It is generally known that much deception is practiced at cards. Since a child I've had a keen interest in magic – sleight of hand in particular. You've no doubt heard the saying 'the hand is quicker than the eye', yet this is false. The hand is not quicker than the eye, it's cleverer, and the key to any decent card trick is keeping complete control of the cards. Therefore the methods of cheating that I'll be discussing in this article are mainly related to card manipulation, also known as ‘mechanics'.
- Manipulation Rummy Rules
- Manipulation Rummy Card Game Rules
- The Spruce Crafts Rummy
- Play Manipulation Rummy Online
I won't be going into great detail about the card manipulation methods because this would be breaking the age old magician's code. The reason for writing this article is that I believe it's important to have an understanding of the potential card cheating methods employed in order to reduce the chances of being cheated. Anyone reading this who is thinking of using this information to cheat – don't even think about it! It's important to have morals and good ethics, and if this is beyond you then just consider that any rewards would be far outweighed by the huge risks of cheating.
Marked Cards
In this game, based on Rummy (Manipulation is also known as Manipulation Rummy), melds played on the table can be rearranged as long as the player doing so adds at least one new card. The rules for Gin Rummy, Hollywood Gin, and Oklahoma Gin are. In manipulation rummy, also called carousel, the game is based on rummy with melds played on the table that can be rearranged as long as the player adds at least one new card. Other variations of rummy include gin rummy, Hollywood gin, three thirteen, and Oklahoma gin. How to Get Started Playing. Trabia's current rules: Plus, Random (starting rules) Reset, load save, run straight to the room with Trabia student, check/refuse Life draw point once. Challenge/refuse the student twice. Card manipulation is another technique that a cheater may employ in the game of gin rummy. It is relatively easy for someone to do with the proper amount of practice and perfection. For example, it is considered to be card manipulation if after a hand has been played, as the cheater scoops the cards to himself after the previous hand has been. Card manipulation is another technique that a cheater may employ in the game of gin rummy. It is relatively easy for someone to do with the proper amount of practice and perfection. For example, it is considered to be card manipulation if after a hand has been played, as the cheater scoops the cards to himself after the previous hand has been.
Marked cards are also known as ‘readers'. Such cards can easily be identified by looking at the back of the card. Whilst it is possible to buy specially manufactured marked cards, the usual method would be for the card cheat to mark the cards themselves during a game. A whole deck of cards can easily be ‘doctored' fairly quickly. Although most cheats would probably just mark the higher value cards. Since there is virtually no skill (except for avoiding attention) to marking cards it is an appealing cheating method for many cheats.
The cheat can mark cards in a variety of ways. The most common way of marking cards is by putting a nail mark into the card by squeezing the card between the thumb and forefinger. Other methods include crimping the corners, grease marks, dirt marks, etc. If you play a lot of live poker then you will probably have been involved in a game where cards have been marked. It doesn't always mean that someone has attempted to cheat, as even the best playing cards can get marked naturally. But keep a close eye on the cards and if you spot a marked card then immediately request a new deck. If you're not completely happy then leave the game.
To diminish the influence of marked cards you should always use ‘burn cards' when you play poker. The great advantage is that the cheat would not know what the next card is from the deck. I would also suggest that the deck is kept square on the table and not spread out as some people prefer. If the deck is spread, even slightly, then the corners of the cards are exposed and it gives the card cheat an opportunity to see where the marked cards are. Some players also have a habit of discarding the burn card before the betting round has finished. If you see people doing this then politely tell them not to do it. It's bad form!
The Cold Deck
This is a prearranged deck that the cheat would bring into the game at an opportune moment. The deck would have two or more hands already setup or ‘stacked' and it would be ready for dealing. The cheat might also give the deck a false shuffle and then deal his winning hand. With a prepared deck the card cheat would ensure his victim has a very good hand, just not quite as good as his. Little skill is required in this method of cheating as the deck could have been prearranged hours before the game.
False Shuffling
As you can imagine the ‘cold deck' has limitations for the cheat. Therefore another cheating method is to ‘stack' the deck during a seemingly legitimate shuffle. During this ‘shuffle' the desired cards are shuffled into the correct location in the deck. Suppose it is a five handed game of poker; the shuffler/dealer has secured the two Aces at the top of the deck, he then proceeds to perform simple overhand shuffle. In this shuffle the card cheat has just separated the Aces by ‘running' four cards between them. Now there is just one Ace on the top. Another quick overhand shuffle and the Aces are now laying 5th and 10th in the deck. The cards are dealt and hey presto the cheat has pocket Aces!
