How to Play Yaniv

Yaniv is a rummy type card game for travelers around the world. It is recommended, but not required, to use two decks for four or more players.

Yaniv Rules

| Players: 2-5 | Type: Rummy | Supplies: 1 Deck + Jokers |

Objective

The object of the game is to score the least amount of points each round, and to keep your score under 200 points overall or you get removed from the game.

Deal

Deal five cards to each player, face down. Players may look at their cards. The remaining deck is placed face down in the middle to form a stock. Flip the top card of the stock pile face up to form the dump pile.

Card Rank

(Highest Rank) King to Ace (Lowest Rank)

Jokers are wild cards but may only be used in sequences.

Game Play

The starting player is chosen at random, since they have an advantage. The winner of each round starts the next round. Play continues clockwise around the table.

Each turn you have one of two options:

-Throw one or more cards from your hand to the dump pile, then pick up a card, OR

-Call “Yaniv” to end the play, if you believe that the total value of your cards is less than that of any other player. You may only call “Yaniv” if the total value of your cards is less than 6.

Throwing

A player may throw (discard) any of the following:

-Any one card

-One set of two or more cards of the same rank

-One sequence of three or more consecutive cards of the same suit. A joker can be used in a sequence in replacement for any card.

When throwing a sequence, the cards must be thrown in sequential order. When throwing a set, you may choose what order to throw them in. You may only throw one card or one combination (a set or a sequence) into the dump pile per turn.

Picking Up

No matter how many cards you throw, you only pick up one card. The cards that can be picked up are as followed:

-The top card of the stock, or

-One of the cards thrown to the dump pile by a previous player, but only the first or last card thrown in a set or sequence can be picked up.

If the draw pile runs out and no one has announced “Yaniv,” all cards in the dump pile, except for the last player's discard are shuffled and stacked face down to form a new draw pile.

If at the start of your turn you have 5 or less points in your hand, you may announce “Yaniv.” This ends the round and each player reveals their hand. You may only announce “Yaniv” on your turn, before you pick up a card.

Card Value

Jack/Queen/King: 10
2-10: Face Value
Ace: 1
Joker: 0

Scoring

When someone calls “Yaniv” at the beginning of their turn, the round is over, players reveal their hand, and points are scored.

-If the caller has the lowest number of points in their hand, the caller gets 0 points for that round, and all other players score however many points are in their hand.

-If any other player has the same number of points or fewer points than the caller, the caller scores 30 penalty points in addition to the value of points in their hand. Each other player besides the caller in this situation scores the points that are in their hand.

The player with the lowest card point total in their hand, deals the next round. Players' total scores are kept throughout the game, from round to round. Any player whose score surpasses 200 is eliminated from the game.

If a player's score reaches exactly 200, their score is reduced to 100.

If a player's score reaches exactly 100, their score is reduced to 50.

Winner

Play continues until only one player remains in the game, this player wins. If the last two players surpass 200 at the same time, the player with the lowest amount of points is the winner. If they tie, another round is played until the tie is broken, the player with the lowest score wins.