Rummy
Encyclopedia
Rummy is a group of card game
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...

s notable for gameplay based on the matching of similar playing cards. The Mexican game of Conquian
Conquian
Conquian is a card game which probably dates back to seventeenth-century Central America, but which was popularized and extended to the United States, especially Texas, from Mexico, although this allegation is still much controversial. It was first described in detail in R. F. Foster's Hoyle in 1897...

 is considered by David Parlett
David Parlett
David Parlett is a games scholar from South London, who has studied both card games and board games. His published works include many popular books on games and the more academic volumes "Oxford Guide to Card Games" and "Oxford History of Board Games", both now out of print...

 to be ancestral to all rummy games, which itself is derived from a Chinese game called Khanhoo
Khanhoo
Khanhoo is a non-partnership Chinese card game of draw-and-discard structure adapted to the western taste by the British Sinologist and Consul-General in China and Korea in the mid 1890's, Sir William Henry Wilkinson...

 and, going even further back, Mahjong
Mahjong
Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players...

.

Books

A book consists of at least three cards of the same rank or consecutive cards of the same suit. This is an almost universal pattern, although there exist minor variations, such as allowing only melds of the first type or requiring in melds of the second type that the cards are all of a different suit. In some games it is required that the melds of the second type contain at least four cards. Some games also feature wild cards, which can be used to represent any card in a meld. The number of wild cards in a meld may be restricted.

Deal

A fairly large number of cards is used. This varies from one standard deck upwards. There are, for example, games that use five standard decks plus some jokers shuffled together.

Each player is dealt a hand of cards; while the specific number is dictated by the strain of rummy being played, the deck is never completely emptied. The remains of the deck is placed face down to form the stock. There is also a face-up pile called the discard pile, which may be initially empty, or it can contain one card, which is turned from the stock. The winner is obliged to deal when a new game commences.

The Play

In the card game of Rummy, two people playing get ten cards each. When there are more than two people, fewer cards are dealt to each player. The person left of the dealer is the first person to play. The dealer switches from person to person going to the left. The dealer flips one card to and places it next to the pile to begin the game.

The first person to go takes a card from the deck or the card placed beside it. When the player has done that, they may either put three cards of the same number or a straight. After this is done, or if they do not make a play at all, a card from their hand is discarded onto the pile beside the deck.

If another player has cards down, the others can play off of them.

Scoring

When someone melds all his/her cards (except, possibly, for one, which is thrown into the discard pile), the hand ends and the scores are calculated. In some games everyone can make melds at this phase, and some games allow a player to end a hand with a few unmatched cards in his/her hand.

You typically get positive points for your melds, and/or negative points for non-melded cards in your hand. In some games large bonuses are given for special, particularly difficult melds. Also being the person who melded all his/her cards is usually awarded, depending on the game this award may be rather small compared to other scoring, or it can be the deciding factor of the game.

Basic Rummy

There are many variations of the card game Rummy. Basic Rummy is also called Sai Rummy. Second type Rummy is also called Sanka Rummy. They all share a common set of features found in the basic game. A standard deck of 52 cards is used. The cards rank from 2 (low) to A (high). Rummy can be played to a certain score, or to a fixed number of deals.
In Rummy if both players go over five hundred in the same round, the player who was leading before that round win.

The Shuffle and Deal

Each player draws a card. The player with the lowest card deals first. The deal then proceeds clockwise. The player on the dealer's right cuts (this is optional).

In two player rummy, each player gets ten cards. Starting with the player to the dealer's left, cards are dealt clockwise, face down, one at a time. The dealer then puts the rest of the deck, face down, between the players. This forms the stock pile. A single card is then drawn and placed face up next to the stack. This is called the discard pile.

In three or four player games, seven cards are dealt to each player. Five or six players may also play, in which case each player receives six cards.

Playing Rummy

Play begins with the player on the dealer's left and proceeds clockwise. Each player draws a card from the stock or the discard pile. The player may then meld or lay off, which are both optional, before discarding.

Melding

If a player has three cards of the same suit in a sequence (called a sequence or a run), they may meld by laying these cards, face up, in front of them. If they have at least three cards of the same value, they may meld a group (also called a set or a book). Melding is optional. A player may choose, for reasons of strategy, not to meld on a particular turn. The most important reason is to be able to declare "Rummy" later in the game.

