Gulf · Rummy · Solo or partners
Hand: rules and how to play
هاند
Hand is the rummy of the Gulf, played with two decks and four jokers. Lay down sets and runs, open with at least 51 points and empty your hand before anyone else. Five rounds, lowest score wins, and the dream is the HAND: going out in a single turn.
At a glance
- Players
- 4
- Deck
- 108 cards: two decks and four jokers
- Goal
- Lowest total after five rounds
- A game
- Five rounds
01
How to play in one minute
- Deal 14 cards each; the dealer takes 15 and starts by discarding one.
- On your turn draw from the stock, or take the top discard only if you use it at once in a new meld.
- Lay down sets (3 or 4 of a rank, all different suits) and runs (3 or more in a row of one suit). Jokers fill any gap.
- Your first lay-down must total at least 51 points. After that, add cards to any meld on the table.
- End every turn with a discard. Empty your hand to score -30; after five rounds the lowest total wins.
02
The rules
Melds
- Set: 3 or 4 cards of one rank, all in different suits.
- Run: 3 or more cards in a row of one suit. The ace is low (A-2-3) or high (Q-K-A), never both.
- A joker stands in for any card, and every meld needs at least one real card.
Opening
Your first lay-down, in one go, must total at least 51 points: ace 11 (1 when low), jack, queen and king 10, other cards their face value, and a joker counts as the card it replaces. Once open you can lay down more melds and add cards to any meld, with no minimum. Keep one card back: you go out by discarding your last card.
Scoring
- The player who empties their hand scores -30.
- A HAND, going out in one turn without having opened before and laying at least 14 cards in new melds, scores -60 and doubles everyone else's points for the round.
- Everyone else counts the cards left in hand: ace 11, jack, queen and king 10, others face value, joker 30. A player who never opened scores 100.
You go out (-30). A rival holding a king, a 7 and a 9 scores 10 + 7 + 9 = 26, and a player who never opened scores 100.
03
Tips from the table
- Plan before you take the discard: you may only take it if you lay it down at once in a new meld.
- A joker in a meld can turn 49 points into 51. A joker left in your hand at the end costs 30.
- When a rival is close to going out, throw your high cards first: a king left in hand costs 10.
- Building towards a HAND? Hold your melds back, but watch the others: if someone goes out first, everything in your hand counts.
Qahwa · قهوة
Play it in Qahwa
Switch the house rules before you deal:
- Opening minimum of 51, 71 or 91
- Rising opening: each opening must beat the last (Hand Saudi)
- A joker left in hand costs 15 or 30
- A HAND doubles everyone else's points
- Swap a joker on the table for the card it stands for
- Hand Partners: lay off on your teammate's melds
04
Questions
What is a HAND?
Going out in a single turn without having laid anything down before, putting at least 14 cards into new melds. It scores -60 and doubles everyone else's points for that round.
What is Hand Saudi?
A variant where each new opening must beat the previous one by at least a point. Qahwa also has Hand Partners, where teammates can add to each other's melds.
How many points do you need to open in Hand?
51 by default. In Qahwa you can raise the minimum to 71 or 91.
