Shanghai rummy
Shanghai Rummy has many different variations. On the Carousel page, you can find a game called Shanghai Rummy, which is not a contract game, but is a form of Carousel or Manipulation Rummy.
What follows is a description of the game; the main contributor is Mark Allen Davis (this is a copy of his Shanghai Rummy web page) with variations supplied by Tahelia Powe and Deb Kolsov.
The fundamental rules are just as in Contract Rummy; what follows below actually explains the differences.
Players, Cards, Deal, and Contracts: The game can be played with anywhere from 3 to 5 players. Two regular decks of cards -- including the jokers -- or a total of 108 cards, are used to play this game.
Just as in Contract Rummy, each player receives eleven cards off the deal, and there are seven contracts that are to be completed as follows:
1) 2 books
2) 1 book and 1 run
3) 2 runs
4) 3 books
5) 2 books and 1 run
6) 1 book and 2 runs
7) 3 runs, no discard
Rules for Melding: In a run, aces can only be used as a high card, so A-2-3-4 is not an acceptable four-card run. In the initial meld, consecutive runs of cards from the same suit (such as 3-4-5-6 and 7-8-9-10) cannot be melded by the same player. Runs can eventually become consecutive when cards are added to the melds, extending them in either direction.
No player can lay down two books of the same rank - six kings do not make two books.
As a substitute for a missing card, a joker can be used in a meld. You cannot use more than one joker in a book or a run, but you can meld more than one joker in different books or runs.
Additional cards can be added to your initial meld or melds made by other players at any time.
The "May I": When using the "May I," each player can grab a discard out of turn, but no more than twice in each round. Players may use pennies or another simple type of token to keep track of each "May I". If a player uses the "May I" to take a discard, he or she has to take 2 more cards from the stock pile, and does not get to meld or discard. The play then goes back to the person whose turn it was before this happened.
You are only allowed to use a "May I" to pick up the discard if the player whose turn it is chooses not to pick it up themselves. If two or more players try to "May I" the same card, the player who would have the next turn is considered first.
The Shanghai: A Shanghai happens when someone discards a card that could have been used on an existing meld.
There are two situations for a Shanghai:
1. You throw away a card on purpose when you could have added it to an existing meld. In this case, when you discard the card, you can call "Shanghai." This is so that no other player can use a "May I" or pick the card up. You might do this when you do not yet have a meld, but the card you want to discard fits into another player's meld.
2. If you lay down a discard that could have been included in an existing meld without saying, "Shanghai," then one of the other players, even one who has not yet opened, may call a "Shanghai" and use that card in a meld. If this happens, the player who pointed out your failure to call a Shanghai gives you their hand, face down, and you draw one card from it. Then the player to your left continues the game play.
Remember that a Shanghai overrides a "May I." A player can call a "Shanghai," either to protect a discard, take it, or use it in an existing meld; this will prohibit any other player from using a "May I" to take that card.
Scoring: When a player goes out, penalty points are assessed for the cards that are remaining in the other players' hands as follows: Cards ranking from 2 to 7 score 5 points apiece, cards ranking from 8 to King score 10 points apiece, aces score 20 points each, and jokers score 50 points.
Variations: Tahelia Powe's version has a few variations, which are:
1) The dealer gives each player only 10 cards.
2) There is also one extra contract consisting of four books of three cards, which is added in at the time of the seventh hand; on the eighth and final hand you have to complete three runs of four.
3) When you are going out, all of your cards must be played, and none of them can be discarded.
4) A player may only meld one run in any one suit.
5) Players use the term "buys" to replace "May I?"s.
6) The Shanghai does not exist.
There is a different sequence of contracts in Deb Kolsov's version.
1) two sets of three cards
2) a set of three and a run of four
3) two runs of four
4) three sets of three cards
5) one set of three and a run of 7
6) two sets of three and a run of five
7) three four-card runs
8) a set of three and a run of 10 cards
9) three sets of three cards and a run of five
10) three runs of five cards