Contrary to what people would imagine, the card cheat is able to stack a deck very easily by using the overhand shuffle. This is because cards can be pulled off one at a time, breaks can be formed between packets, and the sequence can easily repeated. Such manipulation is far more difficult with the riffle shuffle technique.
Of course when it comes to card shuffling you should also be aware that the deck may already be prearranged. The whole deck doesn't need to be but maybe just the top 10 or 15 cards. The card cheat will then ensure he doesn't interrupt this part of the deck. This is called ‘top stock control'. This sort of stock control is also done with the riffle shuffle. It is pretty easy to spot as the shuffler will be attempting to avoid disturbing the top cards.
Cheating using the riffle shuffle is far more difficult. It's still possible to do false shuffles using this method but to stack a deck requires considerable skill and years of practise. So the warning to you is be very wary when someone you have seen using the riffle shuffle, changes and starts using the overhand shuffle. People who shuffle with the riffle shuffle very rarely need to do an overhand shuffle. It should also be noted that the professional card cheat will never show off his skill at manipulation. This would be very stupid. The clever cheat would look clumsy so as not to arouse suspicion.
False Dealing
There are two main ways of dodgy dealing. The first is what is called ‘dealing seconds'. This is where the card cheat would have his desired card at the top of the deck. This card will remain on the top throughout the deal until it gets to his turn, at which point the top card is dealt. This is a difficult card sleight and even more difficult to detect if it is done properly. The card cheat will usually push the top card over very slightly, at which point the right thumb (if right handed) comes in and clips the second card out whilst the top card is simultaneously pulled back into position by the left thumb.
The Second Deal:
Of course the card cheat only has the advantage of dealing himself one desired card using this method. The far more effective crooked deal is the bottom deal. As you've probably guessed, the bottom deal means dealing from the bottom of the deck. This is extremely hard to master and you shouldn't worry too much as very few people can perform the bottom deal without giving away tell tale signs.
The card cheat will in all probability be holding the deck in what is known as ‘the mechanics grip'. The middle finger then comes in and takes the bottom card from the deck. This is all done in a very fluid manner, assuming of course that the card cheat is a good manipulator. The biggest give away sign to the bottom deal is that ‘mechanics grip'. It is not a natural way to hold a deck of cards. Another give away is the noise made by the bottom card when it is dealt. If performed badly the bottom of the deck will also wedge out slightly. Watch out for these!
The Bottom Deal:
The 'Mechanics Grip' | The 'Wedge' occurs when badly executed. |
Of course you should always have a postilion (the plastic card) at the bottom of the deck when dealing. This makes it very difficult to perform a bottom deal. If you don't have a postilion then use a joker card as a substitute. Please remember that it takes years of practise to achieve an effective bottom deal, and when you add the postilion to the equation it would require a true expert. So don't worry too much about it.
Confederacy
When two or more card cheats work together the difficulty of their task is dramatically reduced. The chosen cards would be gathered before the shuffle (i.e. scooped from the last hand), secured, shuffled into the desired location, and then cut. If the rules of the game dictate that someone other than the shuffler is obliged to cut the cards, then the cheater's accomplice will duly cut the deck at the desired location.
You may ask how the cheat knows where to cut the cards? One common method is for the 1st cheat to bend the deck then cut the deck themselves, but in the act of doing this cut the top half of the deck is bent backwards. The cut is completed and as the deck is on the table there is a clear arch between the top and bottom halves, which is where the 2nd cheat will cut. This brings the deck back to its original position. Whilst this method is fairly simple, the giveaway signs are easy to spot. If this method were employed then the cut would be done very quickly to avoid being caught.
Adoramus te christe sheet music. Another method is for the 1st cheat to cut the deck but to out jog slightly. The 2nd cheat then just cuts at the point where the deck slightly overlaps. The deck is then setup for the deal with the cards in place. As you can imagine, when two or more people are involved in cheating it doesn't have to be about card manipulation. There are many ways to cheat when collusion is involved and far too many to list here.