Laying off

A player may also choose to "lay off" some cards on an existing meld. This means that if a player can add to a sequence or a group that is in front of them or any of the other players, they may do so. For example: if another player had a sequence consisting of A, 2, and 3 of hearts in front of them, the player would be able to add any of the following: K of hearts, 4 of hearts, and so on, thereby continuing the sequence in either direction. Also if a player has 3 of a kind, one of which continues another sequence on the field then another player may also continue off that card. For example: if a player had a 3, 4, and 5 of hearts and another player had a three of a kind with 6, then another player may continue the sequence off the player with 6.

Discarding

Finally, after any melds or lay offs, the player must discard a single card to the discard pile, face up. The only condition is that it not be the card that they drew from the discard pile on the same turn. They may, however, return it on the next turn. In addition, if they drew from the stock instead of the discard pile, they are allowed to return that card in the same turn. In this way, the discard pile changes every turn.

The End of the Stock

If, while playing, the stock runs out, the next player may choose to draw from the discard pile or to turn the discard pile over to form a new stock. The discard pile is not shuffled in the process. After forming the new stock, the top card is drawn to form the new discard pile, just like after the deal. You can call rummy if a point is discarded into the discard pile. You cannot however call rummy if the card becomes a point while in the discard pile.

Going Out

When a player has gotten rid of all of their cards, they win the hand. There are two variations. Either the player must discard the last remaining card in their hand on the last turn, or they need not. Playing with this rule makes ending a hand slightly more difficult.

For example, if a player has only the 7 of diamonds and 8 of diamonds left in their hand, and they draw the 9 of diamonds (forming a sequence), then whether they win the hand or not depends on if they are playing the discard rule variation. If they are playing this variation, they can not win the hand at this point, because they have to finish the turn by discarding one of the three cards in their hand, causing them to no longer have a sequence. However, if the player is allowed to lay off this sequence without a final discard, then the game ends when the player lays down the sequence..And a player can lay down cards afterwards.

Declaring Rummy

If a player is able to meld all of their cards at once, they may say "Rummy" on their turn and go out. To declare Rummy, a player must not have melded or laid off any cards prior during the hand. If playing with the discard rule, they must also discard after melding. If a player goes rummy when a card can be played, that player is out for that turn. Game players are still in game but hand goes dead. Playing for Rummy is more risky, but it carries the reward of double the score. Each player must wait until their second turn to go out. If there is a rummy lying in the pile, the player must then pick up the entire pile.

Scoring

After a player goes out, the hand ends, and the players count up their cards. Any cards left in each player's hand are counted up and added to the winner's score. Aces count as 15, face cards and 10s count as 10, and the rest are worth 5. If a player has declared Rummy, then this score is doubled. The player that goes out first receives a 25 point bonus. The other players must deduct the points in their hand from the points they have accumulated throughout the game.

Another variation is that face cards count as 10; three aces count as 15 each; a run of ace, king, queen, the ace is 15; a run of ace, two, three, the ace is 5; and the rest are worth 5 each. Any cards left in each player's hand are counted up and subtracted from their score on the table. You cannot count Jokers or Wild Cards during the scoring.

Variations of basic Rummy

In some instances, jokers are used, for example it has been played with the rule if you discard a joker you miss some turns, missing two turns for discarding the red joker and 5 turns for discarding the black joker. This becomes difficult when it is sometimes unavoidable to pick up a joker and keeping it will prevent you from creating a fully melding hand.

In another variation, discards are placed so that all the cards are visible. At the beginning of his or her turn, a player may take any card from the discard pile, so long as he or she also picks up all the cards that are on top of it, and the last card picked up is played immediately. If only picking up the top card, the player must keep it and discard a different card from their hand.

In a variation called "Block Rummy", players do not continue after going through the pack once - if no players are out, they all lose the points in their hands after the pack has been gone through once. Round the Corner Rummy is a variant where melds can be made in the following way: Queen-King-Ace-Two, i.e. it is possible to put an ace in a run after a King.

Simple variations for children

Children's Rummy or Ruckus is played by young children; each player is dealt 7 cards. Players immediately put down all cards of the same value (example, two 6's or three Kings) face up. If another person has a card of that value, they can put it down on the pile and take the pile to their part of the table. All players do this at the same time. Once all play has stopped, the dealer hands out new cards, and the pile building and taking is repeated until all cards have been dealt. The player with the most cards in piles at the end wins. Commercial versions of this game exist.

