How to play Rami

1. What makes a legal formation?

A set is three or four cards of the same rank in different suits, such as 9 of hearts, 9 of clubs and 9 of spades. Even though the game uses two decks, two identical suits do not belong in the same set.

A run is at least three consecutive ranks in one suit, such as 7, 8 and 9 of hearts. An ace can be low in A-2-3 or high in Q-K-A. A run cannot wrap from king through ace to two.

A joker can stand for a missing card. A formation needs at least two natural cards, and cannot contain more jokers than natural cards. During an opening, each separate formation is limited to five cards; longer runs can be built after the opening rules no longer apply.

2. The turn sequence

1. Draw. Take from the face-down stock, called jboud, or the visible discard when the table permits it. The starter already has a fifteenth card and begins by discarding.
2. Play. Prepare your opening if you have not opened. Once opened, you can lay legal formations and add suitable cards to existing table formations.
3. Discard. Put one card on the discard pile to end a normal turn. If forced plus is active, a card with a required table play may be blocked from being discarded.

On your first turn of a round, taking the discard and making a normal opening are blocked. Draw from the stock if you are not the starter, then discard. Taking the visible discard on a later turn carries a use requirement: follow the game's opening or table-play prompt. Special finish routes are checked separately, so do not assume a move is valid just because the cards look close to a formation.

3. Your opening, or hbout

Your first laid formations must meet the current opening total. The first opening in the ranked preset starts at 71. Once someone has opened, the next player must beat the latest opening total by at least one point. Watch the displayed requirement: it can rise during the round.

Number cards score their number. Tens and face cards score 10. An ace scores 1 at the low end of a run and 10 otherwise. A joker scores as the card it represents in the formation.

For example, 7-8-9 of hearts gives 24, three tens in different suits give 30, and three sixes in different suits give 18. Together those three formations make 72, enough when the requirement is 71. They are not enough if a later opening has pushed the requirement to 75.

If the table enables tierce sans joker, your opening must also contain a same-suit run of at least three consecutive cards with no joker. That condition is off in the current ranked preset.

4. Finishing and penalty points

Clearing your hand ends the round. Other active players receive penalties. Someone who has opened is charged for remaining natural cards, capped at 100 hand points, with any enabled joker and special penalties added separately. Someone who has not opened normally receives 100 points.

For cards left in hand, an ace, ten or face card counts as 10. With the ranked joker penalty enabled, each held joker costs 50 separately. So an opened player left with a king, a 4 and one joker receives 14 hand points plus 50 for the joker, before any other penalty.

Reaching the table's elimination limit removes a player from the match. The current ranked preset uses 301; the default custom setup uses 701. Keep reading the score panel and round breakdown, especially when special penalties apply.

5. Club rules to watch

• Joker recovery. Replacing a table joker needs the exact card it represents. Recovery from a set requires a four-card set. Use the game's valid replacement prompt rather than treating every joker as available.
• Zal3a. Feeding a discard that allows the next player to close can bring an extra penalty. The ranked preset uses 50 points.
• Tafdhil. When the enabled finish conditions leave only jokers, the game can offer a special finish and target selection. In ranked, assigning a joker to an opponent adds 50 points to their score; assigning one to yourself reduces your score by 50. Follow that screen before assuming the round has settled.
• Frich. A requested redeal is subject to the vote. A forced Frich is a separate option offered only for a qualifying hand. Read the prompt and its deadline; it is not a general undo button.

Before a competitive match, practice making an opening, adding a card and ending a turn. Read the table's settings and timer, because custom options can differ from the ranked preset described here.