Good Practise to Follow
The following procedures should be common place in your poker game to help prevent cheating;
Seating - Players should draw cards to determine who sits where. You should never be able to just sit where you like as it increases the odds for the card cheats who are in collusion.
Shuffling/Cutting/Dealing - The same player shouldn't shuffle and deal the cards as well. The player to the dealers left should shuffle, the player to the dealer's right then cuts, and the dealer then deals. This eliminates lots of possible opportunities to cheat.
Use a Postilion - Always have a postilion or joker on the bottom of the deck. Not only does it stop the bottom card being glimpsed, but it helps prevent bottom dealing.
Count the Cards - At regular intervals the cards should be counted to ensure they are all present. If two Aces are missing, start worrying!
Check for Markings - Regularly check the cards for marks, crimps, etc. Of course some marks will be accidental but if this affects the game then get a new deck of cards.
Cards on the Table - Ensure that playing cards are kept on the table at all times. There is no reason why a player should have to remove the cards from the table.
Of course there are many methods of cheating in poker and I don't claim to know all of them. I also don't want you to think that card cheating happens all the time. It doesn't. Playing poker live is great fun and you shouldn't let what I've shared with you put you off. If you play poker in an environment that you're comfortable with and are having fun, then don't worry. However it is always wise to know the methods which could be used to cheat you and for this reason you should follow the procedures explained above. Anyway, I hope that you've enjoyed reading this!
* This updated article was originally written by Tim Ryerson on 3rd February 2005.
Related Articles
By Tim Ryerson
Tim is from London, England and has been playing poker since the late 1990's. He is the ‘Editor-in-Chief' at Pokerology.com and is responsible for all the content on the website.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
This past fall I visited my friends Geraldine and Israel, formerly of the Queens neighborhood Forest Hills, at their new rustic fixer-upper along the Hudson. The fireplace was working, the couch was in place, but the room was still surrounded by a cityscape of boxes waiting to be unpacked. Geraldine reached into one, grabbing something for Israel — a box she said was from his dad. Before she could pull it out, an idea passed through my mind: 'I bet it's a game of Rummikub.' It was.
The thought came to me like a line from a favorite movie. At home, I, too, had a faux-leather box with those metal clasps, stored in the back of my son's closet, containing my family's Rummikub set from my childhood. As the memories flooded back, a new thought came to me: Is Rummikub Jewish?
Bagels and lox are Jewish. Borscht Belt humor is Jewish. Soft-shell crabs are definitely not Jewish (but delicious nonetheless). Seltzer is Jewish (and the subject of my upcoming book). But can a game be Jewish, claimed as a cultural signifier? I decided to find out. Before long I found myself down a rabbit hole that led in many directions: to the founding days of Israel, to Don Rickles on 'The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson,' to Communist Romania, ancient China and more.
But let's start at the beginning, my beginning, with Rummikub. Growing up on Long Island in the era of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, it was clear to my sister and me that this game was different. First of all, Rummikub (pronounced 'Rummy' + 'Cube') came not in a cheap cardboard box, but in a miniature briefcase. The opening of the metal clasps exposed the green lining and the clicky-clacky tiles inside. We'd dump them onto the table with a glorious cacophony. Then, there was the satisfying snapping of the two legs into the plastic tile racks. Once all the tiles were thoroughly shuffled, face down, on the table, the game could begin.
Manipulation Rummy Rules
If you haven't played before, Rummikub is a rummy-style card game, but with tiles. The goal is to clear all the tiles from your rack. Melding tiles — and that's the official word, 'melding' — is how you get your tiles out on the table, by combining at least three tiles into runs (like 1,2,3) or sets (three or more of the same number). Once a run or set is on the table, a player can add on their own tiles. Players can also manipulate the tiles on the board — again, another term of art, 'manipulation,' which we'll come back to later — which means a player can reconfigure any melds already placed on the table (as long as no tiles are left outside of a legitimate run or set). If you can't put any tiles on the table, you must add a new one to your rack; the first player to clear their rack wins.
