Vazhushal
Vazhushal is a rummy game for two to six players. Its most distinguishing feature is the practice of organizing the discards into a line, rather than a typical discard pile. If a player can use a card anywhere in the discard line in a new meld, they can take it—and all the cards on top of it!
Vazhushal originates from the city of Chennai, India. The name translates from the Tamil word for “wipe”, referring to the way that a player can “wipe” a considerable number of cards away from the discard pile in one fell swoop!
Object of Vazhushal
The object of Vazhushal is to be the first player to form their entire hand into melds.
Setup
A two-player game of Vazhushal will need one standard 52-card deck of playing cards, including two jokers. For a game with three or more players, you’ll need two 52-card decks with two jokers each (108 cards in all). For a worry-free hosting experience, make sure you always use the most durable playing cards in the world, Denexa 100% Plastic Playing Cards.
Shuffle and deal thirteen cards to each player. If anyone has been dealt three or more instances of both copies of the same card (for example 2♥-2♥-5♣-5♣-J♦-J♦), they must alert the other players. In this case, the hands are thrown in, and the same dealer deals new hands. Otherwise, the dealer places the stub in the center of the table, forming the stock. They then turn the top card of the stock face up and placed it next to the stock, which becomes the first card of the discard line. The bottom card of the stock is turned up as well and placed so that it is partially covered by the stock. This card is called the negative joker.
Game play
The player to the dealer’s left goes first. Game play in Vazhushal follows the normal draw-meld-discard flow found in most rummy games. A player starts their turn by drawing, either from the stock or from the discard line (as described below). Then, they meld any cards they are able and willing to. Finally, the player discards one card to the discard line.
Melding
Vazhushal allows the two types of meld commonly found in rummy games. One is the sequence, which is three or more consecutively-ranked cards of the same suit, like 5-6-7♦. Aces can be at either end of a sequence, but not in the middle (A-2-3 or Q-K-A, but not K-A-2). The other type of meld is three or four cards of the same rank. Two cards of the same rank and suit are not allowed in the same meld.
Jokers are wild for the purposes of melding. The cards of the same rank, but the opposite color, of the negative joker are considered wild. For example, if the A♠ is the negative joker, the A♦ and A♥ are both wild. A wild card being used as its natural value, like a wild A♦ in a Q-K-A♦ meld, does not count as a wild card.
There are some restrictions on melding. A player cannot have two melds identical in suit and sequence at any time. Also, a meld cannot consist of only jokers; it must have at least one natural card in it.
A player’s first meld of the hand must be a sequence of three or more cards with no wild cards. Once this is done, a player may meld whatever they are able to on their turn. Melds are placed face up in front of the player they belong to. A player cannot lay off cards on their opponents’ melds.
A player can rearrange their previously-melded cards to facilitate new melding as much as they like. However, there must always be a sequence of three or more cards with no wilds, and all of the melds must follow the rules outlined above. Also, a player cannot return previously-melded cards to their hand.
The discard line
After a player has melded, they end their turn by discarding one card to the discard line. Unlike most rummy games, in Vazhushal, the discards are not kept in a simple pile. Instead, they’re spread out in a line, with each index kept clearly visible.
Drawing from the line
At the start of their turn, a player can choose to draw from the discard line instead. A player drawing from the discard line may take as many consecutive cards from the line that they wish, starting from the most-recently discarded. However, the deepest card taken (the one that was least-recently discarded) must immediately be used in a new meld (not an existing one already on the table). The new meld can be made using additional cards from the discard line as well. Having done this, the player then takes all of the cards on top of the drawn card (those discarded more recently) and adds them to their hand. These cards are then also available for melding.
For example, suppose the discard line contains the following (oldest) 7♦-Q♦-3♥-9♠-10♠-K♦-10♦ (newest). A player holds the 8♠ in their hand. They may start their turn by taking the 9♠ and 10♠ from the line to form a new meld. This 9♠ is immediately used in a new meld, so the draw is legal. The player would also take the K♦-10♦ into their hand, as those cards were on top of the 9♠.
Drawing from the line for the initial meld
A player who has not made their initial natural sequence meld may only draw from the discard line if the card drawn allows them to immediately form the sequence meld. A player who has not yet melded, but already has a natural sequence meld in hand, may meld this sequence first, then draw from the discard line, so long as the card drawn can immediately be used in a meld. This is the only time a player can meld before drawing.
Going out
When a player is able to form all of their cards into melds except for one, which they then discard, they have gone out. That player wins the game.
If the stock is depleted before a player can go out, game play stops at the end of the turn that the last card was drawn from the stock. Each player may make any additional melds from their hand at that point. Then, the hand scores are determined. Aces and face cards count as ten points each, and all other cards count as their pip value. Wild cards count as the card they are substituting for. Each player calculates the value of their melds and subtracts the value of the cards left in their hand. The player with the highest score wins the game.
Question – in the situation where another player goes out and you’ve got an unmelded joker left in the hand, what is its value for scoring purposes?
Hey Stephen,
I can find no information on this myself. Presumably, this situation rarely arises, since card scoring only matters when the stock is depleted. (If a player goes out they simply win the game outright.) By the time the stock runs out, the game would have gone on for long enough that most players would likely have some place to quickly meld a joker on the last turn. If, for some reason, that doesn’t happen, I’d say 10 points is a fair (if generous) value for it.