Nyuri

Contributed by Malik Kadir

The name of this game, "Nyuri", means "stealing" in Indonesian.

The objective is to have the most cards in your hand before the stock (cards not in any player’s hand in the beginning of the game) runs out. The card rankings are from least to greatest: 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J(11),Q(12),K(13),A(14).

The dealer gives out 7 cards (one at a time) to each player. The players decide who goes first and play continues clockwise from there.

The first player puts a card down and CAN (they don’t have to) protect it by putting a second card of the same suit, but higher rank than the first card, as a bodyguard on top of the first card.

Each of the other players in turn now gets a chance to steal the first player's card. To do this, they need to play a card of the same suit and higher rank, or a set of cards whose values add up to more than the value of the card they are stealing. If the value of a player's card is more than 10, a group of three cards can be used to steal it; if it is 10 or less, the stealer cannot use more than two cards.

If the first player's card is protected by a bodyguard, a card or set of cards of higher value than the total of the two cards is needed to steal both cards. As with a single card, the stealer can use one or two cards if the value of the cards stolen is 10 or less; if the stolen cards total more than 10, three cards can be used to steal them if the stealer wishes.

The player stealing the card(s) shows the card they are using to and then adds the other player’s card(s) to their hand.

If two or more players both want to steal the same card, the person who played the higher ranked card or set of cards gets it.

If a player uses three cards to steal another player's card(s), the stealing player must offer his or her hand face down and allow the player whose card was stolen to draw one card from it - the drawing player will not know the value of the card until he or she has taken it.

In any turn, a player who does not steal any cards from any other player has to draw one card from the stock.

Note that in order to steal an Ace (14), at least two cards of the same suit as the ace will be needed, for example 7 and 8 (15). To steal a King with an Ace bodyguard (27) you would need three cards - for example 8+10+J (29) of the same suit.

After everyone has had a chance to steal the first player's card, it is the second player's turn to put down a card, and the other players in turn again have a chance to steal it. If the first player's card has not been stolen, players can steal either card at their turn. Then it is the third player's turn to put down a card, and so on.

So if there are four players A, B, C and D, the sequence will be:

  • A puts down a card: B may steal; C may steal; D may steal;
  • B puts down a card: C may steal; D may steal; A may steal;
  • C puts down a card: D may steal; A may steal; B may steal;
  • D puts down a card: A may steal; B may steal; C may steal:
  • Now it is A's turn to put down a card again.

Note that any time it is your turn to steal and you are unable to do so, you must pick up a card from the stock instead.

When it is your turn to put down a card, if the card you put down before has not yet been stolen, you have the choice of leaving it in place or of picking it up and putting down a new card (with or without a bodyguard).

When the stock runs out all the players count the cards in their hands plus the cards in fromnt of them on the table and whoever has the most cards wins.

You can bet money before the game, if the players choose to, in which case the winner gets all the money that was bet. If there are two or more winners, with equal numbers of cards at the end, they share the money that was bet equally between them. Alternatively, if the players prefer not to share the pot, another game can be played between them to decide the winner.

Last updated: 18th August 2004

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