Rummikub

Description

Tournament Format
Players per table – 2 
Time control – *Under review*
Rounds – 5 Round Swiss Pairings (Standard MSO tie-breaks apply)

Rummikub is a tile-based game that was invented by Ephraim Hertzano, a Romanian-born Jew, who immigrated to Mandate Palestine in the early 1930s. He hand-made the first sets with his family in the backyard of his home. The game combines elements of rummy and mahjong. Hertzano sold the first sets door-to-door and on a consignment basis at small shops. Over the years, the family licensed it to other countries and it became Israel’s #1 export game. In 1977, it became a bestselling game in the United States. Game play continues until a player has used all of the tiles in the rack, at which point they should call out “Rummikub”, and are declared the winner.

Tournament Clarifications:
– Some rules have been updated for 2025 to bring the MSO tournament closer inline with the World Rummikub Championship ruleset.
– At the start of the game, each player takes 1 joker, and then randomly selects the remaining 13 tiles. Should either player get 3 doubles (pairs of tiles with both the same number and colour) then they can request that both players reshuffle the tiles and draw new starting hands.
– For your initial meld, tiles must add up to 30 or more in 1 or more sets. Players may not build upon or manipulate sets already on the table prior to playing their initial meld, or in the turn in which it is played. If all tiles in the pool have been taken then you must perform a move that includes at least 1 tile from your hand. The Joker can be used instead of any other tile to create a set (including if that tile already appears twice on the table). It can also be used in the initial meld. Two jokers can be used in a single set.
– A joker cannot be retrieved before a player has laid down their initial meld.
– A joker can be retrieved from a set on the table by any player who can replace it with a tile of the same numerical value and colour that the joker represents. In the case of a group of 3, the joker can be replaced by a tile of the right number and either of the missing colours. Once a player replaces a joker, they must use it in the same turn as part of a set. Sets containing jokers can be manipulated in the normal way, potentially allowing the joker to be freed and used elsewhere. The winner of the game is the first player to get rid of all their tiles.
– During your turn, once a tile has been placed onto the table it must be played in that turn and cannot be taken back. A player cannot press the clock whilst the tiles on the table are in an illegal position. If they do then their time is restarted until the position is made legal.
– New for 2025: In the case that all tiles are finished, and no one has won the game, each player will receive one more turn. If nobody has won during this turn, only then all player’s tiles on their rack will be counted (each joker remaining on the rack counts as 100 points). The player with less points on their rack wins the game.