Rummikub not only felt different from the run-of-the mill games played in our house, it was treated differently. On family vacations, this was the only game we traveled with. When my parents played, they played to win. It felt like this was their realm, and they were inviting my sister and me into it. Perhaps that's why I presumed the game was an ancient family artifact, brought to America from the shtetl.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
As it turns out, the game wasn't just new to us; it was new to most Americans. It had been sold for a number of years, but sales didn't take off until a 1977 appearance by Don Rickles on 'The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson.' A frequent guest, Rickles would insult Carson while recounting tales from recent vacations. On this particular episode, Rickles regaled Carson with a story of his recent trip to Israel, where his wife couldn't stop playing this 'funny game,' Rummikub.
At the time, working out of a tiny New York City cubicle in the commercial delegation section of the Israeli Embassy, a recent college graduate and immigrant, Micha Hertzano, had spent the past year schlepping the game around town, to no avail. He went to all the toy fairs and department stores, but could never get past the assistants.
'I would give away my business card to anyone willing to take it,' he recently told me over email, 'and a second later they would turn around and throw it away.' No one seemed to care about this funny game from Israel.
'The morning after the Johnny Carson interview I walked into the office,' he told me, 'not expecting anything different, and I found about 400 messages.'
That one plug turned Rummikub into the top-selling U.S. Boxer email for mac desktop. game of 1977. 'The Official Rummikub Book' came out the following year.
'Modern Rummikub sets come with rules for just one game,' John McLeod, owner and editor of pagat.com, an international encyclopedia of card and tile game rules, explained via email, 'a manipulation rummy game that for most players nowadays is Rummikub.' Those rules are the ones I recognize from my childhood. However, the 'Official Rummikub Book,' written by Hertzano's dad, Ephraim Hertzano, describes three different games for the tiles: American, Sabra and International. Ultimately, the Sabra rules won out. 'American and International Rummikub did not catch on and were dropped,' McLeod said. 'The modern game is Sabra Rummikub.'
McLeod treats Hertzano's book as if it were the urtext on Rummikub. And for good reason: Ephraim Hertzano wasn't just an author suggesting rules for Rummikub — he invented it.
Hertzano was born in Romania on January 27, 1912. After World War II, Communist-era laws banned the use of card games. Tiles, however, were permitted and can easily be exchanged for cards. McLeod told me that in post-war Romania it was normal to play rummy with a set of 106 tiles, equivalent in format to a Rummikub set. 'In fact I have met Romanian players who say that until they traveled outside Romania they had not realized that people in other countries played rummy with cards.'
As an adult, Hertzano sold toothbrushes and perfumes. In 1960 he arrived in Israel, a fledgling country deep in an economic crisis. At 48 he needed a new profession. So he invented one. There were no toy stores in Israel at the time, but Ephraim had brought an idea for a game with him. In his Tel Aviv kitchen, and later his backyard, he handcrafted Rummikub sets, often with the help of his family, painting each tile and board, and sold the new tile game from the back of his car. His instructional book from 1978 would later emphasize how Israeli culture was infused into the game.
'Remember, this game began in Israel,' Hertzano wrote, 'and Hebrew reads ‘backwards' — from right to left — so Rummikub always goes counter-clockwise.'
In 1987, Ephraim died, at the age of 75, inspiring his children to launch the first Rummikub Championship. First hosted at Jerusalem's Hyatt Regency, the competition is now held every three years, gathering the best players in the world, each representing his nation. It's the Olympics of Rummikub, and whether they know it or not, they all play the Sabra way.
The most recent tournament, the ninth, was held in Germany in late 2015. Thirty-one nations competed, including New Zealand, South Africa, Bulgaria and Hong Kong. The top four players represented, in winning order, were Japan, South Korea, Slovakia and Holland. Coming in fifth, representing the United States, was a young Jewish man from Chicago, Alexander Siedband.
Siedband, a toy and game designer and a Solomon Schechter graduate, first played the game in high school, where a teacher introduced him to it. From there Alex brought it home, where his whole family adopted it, especially his mom. In fact, at the competition, as observers were looking for someone for whom to root, players shared who their 'plus one' would be at the all-expenses-paid world championship. For Alex, it was his mom. 'There's nothing more I'd like to do for her,' he told everyone. 'She's my little travel buddy.'
Manipulation Rummy Card Game Rules
A year later, Siedband brought his mom with him to Berlin. As soon as they arrived, Micha Hertzano, who still runs the company with his sister, Mariana, greeted them. 'Micha is hugging my mother,' Siedband told me. 'They really believe that Rummikub is a family,' he explained. It's not just for families, it is a family.
