Play Russian Hand online with friends, free

How to play Russian Hand

1. Two 52-card decks without jokers: 104 cards. Everyone gets 7 cards; the rest is the stock. There is no discard pile.
2. Play goes counter-clockwise. On your turn do one thing: draw a card from the stock (your turn ends), or play cards from your hand to the table.
3. Melds are sets (3 or 4 cards of one rank, all different suits) or runs (3 or more in a row of one suit). The ace goes low (A-2-3) or high (Q-K-A), never round the corner.
4. In your first turn of each deal you may only drop new melds made of your own cards.
5. Once you have dropped a meld of your own, you may add cards to any meld and rearrange the whole table: split runs, join groups, move cards into new groups.
6. Cards on the table never go back to a hand, and every play must add at least one card from yours.
7. Empty your hand first and you win the deal at once.

Russian Hand rules and scoring at a glance

• A play is checked when you finish it: in between, groups may be half-built, but when you tap Done every group on the table must be valid.
• You can drop your first meld and rearrange the table in the same play.
• When the stock runs out, Draw becomes Pass. The deal ends when everyone passes in a row.
• Nobody out: the fewest cards wins, then the lowest card total (ace 11, court cards 10, other cards their number). Still equal: a shared place.
• Full game: 3 deals. Each deal you score the cards left in your hand (0 for going out); the lowest total wins.

Russian Hand in Rayoosh

• Players: 2, 3 or 4, each for themselves.
• Quick: 1 deal, about 8 minutes. Full: 3 deals, about 22 minutes.
• Pearls by finishing place, up to 35 for a Quick win and 60 for a Full win. Going out while everyone else still holds 7 or more cards earns a big-win bonus.
• Pick cards and tap a group, or drag them with a finger or a mouse. Undo steps back, Reset restores the table, and Suggest shows a play you can make.
• Works on phones, tablets, computers and TVs with a remote, in Arabic, English and Hindi.

Tips to win at Russian Hand

• Drop a meld early: until you do, the table is closed to you.
• Look for duplicates: a second 5♥ can split a long heart run into two runs.
• A set of four or the end of a long run can lend a card to complete a pair in your hand.
• Keep an eye on players with few cards left, and play everything you can when they get close.
• In a Full game, shed your high cards first: aces and court cards cost the most if the deal ends.

Play Russian Hand with friends

Create a private table, share the link on WhatsApp, show the QR code or read out the room code, and your friends join in seconds with no download.

• Computer players fill any empty seat, from a 2-player duel to a table of 4.
• Text chat with quick phrases, voice chat, emotes and gifts at the table.
• A short lesson and practice games against the computer, any time.
• Once Rayoosh is installed, you can play the computer even without internet.