Made in Israel - Yaniv

Yaniv is a simple but fun Israeli card game. It isn’t clear who invented the game and when, but many believe it was invented in Nepal.

According to the story, an Israeli backpacker by the name of Yaniv, and his friend Asaf, invented the game while traveling through Nepal with a deck of cards.

Many claim to have run across the game in different countries all around the world, so the origin isn’t 100% known, and might never be. But as far as we’re concerned, it is an Israeli creation.

The game is very simple, all you need is a full deck of cards, including the jokers, and a minimum of 2 players.

Joker is worth 0 points, Ace 1, any face (King, Queen, Jack) is 10 points, and the rest are the amount of the card number.

In a clockwise motion, each player picks up a card from the pile, and can then choose which card to throw down. The point of the round is to reach less than 5 points in your hand, and then you can say Yaniv. If you have the least amount of points you win the round, and the rest of the players collect the amount of points they have in their hand.

If you have two or more of the same card you can throw them all down on your turn, same with a series of the same shape with at least three cards.

If a player reaches exactly 50 points, his points go down to 0. If you reach exactly 100, then it goes down to 50, and so on…

If you call Yaniv and a player has less than you, he pulled an Asaf on you, and you get the amount of points in your hand + 30.

You can play until how many ever points you chose, usually it goes until at least 100.

There are many versions and added rules to the game, after you play it a few times you will find which you like!

Ever wonder how Israelis are so committed to their card games? They are probably playing yaniv, one of Israel’s most popular and addictive card games.

It isn’t clear who invented the game and when, but legend has it that an Israeli backpacker by the name of Yaniv, along with his friend Asaf, invented the game while traveling through Nepal with a deck of cards!

Many claim to have run across the game in different countries all around the world, so the origin isn’t 100% known, and might never be. But as far as we’re concerned, it is definitely an Israeli creation!

The game is very simple, and perfect for all ages. All you need is a full deck of cards and at least 2 excited players.

How to Play…

Joker is worth 0 points, Ace 1, any face (King, Queen, Jack) is 10 points, and the rest are the amount of the card number.

In a clockwise motion, each player picks up a card from the pile, and can then choose which card to throw down. The point of the round is to reach less than 5 points in your hand. If that’s you, yell Yaniv! If you have the least amount of points you win the round, and the rest of the players collect the amount of points they have in their hand.

This game can be played for hours on end, it’s so entertaining! There are many variations and exciting rule additions, so once you become an expert, you can amp up your game!