Worst Possible Start in Rummikub?
December 30, 2019 2:56 PM Subscribe
Playing Rummikub last night and my daughter was unable to play the required 30 point starting play until she had drawn her 31st tile. That got us thinking - what is the most tiles you could accumulate in a 4-player game without having 30 points to play?
We worked out that 60 tiles is the upper limit in a two player game - but not sure how to calculate for 4-players, short of trying to write a Python script or something to brute force it. Anybody know the answer, or have an idea of how to figure it out?
We worked out that 60 tiles is the upper limit in a two player game - but not sure how to calculate for 4-players, short of trying to write a Python script or something to brute force it. Anybody know the answer, or have an idea of how to figure it out?
Response by poster: Good questions.
1. We simply started with the lowest numbers and kept adding to our tableau until we could no longer add a tile without hitting 30 points.
2. In a 4-player game I don't think you could ever amass 60 tiles while 3 other players are also adding tiles to their hands, playing the game etc. Realistically, your opponent would probably go out before you get to 60 tiles in a 2-player game, since if your tiles have no point matches your opponent probably is racking up points. But it was late and we decided to not over think it.
posted by COD at 4:41 PM on December 30, 2019
1. We simply started with the lowest numbers and kept adding to our tableau until we could no longer add a tile without hitting 30 points.
2. In a 4-player game I don't think you could ever amass 60 tiles while 3 other players are also adding tiles to their hands, playing the game etc. Realistically, your opponent would probably go out before you get to 60 tiles in a 2-player game, since if your tiles have no point matches your opponent probably is racking up points. But it was late and we decided to not over think it.
posted by COD at 4:41 PM on December 30, 2019
Does the initial play have to be one set scoring at least 30 points, or can it be multiple sets scoring at least 30 points in total? If it's the former, then 60 tiles is not the maximum, as you could collect all eight copies of 1-7, all blue and orange 9s, 11s, and 13s, and all red and black 10s and 12s, for a total of 76 tiles.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 5:11 PM on December 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by J.K. Seazer at 5:11 PM on December 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
No, multiple sets (minimum three tiles) are fine, so the best you can do is three 10s and you are started.
We had an old set of Rummikub and when we played with our grandparents, thought they were soft with 30, as our set specified 50!
Also the rules for jokers have changed over the years (I read both rule sheets and checked!) It's been a while since I last played, but in our version you have to use a replaced joker with two from your own hand, and can't break a set/run with a joker in it.
posted by freethefeet at 6:05 PM on December 30, 2019
We had an old set of Rummikub and when we played with our grandparents, thought they were soft with 30, as our set specified 50!
Also the rules for jokers have changed over the years (I read both rule sheets and checked!) It's been a while since I last played, but in our version you have to use a replaced joker with two from your own hand, and can't break a set/run with a joker in it.
posted by freethefeet at 6:05 PM on December 30, 2019
Extrapolating from J.K.'s answer for the latter case (30 points over potentially multiple sets needed for your initial play), you could get tiles 1 thru 3 of 3 of each color with up to 2 duplicates per number (5 of each number * 3 numbers = 15 tiles), then all blue and orange even numbers 4 and above, then all red and black odd numbers 5 and above (4 of each number * 9 numbers = 36), for a total of 51 tiles.
posted by Aleyn at 7:03 PM on December 30, 2019
posted by Aleyn at 7:03 PM on December 30, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
Also, why would two vs. four players matter? It sounds like you're not allowed to reuse existing runs for your initial meld.
posted by vasi at 4:34 PM on December 30, 2019