I hope everyone enjoyed learning about Tarneeb.  Now here are a few tips to beat your competition:

1) The bidding process is the most important part of most sets in Tarneeb.  Its important to understand what your partner is communicating during the bidding process.  If you bid a suite and your partner changes the suite by outbidding you, they are likely saying that they either are weak in the suite that you called or are very confident in the new suite that they called.  Try to avoid out bidding your partner if at all avoidable and only do so if you are very confident in your hand.

2) Winning a bid of more than 7 is tough if you have 4 or less cards of the suite you are bidding on, even if you hold AKQ of that suite.  Make sure you and your partner are on the same page before going more than 7 with 4 or less cards in the called suite.

3) If you have a strong hand in two suites and are calling before your partner, pick the lower suite.  So if you have near equivalent cards in Clubs and Spades, call the Clubs, so that your partner can easily outbid you if they need to without resorting to upping the number of tricks your team will need to take the set.

4) If you win the bid and have most of the face cards for your called suite, lead trump immediately to drain the trump from the other players.  This will make sure your opposing team can’t use their trump to cut in on a suite that you are long in.

5) If you know your partner is short a suite (either because they have cut in previously or they suspiciously played a high card that they knew couldn’t take the trick [like playing a queen when the ace of that suite has already been played in the set]), its usually a good idea to lead that suite back if you can.

6) Remember what suite your partner called during the bidding process, even if they didn’t win the bid.  If you are able to lead and don’t hold a card that you think will win the trick, lead the suite your partner called.  Its likely they will be able to take the trick.  This is true for remembering what the opponents have called as well.  Avoid leading suites in which the opposing team called during the bidding process unless you know you have the dominant card yet to be played.

7) Aces and Kings of fail suites are important.  If you have a weak trump hand, but a good amount of kings and aces, you can bid confidently.

8) Taking 11+ tricks is very difficult and doesn’t happen in most games.  Bid carefully when going over a bid of 9 tricks and if you do so, make sure you are very strong or short in fail suites as well as have 5+ cards of the trump suite you are calling.

9) If you are sure that your partner will take the trick, but you don’t have the suite that was played, try to play a non-trump card in a suite that you want your partner to play when they get the lead.  This can either be a suite where you have the dominant card that is still to be played (such as the ace) or a suite in which once you play your card you will no longer have that suite (so you know you can cut in with trump).  If you don’t have a suite that you want your partner to play, make sure to NOT play a suite you know that your opponents will take.

10) The most important rule, which is true for all trump games, is to count trump.  Every set has 13 trump cards (unless no trump is called).  You should always know how many have been played and thus how many are still in other players’ hands.  This is true as well for remembering which aces and to a lesser extent which kings have been played.

Enjoy Tarneeb and spread the word.

Tarneeb (or “Trump” in Arabic) is a trump style card game similar to Eucre (but a bit more fun and strategic) played throughout the Middle East.  Its a great game to share with 3 friends while passing the time away smoking a hookah.

Tarneeb uses a standard deck of playing cards less the two jokers and is played with two teams of two players per team that sit opposed to each other. The dealer, deals the cards out evenly to the 4 players (13 cards a piece). Once the hand is dealt, players must bid to call a trump suite. Starting from the player right of the dealer (counter clockwise), players bid for the number of tricks (or rounds) that they think they can take with the minimum being a bid of 7 tricks. For the bidding process, the order of suites goes Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, then Clubs.  So a player that bids 7 Clubs can be out bid by the next player if they call 7 Diamonds, which can then be outbid by a call of 8 clubs (and so on).  Since each player has 13 cards, there is a maximum bid of 13 as there are 13 tricks per set. The bidding goes around the table until there are no further bids.

Once the bidding is complete, the “called” suite is trump, or the master suite.  The trump suite can take any trick where a fail suite is dominant.  The player that won the bidding leads the first card with the other players playing their cards in counter-clockwise order. All players MUST follow with the lead suite if that suite is in their hand.  If the player does not have that suite, they may play any card in their hand, including a trump card.  Playing a trump card when a fail suite was lead is called “cutting.”  The player who played the highest card wins that trick.  The player that wins the trick then leads the first card of the next trick.