Other variations of Children's Rummy include Safari Pals
Safari Pals
Safari Pals is a range of card games that have similarities to both Top Trumps and traditional Playing Cards. Like traditional playing cards or Quartets , the cards are arranged into sets of 4. Like Top Trump packs, each card describes a particular entity with numerical data...

packs which have cards arranged in sets of animals. When playing with this pack, melds can be formed either by matching sets or by arranging animal cards together which share a behaviour or habitat. For example a meld may be formed with the crocodile, flamingo and kingfisher cards because they all live near fresh water.

Related card games

There are a large number of games derived from Rummy. Although in North America the word "Rummy" is often used as a stand-in for the specific game "Gin Rummy
Gin rummy
Gin rummy, or simply gin, is a two-player card game created in 1909 by Elwood T. Baker and his son C. Graham Baker. According to John Scarne, Gin evolved from 18th-century Whiskey Poker and was created with the intention of being faster than standard rummy, but less spontaneous than knock...

", the term is applicable to a large family of games, including Canasta
Canasta
Canasta is a card game of the rummy family of games believed to be a variant of 500 Rum. Although many variations exist for 2, 3, 5 or 6 players, it is most commonly played by four in two partnerships with two standard decks of cards. Players attempt to make melds of 7 cards of the same rank and...

 and Mahjong
Mahjong
Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players...

  and rummikub
Rummikub
Rummikub is a tile-based game for two to four players.-History:...

. Some play with jokers using them as wild cards. They can be used in sets or runs but can not be replaced when 'melded'. Nor can you lay off a card to replace it by you or your opponent.
  • 500 Rum
    500 Rum
    500 rum, also called pinochle rummy, Michigan rummy, rummy 500 or 500 rummy, is a popular variant of rummy. The game of canasta and several other games are believed to have developed from this popular form of rummy. The distinctive feature of 500 Rum is that each player scores the value of the...

  • Bing Rummy
    Bing Rummy
    Bing rummy is a variant of kalooki invented in the mining towns of Alaska. The game can be played with 2 to 8 players but works best with 3 to 6 players. It is unknown how the game came to be called “bing” although it may be because of the mining terms: unit of weight equal to 800 pounds, or a...

  • Biriba
    Biriba
    Biriba is the Greek partnership version of a rummy card game of Italian origin called :it:Pinnacola.The greek name comes probably from the italian game Biribara, or Biribisso, or Biribi, even if this game is totally different .. It is played by two to six players, with two decks and 4 Jokers...

  • Buraco
    Buraco
    Buraco is a Rummy-type card game for four players in fixed partnerships in which the aim is to lay down combinations in groups of cards of equal rank and suit sequences, there being a bonus for combinations of seven cards or more...

  • Canasta
    Canasta
    Canasta is a card game of the rummy family of games believed to be a variant of 500 Rum. Although many variations exist for 2, 3, 5 or 6 players, it is most commonly played by four in two partnerships with two standard decks of cards. Players attempt to make melds of 7 cards of the same rank and...

  • Carioca
  • Conquian
    Conquian
    Conquian is a card game which probably dates back to seventeenth-century Central America, but which was popularized and extended to the United States, especially Texas, from Mexico, although this allegation is still much controversial. It was first described in detail in R. F. Foster's Hoyle in 1897...

  • Continental
    Continental (card game)
    Continental, Continental Rummy, May I?, often called Double-deck rummy, is a progressive partnership Rummy card game related to Rumino. It is considered the forerunner of the whole family of rummy games using two packs of cards as one. Its name derive from the fact that it is played throughout the...

  • Desmoche
    Desmoche
    Desmoche is a popular rummy card game usually played for small stakes which closely resembles other games in the rummy family, like Conquian and gin rummy, more than poker...

  • Dummy rummy
    Dummy rummy
    Dummy rummy is a variation of rummy for two to four players. It is played with two standard decks of cards, including four jokers, for a total of 108 cards. The jokers and twos are wild.-Description:...

  • Gin rummy
    Gin rummy
    Gin rummy, or simply gin, is a two-player card game created in 1909 by Elwood T. Baker and his son C. Graham Baker. According to John Scarne, Gin evolved from 18th-century Whiskey Poker and was created with the intention of being faster than standard rummy, but less spontaneous than knock...