The cheat can mark cards in a variety of ways. The most common way of marking cards is by putting a nail mark into the card by squeezing the card between the thumb and forefinger. Other methods include crimping the corners, grease marks, dirt marks, etc. If you play a lot of live poker then you will probably have been involved in a game where cards have been marked. It doesn't always mean that someone has attempted to cheat, as even the best playing cards can get marked naturally. But keep a close eye on the cards and if you spot a marked card then immediately request a new deck. If you're not completely happy then leave the game.
To diminish the influence of marked cards you should always use ‘burn cards' when you play poker. The great advantage is that the cheat would not know what the next card is from the deck. I would also suggest that the deck is kept square on the table and not spread out as some people prefer. If the deck is spread, even slightly, then the corners of the cards are exposed and it gives the card cheat an opportunity to see where the marked cards are. Some players also have a habit of discarding the burn card before the betting round has finished. If you see people doing this then politely tell them not to do it. It's bad form!
The Cold Deck
This is a prearranged deck that the cheat would bring into the game at an opportune moment. The deck would have two or more hands already setup or ‘stacked' and it would be ready for dealing. The cheat might also give the deck a false shuffle and then deal his winning hand. With a prepared deck the card cheat would ensure his victim has a very good hand, just not quite as good as his. Little skill is required in this method of cheating as the deck could have been prearranged hours before the game.
False Shuffling
As you can imagine the ‘cold deck' has limitations for the cheat. Therefore another cheating method is to ‘stack' the deck during a seemingly legitimate shuffle. During this ‘shuffle' the desired cards are shuffled into the correct location in the deck. Suppose it is a five handed game of poker; the shuffler/dealer has secured the two Aces at the top of the deck, he then proceeds to perform simple overhand shuffle. In this shuffle the card cheat has just separated the Aces by ‘running' four cards between them. Now there is just one Ace on the top. Another quick overhand shuffle and the Aces are now laying 5th and 10th in the deck. The cards are dealt and hey presto the cheat has pocket Aces!
Contrary to what people would imagine, the card cheat is able to stack a deck very easily by using the overhand shuffle. This is because cards can be pulled off one at a time, breaks can be formed between packets, and the sequence can easily repeated. Such manipulation is far more difficult with the riffle shuffle technique.
Of course when it comes to card shuffling you should also be aware that the deck may already be prearranged. The whole deck doesn't need to be but maybe just the top 10 or 15 cards. The card cheat will then ensure he doesn't interrupt this part of the deck. This is called ‘top stock control'. This sort of stock control is also done with the riffle shuffle. It is pretty easy to spot as the shuffler will be attempting to avoid disturbing the top cards.
Cheating using the riffle shuffle is far more difficult. It's still possible to do false shuffles using this method but to stack a deck requires considerable skill and years of practise. So the warning to you is be very wary when someone you have seen using the riffle shuffle, changes and starts using the overhand shuffle. People who shuffle with the riffle shuffle very rarely need to do an overhand shuffle. It should also be noted that the professional card cheat will never show off his skill at manipulation. This would be very stupid. The clever cheat would look clumsy so as not to arouse suspicion.
False Dealing
There are two main ways of dodgy dealing. The first is what is called ‘dealing seconds'. This is where the card cheat would have his desired card at the top of the deck. This card will remain on the top throughout the deal until it gets to his turn, at which point the top card is dealt. This is a difficult card sleight and even more difficult to detect if it is done properly. The card cheat will usually push the top card over very slightly, at which point the right thumb (if right handed) comes in and clips the second card out whilst the top card is simultaneously pulled back into position by the left thumb.
The Second Deal:
Of course the card cheat only has the advantage of dealing himself one desired card using this method. The far more effective crooked deal is the bottom deal. As you've probably guessed, the bottom deal means dealing from the bottom of the deck. This is extremely hard to master and you shouldn't worry too much as very few people can perform the bottom deal without giving away tell tale signs.
The card cheat will in all probability be holding the deck in what is known as ‘the mechanics grip'. The middle finger then comes in and takes the bottom card from the deck. This is all done in a very fluid manner, assuming of course that the card cheat is a good manipulator. The biggest give away sign to the bottom deal is that ‘mechanics grip'. It is not a natural way to hold a deck of cards. Another give away is the noise made by the bottom card when it is dealt. If performed badly the bottom of the deck will also wedge out slightly. Watch out for these!