Example: Player 1 wins the bidding with a bid of 8 Spades.  Player 1 leads a fail ace of clubs.  Player 2 follows with the 2 of clubs, player 3 plays the 10 of clubs but player 4 is out of clubs so they play the 2 of spades. Player 4 wins the trick since they were able to play a Trump card, even though Player 1 had played a higher face value card, the ace of clubs.

Both teams attempt to take as many tricks as possible.  If the team that won the bid gets the number of tricks that they bid or more tricks, they earn the point value of the bid (if they bid 8 Spades and take 8 or more tricks they would earn 8 points).  If the bidding team fails to earn at least the number of tricks that they bid then the bidding team loses the amount that they bid and the “setting” team (the non-bidding team) earns points equivalent to the amount of tricks that they took (or won).

Example: Player 1 bid 8 Spades but his team was only able to take 6 tricks.  Player 1 and their partner Player 3 then lose their bid of 8 points and the team of Players 2 and 4 gain 7 points as they had taken 7 tricks to set bidding Player 1 and their partner Player 3.

Once a set has been completed, the dealer position moves to the right (counter-clockwise) and another set is dealt. The game is won by one team earning 31 points or can be lost by a team losing more than 31 points (in other words having a score of negative 31).  Games can have as many sets as needed in order for one team to lose (earn -31) or win (earn +31) the game.

Note that table talk is violating the rules of Tarneeb.  Players on the same team can not communicate what is in their hand at any time through innuendo or otherwise.  Players can only communicate to each other via the cards that they play or the bids that they make.  The lack of partners knowing what is in each other’s hand is an important aspect to the strategy of Tarneeb.

Regional Rules:

A couple of new regional rules that I learned while playing Egypt:

1) Dekik: A player can call “Dekik” in the event that they have a poor hand.  A player can call Dekik only if the hold in their hand a card value of less than 4.  Card value is assessed as: Jacks = 1, Queens = 2, Kings = 3, and Aces = 4 (card of 2-10 have no value).  So if a player has a only a king in their hand, they can call Dekik, but if a player has two Queens they can not call Dekik.  In the case of a player calling Dekik, their partner gets to ask two questions about their partner’s hand that is limited to asking whether their partner (who has called Dekik) has master’s in a particular suite (meaning that they can ask if their Dekik calling partner has a playable hand if a suite is successfully bid).  After the partner asks their questions, the partner that did not call Dekik can decide to either re-deal the set or continue playing even though they know that their partner holds a weak hand.  A person can also call “exactly Dekik” when they have exactly 4 points in their hand, which does not allow the partner to ask questions or a re-deal but will notify their partner that they have a weak hand and to bid with caution.

2) Doubling: When a bid is settled but before the first card is played, a player on the non-bidding team can double the set.  Meaning that whatever number of tricks that was bid the point value is then doubled (so if a bid of 8 Spades is called, and a player on the non-bidding team doubles, if the bidding team wins they will earn 16 points, but if they lose they will lose 16 points and the setting team will earn double the number of tricks they take).  Once a double has been made, the bidding team can re-double, to quadruple the amount of points at stake.

For more information on Tarneeb, check out the Wikipedia Page.  Since Tarneeb can only be played with 4 players, I also recommend learning an old Wisconsin favorite, SheepsHead, which is played with 3 or 5 players.  With those two games and a deck a playing cards you should be covered for most of your lounging shisha sessions.

A lot of memories flooded back to me when I landed at Terminal 1 at Cairo International Airport.  Had it really been 6 years since my last pilgrimage to the place that later inspired the original HoboHookah?  Would I even recognize this dynamic and crazy city and this country that had opened my mind to so many things?

