Card Game 101 #4: Rummy

Rummy is the most common card game in its family, and can be enjoyed by up to six players. It requires some strategy to win, although luck also plays a role in determining its outcome. Read on to learn the basics of the card game Rummy.

✔ A standard 52-card deck

✔ 2-6 players

First of all, choose the dealer. The dealer can be selected by the players themselves, or using the following method:

- Each player draws one card from the deck. The player who draws the highest number gets to deal (for this purpose, count aces as 1, jacks as 11, queens as 12, and kings as 13). If two or more players tie for the highest number drawn, have the tying players re-draw from the deck.

Next, depending on the number of players in the game, the dealer deals out a number of cards to each player:

✔ For 2 players: 10 cards/player

✔ For 3-4 players: 7 cards/player

✔ For 5-6 players: 6 cards/player

All these deals are carried out clockwise and starting with the player to the dealer's left.

Finally, place the remaining deck into the middle of the playing area as a draw pile. Flip up the top card and place it next to the draw pile to begin the discard pile.

The objective of Rummy is to be the first player to reach 150 points. Points are awarded if you are the first player to run out of cards by melding and discarding.

The player to the left of the dealer is the first to play. On a player's turn, they can choose to either take the top card of the draw pile or take the top card of the discard pile.

After a card is drawn, the player will lay down any melds they have in their hand. There are two different types of melds. A set is three or four cards of the same rank, and a run is three or more consecutive cards of the same suit. For example:

✔ Set: 3 of hearts + 3 of spades + 3 of diamonds (+ 3 of clubs)

✔ Run: (... + 4 of spades +) 5 of spades + 6 of spades + 7 of spades (+ 8 of spades + ...)

If an opponent has a meld laid down on the table, the player can add any valid cards from their hand to the opponent's meld. For example, if an opponent has a run of 4♣+5♣+6♣ laid down, the player can add to the meld by laying down a 3♣ or a 7♣.

After a player has laid down all their melds and added to their opponents' melds, they will end their turn by discarding a card. The discard is placed on top of the discard pile. Play then moves to the next player.

When a player has no cards left in their hand, the round is over. That player will be awarded points based on the cards remaining in other players' hands:

✔ Ace = 1 point

✔ 2-10 = face value

✔ Jack, Queen, King = 10 points

If no one has reached 150 points after the current round, begin a new round.

Once a player reaches or exceeds 150 points, that player wins the game.

✔ The ace is always low.

✔ Once a meld is laid down, it cannot be moved or separated.

✔ A player may add multiple cards in their hand to their opponents' melds, provided they are all valid.

✔ A player can end a round in three ways: by discarding their last card, by including their last card in a meld, or by adding their last card to an opponent's meld.

✔ If a player chooses to take the top card of the discard pile, that player cannot discard that card to end their turn, i.e. they must discard a card other than the one they picked up from the discard pile.

✔ If a player initially has no cards laid down, and runs out of cards by melding, adding and discarding all in one turn, that player goes "rummy". When a player goes rummy, that player's score for the round is doubled. For example, if a player goes rummy and the other players' cards add up to 20 points, the player who went rummy is awarded 40 points.

✔ If the draw pile runs out, reshuffle the discard pile (minus its top card, which remains as the discard pile) to form a new draw pile.

The next blog in this series will be about the card game Hearts. As I now have more tasks to do, expect it to come within two weeks. Thank you for your patience.

Thanks for reading!