The Bottom Deal:
The 'Mechanics Grip' | The 'Wedge' occurs when badly executed. |
Of course you should always have a postilion (the plastic card) at the bottom of the deck when dealing. This makes it very difficult to perform a bottom deal. If you don't have a postilion then use a joker card as a substitute. Please remember that it takes years of practise to achieve an effective bottom deal, and when you add the postilion to the equation it would require a true expert. So don't worry too much about it.
Confederacy
When two or more card cheats work together the difficulty of their task is dramatically reduced. The chosen cards would be gathered before the shuffle (i.e. scooped from the last hand), secured, shuffled into the desired location, and then cut. If the rules of the game dictate that someone other than the shuffler is obliged to cut the cards, then the cheater's accomplice will duly cut the deck at the desired location.
You may ask how the cheat knows where to cut the cards? One common method is for the 1st cheat to bend the deck then cut the deck themselves, but in the act of doing this cut the top half of the deck is bent backwards. The cut is completed and as the deck is on the table there is a clear arch between the top and bottom halves, which is where the 2nd cheat will cut. This brings the deck back to its original position. Whilst this method is fairly simple, the giveaway signs are easy to spot. If this method were employed then the cut would be done very quickly to avoid being caught.
Adoramus te christe sheet music. Another method is for the 1st cheat to cut the deck but to out jog slightly. The 2nd cheat then just cuts at the point where the deck slightly overlaps. The deck is then setup for the deal with the cards in place. As you can imagine, when two or more people are involved in cheating it doesn't have to be about card manipulation. There are many ways to cheat when collusion is involved and far too many to list here.
Good Practise to Follow
The following procedures should be common place in your poker game to help prevent cheating;
Seating - Players should draw cards to determine who sits where. You should never be able to just sit where you like as it increases the odds for the card cheats who are in collusion.
Shuffling/Cutting/Dealing - The same player shouldn't shuffle and deal the cards as well. The player to the dealers left should shuffle, the player to the dealer's right then cuts, and the dealer then deals. This eliminates lots of possible opportunities to cheat.
Use a Postilion - Always have a postilion or joker on the bottom of the deck. Not only does it stop the bottom card being glimpsed, but it helps prevent bottom dealing.
Count the Cards - At regular intervals the cards should be counted to ensure they are all present. If two Aces are missing, start worrying!
Check for Markings - Regularly check the cards for marks, crimps, etc. Of course some marks will be accidental but if this affects the game then get a new deck of cards.
Cards on the Table - Ensure that playing cards are kept on the table at all times. There is no reason why a player should have to remove the cards from the table.
Of course there are many methods of cheating in poker and I don't claim to know all of them. I also don't want you to think that card cheating happens all the time. It doesn't. Playing poker live is great fun and you shouldn't let what I've shared with you put you off. If you play poker in an environment that you're comfortable with and are having fun, then don't worry. However it is always wise to know the methods which could be used to cheat you and for this reason you should follow the procedures explained above. Anyway, I hope that you've enjoyed reading this!
* This updated article was originally written by Tim Ryerson on 3rd February 2005.
Related Articles
By Tim Ryerson
Tim is from London, England and has been playing poker since the late 1990's. He is the ‘Editor-in-Chief' at Pokerology.com and is responsible for all the content on the website.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
This past fall I visited my friends Geraldine and Israel, formerly of the Queens neighborhood Forest Hills, at their new rustic fixer-upper along the Hudson. The fireplace was working, the couch was in place, but the room was still surrounded by a cityscape of boxes waiting to be unpacked. Geraldine reached into one, grabbing something for Israel — a box she said was from his dad. Before she could pull it out, an idea passed through my mind: 'I bet it's a game of Rummikub.' It was.
The thought came to me like a line from a favorite movie. At home, I, too, had a faux-leather box with those metal clasps, stored in the back of my son's closet, containing my family's Rummikub set from my childhood. As the memories flooded back, a new thought came to me: Is Rummikub Jewish?