Well, Cairo is still Cairo, that’s for sure.  While this trip lacked the frequent trips to the ubiquitous Shisha Cafes, which had been a main touchstone for me, my astute eyes did glean what has changed in hookah etiquette in the place that popularized the pipe in the Middle East and abroad.

But first, what’s new in Egypt?

1) Cairo International’s International Arrivals terminal is now really nice and surprisingly efficient and friendly.  Back in 2004, it was an intimidating arrival to an otherwise kind, albeit hectic, city.

2) The visa is brand new.  While its still $15 or 15Euros (make sure you have a $20 spot of hard currency with your passport when you arrive), the two postal stamps have been replaced with a full page, hologramed sticker, that looks official. PRO-TIP: When you arrive, go straight to the Bank of Misr stand and purchase your visa, then go stand in the customs line.  You’ll need a passport, the visa, and the customs form in order to gain entry.

3) More good news at CAI is that if you fly in using Egypt Air, you’ll land at Terminal 3, which is brand new and beautiful.

4) The cell phone network seems as good as anywhere in the world, which is a huge change.  If you have a smart phone, call up your provider and get an international data plan for the time you are there.  They’ll still charge you an arm and a leg for phone calls, but unlimited data is about $30 extra.  Definitely worth it.  Egypt has several providers with great 3G coverage and you’ll see most of the Cairene elite holding new model BlackBerries and iPhones.

5) Cairo now has flashing road signs and some stop lights.  Traffic is still crazy though.

6) Metered cabs: Gone are the days of hopping into 70’s model black and white Peugeot fire traps where you have to negotiate fiercely for sensible cab fares.  The new all white cabs have air conditioning and meters that make getting around in Cairo much more comfortable and friendly.

Those are the big things.  Overall they are great pluses for the traveler.  Now is a great time to see the pyramids.

Now on to shisha. Shisha is still served nearly everywhere, from Italian Restaurants to haute Nile side cafes.  One big thing I noticed off the bat were the hoses.  When you order a shisha in Egypt, the pipe comes out with a disposable hose that’s fresh and clean.  This is a great move to keep shisha smoking sanitary and flavors crisp.  Other new and old notes for smoking hookah in Egypt:

1)  It’s customary in Egypt to have your own shisha.  In the west, mostly due to cost and taxes levied on shisha cafes, hookah pipes are usually shared at cafes.  In Egypt, expect to order your own.  Shisha is still inexpensive, and when in Cairo, be Cairene.

2) Tip the coal man.  When your smoke is getting light, signal the coal man and ask for “Wilah (or fire in Arabic)”.  At the end of session, tip the coal man at least 1EGP.  If its a group, its nice to tip 3-5EGP if the coal man has been giving you good service.  This is in addition to any other service charges or tips you leave for drinks or food (generous tipping in Cairo is an additional 10%, but service charge is included on most bills, so additional tips aren’t necessary especially if the service was poor).

3) Tea is still the main drink of choice while smoking shisha.  Its still mostly Lipton yellow tag served with a bowl of sugar.  Try the “Chai Na’na”, which is lipton with mint.  Its awesome.

4) Word from my Cairo friends is that Tornado’s in Medan Aswan is now sketchy and the shisha there is no longer top of class.  If you are looking for a good place, try Sequoia on the Nile.  Its pricey, but it has great reviews for both shisha and food (there is even great, safe Sushi which has the rep of being the best in Egypt).  Expect a 100EGP (about $20) minimum there, so make sure you come looking for food as well.

5) There is now an Airport Mall at CAI, which has two cafe’s that both serve shisha attached.  If your plane gets delayed or you get to the airport early, just walk across the street of Terminals 1 and 2 and pass the time away.

6) If you are feeling spry, have packed your HoboHookah, and don’t want to leave your gate, all terminals at CAI have smoking sections.  We’d love to see a pic of a HoboHero in there smoking a HoboHookah out of a water bottle (no liquor bottles, respect the culture!) to pass the time away and enjoy a few longing stares.

