Hungarian Römi

The idea

Get rid of every card in your hand by laying down melds. The first player out ends the hand and everyone else is penalised for what they are still holding. The match runs 7 rounds. A low score is a good score.

Melds

There are only two kinds, and both need at least three cards.

• Set — the same rank in different suits, like 9♠ 9♥ 9♦. Four at most, since there are only four suits, and two identical cards never count.
• Run — a sequence in one suit, like 5♥ 6♥ 7♥. The ace sits at either end, so A-2-3 and Q-K-A both work, but a run may not turn the corner: K-A-2 is not a run.

A set is not a run. Three nines are a set however you look at them.

The deal

2 decks are shuffled together — 108 cards, including 4 jokers. The player to the dealer’s right cuts, choosing how far down to take it. Everyone gets 14 cards. The player to the dealer’s left gets one extra and opens the hand by discarding.

Your turn

1. Draw one card — from the face-down stock, or the top of the discard pile, or take the cut card. Click the stock to draw.
2. Lay down what you can — new melds, cards added to melds already on the table, or a swap for a joker.
3. Discard one card to end your turn. Drag it onto the discard pile, or select it and press Discard.

The first time you draw in a hand you may take the top discard and simply keep it. After that, anything you take from the pile has to be played the same turn.

Opening

Before you can put anything on the table you must open: one lay-down, worth at least 51 points. Until then you cannot meld, add to anyone else’s melds, or take a joker off the table. Nobody may open on their very first turn.

Jokers count as whatever card they stand for towards that total.

The cut card

One card is turned up at the deal and stays on show. You may take it instead of your normal draw, but it is only yours if you go out that same turn. If you cannot, put it back — your turn is not over, and you draw as usual. One try per turn.

Jokers

A joker stands in for any card, 1 per meld at most. Once you have opened you can hand over the real card it represents and take the joker back, but you must play it again the same turn. A joker in a set of three stays put until all four suits are on the table.

Left in your hand at the end, a joker costs you 20 points — the most expensive card in the game.

Going out and scoring

You go out by getting rid of everything, finishing with a discard. That earns you -10, doubling to -20 if you opened and went out in the same turn off your own melds.

Everyone else counts what is left in their hand: pip value for the numbers, 10 for a picture card, 10 for an ace, 20 for a joker. A player who never opened takes a flat 100 instead.