Bagels and lox are Jewish. Borscht Belt humor is Jewish. Soft-shell crabs are definitely not Jewish (but delicious nonetheless). Seltzer is Jewish (and the subject of my upcoming book). But can a game be Jewish, claimed as a cultural signifier? I decided to find out. Before long I found myself down a rabbit hole that led in many directions: to the founding days of Israel, to Don Rickles on 'The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson,' to Communist Romania, ancient China and more.
But let's start at the beginning, my beginning, with Rummikub. Growing up on Long Island in the era of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, it was clear to my sister and me that this game was different. First of all, Rummikub (pronounced 'Rummy' + 'Cube') came not in a cheap cardboard box, but in a miniature briefcase. The opening of the metal clasps exposed the green lining and the clicky-clacky tiles inside. We'd dump them onto the table with a glorious cacophony. Then, there was the satisfying snapping of the two legs into the plastic tile racks. Once all the tiles were thoroughly shuffled, face down, on the table, the game could begin.
Manipulation Rummy Rules
If you haven't played before, Rummikub is a rummy-style card game, but with tiles. The goal is to clear all the tiles from your rack. Melding tiles — and that's the official word, 'melding' — is how you get your tiles out on the table, by combining at least three tiles into runs (like 1,2,3) or sets (three or more of the same number). Once a run or set is on the table, a player can add on their own tiles. Players can also manipulate the tiles on the board — again, another term of art, 'manipulation,' which we'll come back to later — which means a player can reconfigure any melds already placed on the table (as long as no tiles are left outside of a legitimate run or set). If you can't put any tiles on the table, you must add a new one to your rack; the first player to clear their rack wins.
Rummikub not only felt different from the run-of-the mill games played in our house, it was treated differently. On family vacations, this was the only game we traveled with. When my parents played, they played to win. It felt like this was their realm, and they were inviting my sister and me into it. Perhaps that's why I presumed the game was an ancient family artifact, brought to America from the shtetl.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
As it turns out, the game wasn't just new to us; it was new to most Americans. It had been sold for a number of years, but sales didn't take off until a 1977 appearance by Don Rickles on 'The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson.' A frequent guest, Rickles would insult Carson while recounting tales from recent vacations. On this particular episode, Rickles regaled Carson with a story of his recent trip to Israel, where his wife couldn't stop playing this 'funny game,' Rummikub.
At the time, working out of a tiny New York City cubicle in the commercial delegation section of the Israeli Embassy, a recent college graduate and immigrant, Micha Hertzano, had spent the past year schlepping the game around town, to no avail. He went to all the toy fairs and department stores, but could never get past the assistants.
'I would give away my business card to anyone willing to take it,' he recently told me over email, 'and a second later they would turn around and throw it away.' No one seemed to care about this funny game from Israel.
'The morning after the Johnny Carson interview I walked into the office,' he told me, 'not expecting anything different, and I found about 400 messages.'
That one plug turned Rummikub into the top-selling U.S. Boxer email for mac desktop. game of 1977. 'The Official Rummikub Book' came out the following year.
'Modern Rummikub sets come with rules for just one game,' John McLeod, owner and editor of pagat.com, an international encyclopedia of card and tile game rules, explained via email, 'a manipulation rummy game that for most players nowadays is Rummikub.' Those rules are the ones I recognize from my childhood. However, the 'Official Rummikub Book,' written by Hertzano's dad, Ephraim Hertzano, describes three different games for the tiles: American, Sabra and International. Ultimately, the Sabra rules won out. 'American and International Rummikub did not catch on and were dropped,' McLeod said. 'The modern game is Sabra Rummikub.'
McLeod treats Hertzano's book as if it were the urtext on Rummikub. And for good reason: Ephraim Hertzano wasn't just an author suggesting rules for Rummikub — he invented it.
Hertzano was born in Romania on January 27, 1912. After World War II, Communist-era laws banned the use of card games. Tiles, however, were permitted and can easily be exchanged for cards. McLeod told me that in post-war Romania it was normal to play rummy with a set of 106 tiles, equivalent in format to a Rummikub set. 'In fact I have met Romanian players who say that until they traveled outside Romania they had not realized that people in other countries played rummy with cards.'
As an adult, Hertzano sold toothbrushes and perfumes. In 1960 he arrived in Israel, a fledgling country deep in an economic crisis. At 48 he needed a new profession. So he invented one. There were no toy stores in Israel at the time, but Ephraim had brought an idea for a game with him. In his Tel Aviv kitchen, and later his backyard, he handcrafted Rummikub sets, often with the help of his family, painting each tile and board, and sold the new tile game from the back of his car. His instructional book from 1978 would later emphasize how Israeli culture was infused into the game.