7) The trendy cafes now serve Al Fakher instead of Nakhla.  Not sure if this is a plus, but if you can ask if the flavor is “Shisha Fakher” as the brand is known in Egypt.

That’s it.  Ill post a cheeky follow up next week on how to play the Middle East’s favorite card game, Tarneeb, but till then, keep living the dream.

PS Dahab is still awesome as ever. Its worth going to Egypt just to soak that place in.

It was a big weekend for the HoboHookah as Danger David B. made his way down to West Virginia to brave some class 5 white water rapids with his portable shisha smelter in tote. The weekend started off on the second deck of a big blue Megabus headed for Washington DC. In a frivolous attempt to extract his computer from West Coast Dud’s over-sized hiking bag, Danger pulled out the hookah to the great surprise of his squished riding companion. When asked "what the hell is that?", Danger responded without a beat "this is a 12 inch, aircraft grade aluminium party producing manifestation of the dream". Two hours, a new friend, and a few Hobo business cards later, Danger was hailing a cab to Columbia Heights en route to a rendezvous with the infamous Sarah B and the ever gregarious Italian, Valerio. The crew met at Sarah’s to discuss over a Double Apple Nakhla; West Virginian stereotypes, angry cab drivers and potential pitfalls among the rocks of the mighty New River.

The next day the group set sail for the land of blue hills and crazed rednecks. The caravan was lead by a GPS enabled orange Honda Elements. In hot pursuit a little white bug with a pink iPod boom box on the front dash. The road was long, but greased with warm wet air and an 11pm frenzy of fries, Mac grandes, and a cluster of chicken nuggets! Tired and ravaged from their travel, but skittish with the mix of foreboding and excitement for the next day’s bout, the band made a wise decision to settle their nerves with a few blue ribbons and a large bowl of Starbuzz Pumpkin Pie sheesha.

That following night at seemingly the same instant, 7 people fully reclined into their low back elementary school chairs around a long cedar table recently relieved of; 8 baked potatoes(covered in butter-whiz),10 biscuits, an ungodly amount of green beans and 98 ounces of steak. Soaked, scrapped, and stiff from lobster red burns in the shape of over sized wife-beaters from their life vests, the group began to digest, fulfilled in every possible way. And in this state, their raft guide Scott, who had taught them that the New River Gorge bridge is the third largest arch bridge in the world and home to one of the most attended annual base jumping events in the US, began to play the reel of the day’s events. The dream had been lived and the bunch laughed at the numerous spills out of the raft, and when the vessel capsized while surfing the stream of a Getty just below the rock formation the experienced guides colloquially refer to as "The Meat Grinder". They awed again at the height of the gorge bridge and the serenity of the lower New River below, tucking the memories away to use again somewhere around that Monday at 2pm. Happy birthday Sarah B and big ups for apples to apples 

In addition to the weekly Hookah Happy Hour, we have been recording some smaller, bite sized shisha review videos (1-2 minutes) that quickly cover the hookah tobaccos that we review in the Happy Hour.  These are for the HoboHero on the go who just want to know what flavors are good, like the Tangiers Lemon-Lime to the left.  If you have been looking for some more reviews on Tangiers, Starbuzz, Layalina and Nakhla shishas, check out our YouTube Channel.

In other news, we have gotten a lot of new hookah shops and cafes carrying our HoboNargile hookah pipe.  If you are in Tucson or Tempe, Arizona or Miami-Dade, Florida, expect to see a lot more HoboNargiles in your neighborhood soon.  We are still working on getting more HoboNargiles in the UK, but you can get yours now at Hookahshop.co.uk in limited quantities.  They should have full stock along with accessories by the end of summer.

We should also have HoboNargile compatible hoses available by July 9th.  Be looking out for that email on the hookah and smoke rings guide list.

We do have yet another new Hookah Flavor review up at the Happy Hour.  This time we reviewed Layalina Rose, and it was excellent.

