The Game
Rummikub is a very popular Rummy game which is played with tiles that are similar to the ones used for European Rummy, as well as the Turkish Okey and the like. The game was invented by Mr. Hertzano during the 1940s and soon enough became a sweeping phenomenon, gaining its popularity among Americans and Europeans. A few decades later Hertzano published a special Rummikub book that included descriptions and complete sets of rules of three different variants: American, Sabra, and International.

The Play
Rummikub is played with 106 tiles. 104 of the tiles are numbered from 1 to 13, and the remaining couple of tiles show a smiling face – indicating the Jokers. The tiles are colored in black, blue, red and yellow. There are two tiles of the same number and color. The players pick up a tile to determine the turns during a specific round – the player to pick up the tile with the highest value is the first to play, and all the other turns are set in a clockwise manner. Like all Rummy games, the play pattern of Rummikub consists of drawing a card at the beginning of one's turn and discarding one in the end. The goal is to meld all the tiles in player's hand into sets and runs and so to be the first player to get rid of the tiles on their rack. Each tile acquires the point value of the number it shows. To lay down their initial meld(s), the meld must count a total of 30 points or more. In this Rummy variant, after laying down their initial melds, players may create a variety of combinations out of the melds already on the table and reduce the amount of cards in their hands.

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