Rummy RulesNo Frustration Rummy Rules
These Rummy rules are very general and easy to understand
Some background information on Rummy:
Traditional Rummy is card game that originated from Conquian, an old Mexican card game. It is considered the grandpa' of all rummy games. The rules of rummy are pretty much the same as the rules of Gin Rummy, with only a few exceptions.
There are lots of variations of rummy and some folks find it difficult to separate basic rummy from its variations. The most popular rummy variations are: Gin Rummy, Kalooki, Canasta and Oklahoma Gin.
Rummy Players
The game is generally suited for 2 to 4 players, although 6 players can take part in a fast paced Rummy game.
Rummy can be played for a fixed number of deals or for a target score. The number of deals or target score should be mutually agreed before the card game begins.
The Deck
Rummy is played with a standard 52 card deck. In a traditional rummy game, the aces are played as low. The King, Queen and Jack are lower value cards SO the ranking is from low to high i.e. A,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,K. (are you with me?)
Value
Each card has a point value. The Jack, Queen and King have 10 points each; the ace has 1 point. All other cards are worth their face value i.e. 2 is worth 2 points, 3 is worth 3 points and so on.
Dealing
You can choose to deal randomly. If there are two players, you can ask your opponent to deal first and then after every round, the winner or the loser can deal. It doesn't really matter.
Each player gets 10 cards, one at a time. If there are three to four players, 7 cards will be dealt to each player. Cards should be faced down. The deal should be done alternately. After dealing 20 cards, (10 each), you put the 21st card, known as “upcard” somewhere in the middle of the table where both players can easily reach. This upcard is the first card in what is known as discard pile. The remaining cards in the pack should be placed beside the discard pile. This is known as the stock pile. The stockpile is kept on the table face down and the discard pile is faced up.
Game Objective
The game objective is simple. You have to meld all cards in sets or runs. The player who melds one or two sets or runs first, wins the game. The prime object is to dispose of all the cards in your hand before anyone else. You can do so by melding, laying off and discarding.
As soon as you get those cards in your hot little hands, you should begin by arranging them in sequences or sets. The card that cannot be melded in a set or run can be discarded in the discard pile. At that point, you can take one card from the stock pile or from the discard pile.
Game Play
The dealer starts the game by drawing the top card from the stock pile or a top card from the discard pile. The player sitting to the left of the dealer takes his turn and then continues clockwise.
Each turn consists of 4 actions:
Drawing – the player takes the top card from the stock pile or the discard pile. When players take cards from the stock or discard piles, they have to discard one card from their hand. A player can take the top card from the stock pile without showing it to other players
Melding –Melds are formed in sets or sequences (aka: runs). As soon as a player melds one set or run, he can put it on the table and meld other cards in his hand. A player can meld more than one combination per turn.
Laying off – This is not necessary, but a good option. Laying off means you literally lay your melds on the table and add cards to it. There is no limit to the number of cards a player can lay off in one turn.
Discarding – At each turn, players discard at least one card from his/her hand. If a player takes a card from the discard pile, he is not allowed to discard the same card back into the pile, for this he must wait until the next turn BUT if he takes a card from the stock pile, he can discard that on the discard pile in the same turn.
If the game continues and the stock pile is down to nearly nothing, players can turn the discard pile faced down and start the stock pile again. Due to so many variations of rummy, this rule has often been changed. Player can stop the game and calls it a draw or he can shuffle the discard pile and lay it faced down to start a new stock pile.
Winning
A player wins an individual hand by melding, laying off or discarding all of his cards. In rummy, getting rid of your last card is one of the described ways is called “going out”. If a player “goes out”, the play ceases and the first player announcing “going out” will be considered as a winner.
Scoring
When a player “goes out”, the defeated players add up the value of all cards in their hand and add that to the cumulative score of the winning player. Alternatively, additional rounds are also played until the player reaches a target score or target points decided before the start of the card game.