'Remember, this game began in Israel,' Hertzano wrote, 'and Hebrew reads ‘backwards' — from right to left — so Rummikub always goes counter-clockwise.'
In 1987, Ephraim died, at the age of 75, inspiring his children to launch the first Rummikub Championship. First hosted at Jerusalem's Hyatt Regency, the competition is now held every three years, gathering the best players in the world, each representing his nation. It's the Olympics of Rummikub, and whether they know it or not, they all play the Sabra way.
The most recent tournament, the ninth, was held in Germany in late 2015. Thirty-one nations competed, including New Zealand, South Africa, Bulgaria and Hong Kong. The top four players represented, in winning order, were Japan, South Korea, Slovakia and Holland. Coming in fifth, representing the United States, was a young Jewish man from Chicago, Alexander Siedband.
Siedband, a toy and game designer and a Solomon Schechter graduate, first played the game in high school, where a teacher introduced him to it. From there Alex brought it home, where his whole family adopted it, especially his mom. In fact, at the competition, as observers were looking for someone for whom to root, players shared who their 'plus one' would be at the all-expenses-paid world championship. For Alex, it was his mom. 'There's nothing more I'd like to do for her,' he told everyone. 'She's my little travel buddy.'
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A year later, Siedband brought his mom with him to Berlin. As soon as they arrived, Micha Hertzano, who still runs the company with his sister, Mariana, greeted them. 'Micha is hugging my mother,' Siedband told me. 'They really believe that Rummikub is a family,' he explained. It's not just for families, it is a family.
After he took fifth place, what surprised Siedband the most was the level of attention from the international press. The United States seemed to be one of the few countries that didn't pay it much mind. 'Overseas they treat Rummikub like a Monopoly or a Scrabble,' he told me. 'It's very prestigious to be there.' According to data from the game publisher in 2013, Rummikub is the third most popular family game in the world, sold in 54 different countries in 26 different languages.
Though the game incorporates elements of chess, dominoes, rummy, and Mah-Jong, David Parlett, a game scholar, believes the Mexican game of Conquian is the ancestor of all Rummy games. The core mechanic of Rummy, however — drawing, melding and discarding — actually appeared in Chinese card games over two centuries ago. This eventually led to the games like Mah-Jong, which was created in the 1890s.
In other words, one can trace a line from Mah-Jongg's ancestors in China, to Conquian in Mexico, to Rummy in Europe, to Rummikub in Israel, with the Rummikub championship, of course, bringing the line full circle back to Asia with Japan's 2015 win.
Which leaves me with my initial question: Is Rummikub Jewish? Ultimately, I think what I found was not an answer but the realization that I had been asking the wrong question. I came to understand that what I really wanted to know was if I grew up with Rummikub because I was Jewish.
Harry Golden, a journalist who frequently wrote about Manhattan's Lower East Side, once remarked, 'There were many traditions which we associated with the Jewish civilization until some of us began to read the literature of the world.' With a broader awareness of the world, Golden learned that 'many things were not ‘Jewish' at all, but they were part of the tradition of all mankind.' I think that's what happened with Rummikub and me — I needed to see the bigger picture to understand the game's place within the play traditions of the world.
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On the other hand there are still the Hertzanos. Micha told me about growing up near Tel Aviv, where the buildings were no more than a few stories high, all with street-facing balconies. 'Engraved in my memory are Friday evenings,' he told me, 'looking around and seeing all the other families sitting outside, playing Rummikub and having a watermelon.' The buildings were so close to one another that he could hear the sounds of the pieces on the board. 'I would always look up at my father and see his face light up.'
Ephraim Hertzano shared his take on this scene in the introduction to his Rummikub book: 'They say that on a summer night in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv the noise of the clacking of tiles on the balconies overhead is deafening!'
Perhaps, as a child, through playing the game, I could hear those echoes reverberating off the walls of my Long Island home.
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Barry Joseph is an infrequent contributor to the Forward. One of his first articles is now being expanded into the upcoming book 'Seltzertopia: The Effervescent Age.' Follow him on Twitter, @Seltzertopia