Tani, after the Tamil word for water, is a popular trick-taking card game that originated in Durban, South Africa. It was invented by Indian indentured-labourers who arrived in South Africa to work in the sugarcane fields. The game is part of the Jack Nine card games family, which includes twenty-eight, and the much older card games of the Jass family. Thunee is best for four players in fixed partnerships, sitting crosswise, but can also be played by 2 or 6 (2 teams of 3 players). It is played with 24 cards only. The Sixes, referred to as the "ball cards", are used to keep the scores. The highly original ranking of cards and the card-point values are as shown in the table. The first and foremost rule of the game is to always follow suit, if a player does not have that suit he may play any other card in his deck.