  • Indian Rummy
    Indian Rummy
    Indian Rummy is a popular card game in India with little variation from original rummy. It may be considered a cross between Rummy500 and Gin Rummy. It is played with 13 cards and at least two decks, and sometimes jokers...

  • Kalooki
    Kalooki
    Kalooki , Kaluki, Caloochie, Kaloochi, Kallochie, Kalougie, Kallokie, a version of Contract Rummy, is very popular in Jamaica...

  • Khanhoo
    Khanhoo
    Khanhoo is a non-partnership Chinese card game of draw-and-discard structure adapted to the western taste by the British Sinologist and Consul-General in China and Korea in the mid 1890's, Sir William Henry Wilkinson...

  • Liverpool rummy
    Liverpool rummy
    Liverpool Rummy is a multi-player, multi-round card game similar to other variants of rummy that adds features like buying and going out. It's the same as Contract Rummy, except that if a player manages to cut the exact number of cards required to deal the hand and leave a face-up card, then the...

  • Indian Marriage
    Indian Marriage
    Marriage, Marriage Rummy, often called 21-cards rummy, is a Rummy card game, widely played in India using three or more packs of cards.-Object:The object of Marriage is to be the player with the largest number of points after playing all hands...

  • Mahjong
    Mahjong
    Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players...

  • Penang Rummy
    Penang Rummy
    Penang Rummy or Si Rummy is a variant of the Rummy card game that was believed to have been invented in Penang in late 80s and became very popular in Malaysia. The word 'Si' in Penang Hokkien language mean 'dead'. It reflects the nature of the card game, where the hand is dead, with no drawing of...

  • Phase 10
    Phase 10
    Phase 10 is a card game created in 1982 by Kenneth Johnson and currently produced by Fundex Games. Phase 10 is based on a variant of rummy known as Liverpool Rummy. It requires a special deck or two regular decks of cards; it can be played by two to six people...

  • Pope Joan
    Pope Joan (card game)
    Pope Joan, a once popular Victorian family game, is an 18th century English round game of cards for three to eight players derived from the French game of Matrimony and Comete, and ancestor to its less elaborate relative Newmarket and Spinado.Although its first published rules have appeared in...

  • Robbers' rummy
    Robbers' rummy
    Robbers' rummy is a card game for two or more players which became popular in Germany in the early 20th century. Being derived from normal rummy, it emphasises arrangement of cards based on card matching rules , while abandoning the notions of card discards or scoring entirely.-Description:The...

  • Rumino
    Rumino
    Rumino, rumina, is a powerful and intense knock rummy card game of Italian origin played up to 6 players in which players try to form sets or sequences of cards. It may possibly have been devised in American during the 40's by Italian immigrants by adapting the game Scala Quaranta to Gin rummy...

  • Rummikub
    Rummikub
    Rummikub is a tile-based game for two to four players.-History:...

  • Shanghai rum
    Shanghai rum
    Shanghai rum is a Rummy card game, based on gin rummy and a variation of Manipulation Rummy played by 3 to 8 players. It is also known as shanghai rummy, contract rummy, or California rummy.-Basics:...

  • Ten pennies
    Ten pennies
    Ten Pennies is a multi-player, multi-round Rummy-style card game involvingmoney with possible origins in Chicago. The major features different from most Rummy-style games are the limited purchasing of additional cards and the winner wins all the money used in the game...

  • Three thirteen
    Three thirteen
    Three thirteen is a variation of the card game Rummy. It is an eleven-round game played with two or more players. It requires two decks of cards with the jokers removed. Like other Rummy games, once the hands are dealt, the remainder of the cards are placed face down on the table...

  • Tonk (aka Tunk)
    Tonk (game)
    Tonk, or tunk is a matching card game, which combines features of knock rummy and conquian. Tonk is a relatively fast game that can be played during brief periods of time by varying numbers of players. In some places it is a popular pastime for workers on their lunch break.-Description:Tonk is...

  • Tri
  • Uno
  • Zigity
    Zigity
    Zigity is a card game from the makers of Cranium that combines the play of games such as "Uno" with typical Cranium elements....

  • Zioncheck
    Zioncheck
    Zioncheck is a card game. It is similar to shanghai rummy, contract rummy, or phase 10. Hoyle's book of common card games describes several games as being based upon it, and Contract Rummy is believed to have originated from it.-Basics:...

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