Players and deck
Three to thirteen can play, with four or five recommended. Use four copies of one rank per player plus one Joker. This four-player table uses Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks and a Joker: 17 cards in all. Suits have no effect.
Passing & bluffing · 4 at this table
Jukha.
Ask for a rank, judge the hidden offer, and escape with four equal cards. The last two players stay behind.
Face-down offers
Your turn. Ask East for a rank.
Y
YouYour turn
4 cards01 How to play
The card you ask for
may not be the one you get.
Jukha is a passing game from Israel. Your goal is to exit safely with four cards of one rank; the final two players lose together.
Deal one extra card
Deal four cards to each player and one extra card to a player who will hold five. Everyone else holds four. The next active player clockwise from the five-card holder acts first.
Leave with four equal cards
At the start of your turn, if your four cards have the same rank, show them and exit safely. You cannot exit while holding five cards, even if four of them match. The player holding the Joker cannot exit with it.
Ask for a rank
If you cannot exit, ask the five-card holder for a rank. You may ask for a rank you do not hold. The holder offers one card face down and may make any claim about its rank, truthful or false. Suits and the Joker must not be mentioned in table talk.
Accept or ask again
You may take the first offer or ask for a second. With two offers, take either one or ask for a third. If you ask for a third card, you must take that third card; the first two return to the holder. You now hold five cards, and the next player clockwise becomes the asker.
The last two lose
Players who exit are safe. When only two active players remain, the game ends and both are losers. Conversation, cooperation and bluffing are part of the game, though this online version uses short rank requests and claims instead of free-form chat.
02 History & variants
Stories around
the table.
A name with a wider history
Jukha is played in Israel. The name belongs to a humorous folklore character known across parts of the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Balkans; related stories also appear in Ladino literature. The game uses that memorable name for a contest where what people say may be as useful as the cards they hold.
The exact origin of this card game is not established. Its distinctive offer sequence gives the asker several chances to judge the holder's words, while forcing a commitment if a third card is requested.
Ways to end the game
This table uses the form where the last two active players both lose. In one reported variation, the game stops as soon as someone exits and the Joker holder loses. Another plays until two remain but names only the Joker holder as the loser.
Groups may speak freely about their plans and cooperate or mislead each other, while avoiding any reference to suits or the Joker. The online bots make simple requests and claims and keep their cards private.