On a Saturday night in Beverly Hills, almost 150 elegant people filter in a great dance hall for an exclusive event. Martinis flow and skinny fries reach small dishes. Optimistic music increases speakers, and laughter fills the animated space, which is adorned with marble walls, a massive cellar and a Swedish sports car of almost $ 2 million on display.
But these guests are not only here to mix and drink elegant cocktails. They are here to play Rummikub.
Almost 150 people attended Rummiklub games in March in Gravitas in Beverly Hills.
(Alex Papke / for the Times)
Organized by their friends Marnie Wekselblatt and Laura Galvan, Rummiklub is the last board game club that appears in Los Angeles at a time when people, particularly the Z generation and millennials, look for alternative ways to connect with others outside the bars and nightclubs. While some people have found community through physical activities such as Run clubs, others are gravitating towards meetings focused on nostalgic games and simpler times. Other popular play clubs include the Venice Backgammon Club; Love, peace and swords; Mahjong Mistress; and the chess club la. Camber, a popular platform that highlights things to do and places to visit in Los Angeles, occasionally also houses Rummikub events in Los Angeles.
About a year ago, after discovering and falling in love with Rummikub, a strategy game based on decades that is a mixture between the Rummy and Mahjong card game, Wekselblatt and Galvan began to take the game to the bars around the
“People always approached us as, 'Can I enter? Can I enter?' And we would literally have multitudes of people who wanted to play, ”says Wekselblatt, 29, account director. “And we think, 'Wait, why don't we build on this impulse and do something bigger?”
After falling in love with Rummikub a year ago, the hosts Laura Galvan, the left, and Marnie Wekselblatt launched their game club in the
(Alex Papke / for the Times)
Wekselblatt and Galvan, who moved to Los Angeles from New York, organized their first Rummiklub event at the end of February in a cozy cafeteria called Bravo Toast in West Hollywood. Fifty people were presented and another 40 were on the waiting list for the meeting with exhausted tickets that benefited the fire relief efforts of the Madhappy Foundation. Rachel Friedman, an influence and presenter of Sirius XM Show “Dialed In” published a delusional review about Rummiklub in Tiktok, saying that many “hot, normal and intelligent” people attend, which helped generate more interest in the Game Club.
Rummikub was created by Ephraim Hertzano in Romania in the 1940s, when the card game was prohibited under the communist regime. The objective of the game, which uses small dominoes instead of cards, is to be the first player to clean all his chips of his frame forming valid combinations of series (either three or four mosaics of the same number in different colors) and executes (three or more consecutive numbers, all in the same color). While some people grew playing this multigenerational game, some people, particularly the Z generation and millennials such as Wekselblatt and Galvan, are learning about it. The Rummiklub central audience is a combination of the two age groups.
“The culture of the game is having a moment,” says Marnie Wekselblatt, co -founder of Rummiklub.
(Alex Papke / for the Times)
“The game's culture is having a moment,” says Wekselblatt. “I think this particular game is in a trend at this time because you can play with several people. It's like strategy, it's fun [and] You can still be social while playing. So I think it's unique to other games and it's easy to learn. ”
Galvan, 31, says that Rummiklub differs from other game clubs because it is adjacent to nightlife, but still maintains a nostalgic and healthy environment.
“I think people only yearn for the connection,” says Galvan, who is the director of the social networks of the favorite daughter of the clothing brand. “People really do not seek to miss and go to a club all night. There must be other elements to go out and socialize, especially as you overcome the stage of 20 parts. You can still dress, use a pointed heel, go out and meet a nice boy, but you are playing a game.”
RUMMIKLUB The hosts of Marnie Wekselblatt and Laura Galvan made personalized rummiklub kits, which plan to sell in the near future.
(Alex Papke / for the Times)
Within the Beverly Hills Rummiklub event, which had an entry rate of $ 50, almost everything is marked with the rummiklub logo, from post -ribs to custom Rummikub sets, courtesy matches and gift bags, which are full of sponsored items such as Skincare and perfume.
All skill levels are welcome to Rummiklub, and most veteran players are eager to teach newbies to play. An instruction sheet is placed for the game on each table, and the founders walk through the room to help and answer questions too. But even if you are not interested in playing Rummikub, you can still attend and hang out at the bar where there are decks of cards and puzzles of the Rummiklub brand. Once the game ends, the guests are invited to a living room, which is fully equipped with a scenario and a live DJ, to continue hanging out.
Saad Houri and Amanda McCants were among the guests on Rummiklub games in Gravitas in Beverly Hills.
(Alex Papke / for the Times)
Cailen Krasnoff, 29, from Santa Monica, attended the March event with her boyfriend, who is obsessed with the game. “They are doing Rummikub Chic,” she says. “They are doing great. Rummikub is not an elegant game, but they are making it fun.”
Mark Adams of Long Beach, who was visiting gravitas to ask about becoming a member, stumbled upon the Rummiklub event and decided to get on the game.
“I grew up playing this game with my aunts,” says Adams. “20 years have probably spent since I played it. We would stay until 4 am playing.”
He was surprised by the crowd that Rummiklub attracted. “I am impressed by how sophisticated the people who are playing it are. It was just a type of family in the backyard,” he adds.
After playing Rummikub for an hour, attendees climbed the stairs to enjoy a live DJ and exclusive cocktails.
(Alex Papke / for the Times)
As your club's demand continues to grow and more people discover or rediscover Rummikub, Wekselblatt and Galvan say they hope to organize monthly meetings and collaborate with known brands. They also hope to expand Rummiklub to other important places such as the Hamptons, New York and Chicago City, they say. The next event is April 24 at 7:30 pm in Gravitas in Beverly Hills. Tickets start at $ 35 for people who just want to hang and $ 50 for attendees who want to play Rummikub.
“We want people to leave [RummiKlub] And they feel they have just experienced something high and fresh, “says Galvan.” They felt safe and dressed and spent a fun night. “