We’ve collected a lot of great pics from around the world via our Facebook page.  Definitely worth checking out, like the gem from Deejay to the left.

We asked Deejay for his recommendations on bottle choice and here is what he had to say:

“I like to use a Voss water bottle the 20oz. or the bigger one we I have it on the side of my book bag to ride my bike with it or walk around”

That’s a good call Deejay.  The water bottle is a solid choice when on the go.  Its durable and less conspicuous than a liquor bottle.  You’ll have the best chances setting up on an outdoor patio with a water bottle than anything else out there.

We have gotten a lot of email concerning buying a second HoboNargile hose.  We are in the process of getting them to our warehouse and they should be on the site in early July.  Definitely sign up on the email list for the moment they are available.

This week on the Hobocans Happy Hour we have a review of Tangier’s Kashmir Peach.  Enjoy! 

HoboHero, Josh, who helped us review Tangiers Lemon Lime, recently departed Jersey City for the other coast, namely San Francisco, CA and he took this nice shot his HoboNargile in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

It looks like he had a mishap during his stint out West:

“Pulled a jackal to my own hookah. Can I just buy a random bowl at a hookah shop or do I need to ask for something special?” – Josh

Good question Josh.  You can easily buy one of our replacement hookah bowls at HoboHookah.com, but in a pinch, almost any bowl does work with the HoboNargile, just stay away from “male” style Syrian bowls or crappy off-brand phunnel (not Tangiers) bowls.

That’s it HoboHeros.  We have another video up, a cheeky hookah flavor review of Al Fakher Mango.  Reviews were mixed, but positive.  Its a good option if you like a subtle mango flavor and Al Fakher flavors in general.

Dave (to the left) and Mike were in the city of brotherly love this weekend taking in some marketing mojo and smoking a little hookah.  They were impressed by the number of hookah bars in downtown Philly, and doubly impressed with Hookah-Hookah tobacco, which they tried out Saturday evening.  Might have to add that brand to the store.

In addition to all of he press we’ve been getting here in the states (such as at Thrillist and WNBC), I was interviewed last week by Blog Do Arguile, a new Brazilian based hookah blog.  Check out the English article here.  I especially liked this question:

“What do “hobo” means?: Ha, good question!  Hobo in English is like a traveling bum.  It’s an old word that isn’t used much anymore, but there is some nostalgia still (at least in my mind) for the old hobos who would pack up their things in a bindle and hop on and off trains with no destination in mind.  For us, hobo just means low-maintenance or spontaneous traveler:  ‘Have hookah. Will Travel.’” – Blog Do Arguile

Check out the whole interview.  Its been a while since we’ve gone over our story.

And that’s the recap for the week.  We do have another hookah flavor review up on the Happy Hour with special guest, Josh from Scripped.com.  I think you all will really enjoy this one, Tangiers Lemon Lime shisha.  It’s a really great flavor, which I know we’ll be having around in the future.

Its not news that we have been on Thrillist the last couple of weeks.  We’ve gotten a lot of love from their readers.  Thanks again Thillist.

We’ve also been getting some love from the SXSW folks.  Thanks to Ruhmann at My Morning Headache for snapping us at the Sobe Registrants Lounge.  That’s us chatting with a couple of SXSW organizers and some of the SXSW Music cats.  Great times in Austin, We’ll definitely be back!

We do have one more cheeky video from SXSW, with some tips for smoking hookah while waiting in line to get into Buffalo Billiards for the Mashable Party.  It was a great throw-down and met a lot of awesome people:

One last thing: Tony Hsieh: If you are reading this and loved the HoboNargile we passed onto at Pache, drop us a line! We’d love some of your sage wisdom.  Check out his book too.  I know we are always game for learning more about Delivering Happiness.

Finally, we have another video up.  Its been a long, video-less month.  This one is from the archives of February, but still has a poignant hookah tobacco review of Tangiers Apricot Shisha.  Definitely worth a gander to hear about one of the first, and best, flavors by Tangiers.