Hand Card Game Rules

Overview

Hand (هاند) is a Rummy-type card game extremely popular in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. Four players compete individually to form melds (groups and runs) and be the first to get rid of all their cards. The player with the lowest penalty score wins.

The Deck

Hand uses two full 52-card decks plus 4 Jokers, totaling 108 cards. Each player is dealt 13 cards, and the remaining cards form the draw pile. The top card of the draw pile is flipped to start the discard pile.

Dealing

The dealer shuffles the double deck and deals 13 cards to each player one at a time. The remaining 56 cards form the draw pile. The top card is turned face-up to begin the discard pile. The player to the dealer's left goes first.

Turn Flow

Each turn consists of four phases in order:

1. DRAW: Take the top card from the draw pile OR the top card from the discard pile.
2. MELD (optional): Lay down one or more valid melds from your hand onto the table.
3. LAY OFF (optional): Add individual cards from your hand to any existing melds on the table.
4. DISCARD: Place exactly one card from your hand onto the discard pile to end your turn.

Types of Melds

There are two types of valid melds:

• SET (Group): 3 or 4 cards of the same rank from different suits. Example: 7♠ 7♥ 7♦
• RUN (Sequence): 3 or more consecutive cards of the same suit. Example: 5♥ 6♥ 7♥ 8♥. Ace can be high (Q-K-A) or low (A-2-3) but cannot wrap around (K-A-2 is invalid).

Jokers

Jokers are wild cards that can substitute for any card in a meld. Maximum 1 joker allowed in a 3-card meld, and maximum 2 jokers in a meld of 4 or more cards. A meld cannot consist entirely of jokers.

First Meld Requirement

Your first meld(s) in a round must total at least 51 points. Card values for this requirement: Ace = 15, King/Queen/Jack/10 = 10, number cards = face value, Joker = 25. After meeting this requirement, you can meld freely.

Scoring

When a player goes out (empties their hand), the round ends. All other players receive penalty points for the cards remaining in their hand:

Hand Bonus

If a player melds ALL their cards in a single turn (having never melded before in this round) and goes out, it is called 'Hand' (هاند). When this happens, penalty points for all other players are DOUBLED.

Winning the Game

Play continues over multiple rounds. Each round adds penalty points to each player's cumulative score. The game ends when any player reaches the penalty limit (default: 200 points). The player with the LOWEST total penalty score wins.