tiles have point values as follows: 2 to 9 5 points each 10 to 13 10 points each 1 in a run of 1-2-3-... 5 points 1 in a run of ...-12-13-1 10 points 1's in a set of three 1's 25 points each A Joker has the value of the tile it represents In order to be allowed to meld any tiles at all, you must first meld from your hand7 sets and runs to a total value of at least 50 points. After you have done that, then in this and subsequent turns, after drawing and before discarding, you may meld further sets and runs, and add tiles to sets and runs that you or other players have previously melded. However, no tile may form part of two combinations (sets or runs) at the same time. There is no obligation to meld tiles just because you can: you may keep them on your rack for later use if you prefer, though by doing so you risk a bad score if another player ends the game meanwhile. After you have melded some tiles as above, you have additional options on subsequent turns. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 7 You may put down additional runs and sets, irrespective of their point value. You may add tiles to extend your own or other players' existing melds. You may begin your turn by picking up the previous player's discard instead of drawing a new tile from the center: there is no obligation to include this tile in a meld immediately. If you have two tiles on your rack that can form a set or run with any one tile of the discard row you may take this tile, meld the combination, and you must then pick up all the tiles discarded after the tile that you melded and add them to your rack. (You may then meld additional tiles or add them to existing melds). If you have the exact tile represented by a Joker in your own or another player's run, you may take the Joker, replacing it with the tile it represented, provided that you immediately meld the Joker with two tiles from your rack to make a new set or run. If you or another player have melded a pair of equal numbered tiles with a Joker as a set of three, and you hold tiles of the same rank in both missing colors, you may take the Joker, replacing it with these two tiles (completing four of a kind), provided that you immediately meld the Joker with two tiles from your rack to make a new set or run. If there is a set of two equal numbered tiles and a Joker on the table, and you have just one of the missing colors, you can add this tile to the set to make four of a kind, but you cannot Some players allow the previous player's discard (one tile only) to be taken if it is immediately used as part of your initial meld. take the Joker. Later, a player who has the same numbered tile of the fourth color can use it to replace the Joker, provided that this player immediately melds the Joker with two tiles from his or her rack to make a new set or run. Note that you are not allowed to take a discard to help make your initial meld of at least 50 points. Nor are you allowed, in the same turn as your initial meld, to add tile to other players' melds or to substitute the real tile for another player's Joker. The actions only become available to you in the turn after your initial meld. If you have only one or two tiles left in your hand, you are not allowed to pick up any tiles from the discard pile. You must begin each turn by taking the next tile from the wall. To win the game you must meld all your remaining tiles but one, discarding your last tile. On this final turn only, you may take the initial exposed tile from the end of the wall to complete your hand, instead of drawing an unknown tile from the wall or taking a tile from the discard pile. A player who has three or fewer tiles left must announce this to the other players. Note that a player who has only one or two tiles left can only get rid of these by adding them to existing melds - if you have two tiles and pick up a third that forms a set or run with them, you can't meld this new set or run, as it would leave you with no tile to discard. A player may choose to not to meld any tiles during the game, but keep them all concealed on his or her rack, hoping to win by melding them all at once. The player gets an extra bonus for this if successful, but of course risks incurring a large loss if another player wins. It sometimes happens that all the face-down tiles from the center are drawn before any player ends the game by melding all their tiles. In this case the tile of the discard line are turned face down, except for the first tile at right angles, which remains exposed in place. These face-down tiles from the old discard line are thoroughly mixed and used to build a new wall from which tiles can be drawn, so that the game can continue. The turning and shuffling of the old discards and rebuilding of the wall happens when a player wishes to draw a tile from the center (rather than take a tile or tiles from the discard line) and there are no further face down tiles to draw. Scoring The winner scores 100 points plus the value of the tiles he or she has melded. The other players score the value of tiles they have played minus the value of the tiles left in their racks. For this purpose the values of the tiles are the same as in the initial meld, except for the Joker, which counts +50 points for the player who first melds it, but 25 points against a player who has it on their rack at the end of the play. Note that if a player claims a melded Joker in exchange for the tile or tiles that it represents, the person who originally melded it still scores the 50 points for it, while any players who subsequently took it score only the value of the tile(s) that they provided as a replacement for it. To keep track of this, tiles used to replace a Joker are placed in the meld upside down. At the end of the play, the Joker is passed back from its final position through all the places where it was previously melded, ending in the meld in which it was first used, while the upside down tiles that replaced it are returned in each case to the player who supplied them, so that they can be scored for that player. Anyone who did not meld any tiles at all loses 200 points irrespective of the values of the tiles on their rack.8 If you win by melding all your 14 tiles at once (without having previously melded any tiles), you score an additional 100 bonus - that is a total of 200 plus the value of the tiles you meld. Some play that if you win by discarding a Joker, having melded all your other tiles, your score for that hand is doubled. If anyone was dealt the tile identical to the initial exposed tile and declared it, that player scores an extra 25 points. It can happen that a game ends with no winner, if all the spare tiles have been drawn from the center and no one has managed to complete their hand. In this case everyone scores for the tiles they have put down less the tiles they have left, and no one gets the 100 point bonus for winning. A series of games is played, the deal passing to the right after each game and the scores are totaled. The players can choose whether the game should end after a fixed number of games or when someone reached an agreed target score. 8 According to some printed rules, a player who has melded no tiles loses 100 plus the value of the tiles on their rack, rather than a fixed 200 points. GLOSSARY CLOSED GAME – The Foot or Hand games of International, in which all tiles are kept on the player’s rack until the game is won. DISCARD – In American and International, the tiles stacked face up to the player’s right. In both games each player must discard a tile onto the top of his stack at the end of every turn. GROUP – Three or four tiles of the same numerical value, each in a different color. INITIAL MELD – The first meld made by each player in a game. MANIPULATE – To break apart and rearrange melds already on the table. MELD – To place tiles from your rack face up onto the table, either by making complete sets or, where permitted by game rules, by adding to Groups or Runs already placed on the table in a previous meld. OPEN GAME – The only version of International which involves melding. POOL – The balance of tiles after each player has taken his initial 14. These tiles are arranged in stacks of seven, face down, and placed in the middle of the table. RUN – Three or more tiles in numerical sequence, all in the same color. SET – A combination of tiles forming a Group or a Run. TRUMP – In American and International, the tile which is left over after arranging the pool. It is left face up, and may be taken to win the game by any player in American, and any player playing a closed game in International.