Open
This is the only version of International that involves melding. The play is almost identical to the basic American Rummikub with two exceptions. First, you need 50 points for your initial meld. Second, you may pick up the top discard from the opponent on the left side of you instead of drawing from the pool when it is your turn, whether you have melded or not.
When you play an Open game, and you have only three tiles remaining on your rack, you must announce it to the entire table. When you are left with only one tile on your rack, you may draw only from the pool, and not from the discard of your opponent on your left. When you are playing an Open game, you may not draw the trump.
Foot
Foot is a closed game in which you do not meld at all. You simply accumulate tiles on your rack, even though you are in a position to make the opening meld. You may not meld individual tiles onto the melds of other players during the play of the round, but you may do so when you finally declare Rummikub and expose all of your tiles.
To win a Foot, you must be able to get rid of all of your tiles by organizing them into sets or adding them onto the melds of others. You must have at least one Run and the total of your 14 tiles must add up to 50 or more. You may not pick up the trump tile as your final draw.
It is not possible to win a Foot game unless someone else at the table is playing an Open game. If you can organize all of your tiles into sets without adding to an Open player’s melds, then you have a more valuable Hand combination.
Hands
All Hand games are played closed. You do not meld at all, but you do expose your entire rack when you declare Rummikub. These are the real big wins, ranging in value from 300 to 2600 points. There are 40 different winning combinations, each of which has three different point values. A Hand with no jokers scores the highest, with one joker next, and two jokers being the least valuable. For example, the basic Hand #1 scores 500 points with no jokers, 400 with one joker, and 300 with two jokers.