Rummy is really a family of card games and it is the most basic of the Rummy games and a good introduction to the family. It is also known as Regular Rummy, Straight Rummy, Standard Rummy or Traditional Rummy and is one of the most popular Rummy card games. There are many variations of this card game and they all share a common set of features found in the basic game. No official rules actually exist for Rummy, however, below are the most commonly used rules for playing the game.

Players & Deck

Regular Rummy may be played by 2 – 6 players and uses a standard playing card deck of 52 cards. This game is normally played to a target score which is agreed upon before the start of play. This target score is normally 100 points by default unless otherwise indicated. Rummy can also be played to an agreed upon fixed number of deals.

The Shuffle and Deal

The first dealer is chosen at random and often, this is decided by each player drawing a single card from the deck, with the lowest card getting to deal first. The player on the dealer’s right cuts the deck (this is optional) and then the deal then proceeds clockwise. If there are just two players, the deal alternates. If there are more than two players, the deal moves clockwise, to the left, around the table. The number of cards dealt is dependent on the number of players as below:

Starting with the player to his left, the dealer deals the cards face down one at a time to each player around the table until all players have the required number of cards. The remaining cards are then placed face down on the table to become the stock and the top card is turned is turned over and placed face up on the table to the right of the stock to start the discard pile. Once the cards have been dealt, the players can then view and sort their cards and the player to the left of the dealer, takes the first turn. Each player begins their turn by either drawing a card from the top of the stock pile, or taking the top card from the discard pile – this is called “Drawing” or “The Draw”. If you draw a card from the stock pile, you add this card to your hand without showing it to the other players but if you draw a card from the discard pile, then your opponents will know what card you have taken as the discard pile is face up.

Object of the Game

The object of the game is to dispose of all your cards and this can be done in one of three ways after the initial draw:

(A) MELDING (Optional) You may discard your cards by placing approved combinations of three or more cards from your hand face up on the table before you or you may choose to keep melds in your hand for reasons of strategy and/or the chance to declare “Rummy” later on and gain a bonus. You may only lay down one meld during a turn, however, it can be agreed prior to the game that a player is permitted multiple melds for each turn of a player instead of just one.

There are two kinds of meld combinations: Runs and Sets.

A RUN or a SEQUENCE is three or more cards of the same suit in sequence. Some examples of a Valid Run include; 6, 7, 8; or 2 3, 4, 5 and some examples of an Invalid Run include; 8, 9, 10, J or 7, 8, 9.

(B) LAYING OFF (Optional) – This involves adding cards from your hand to melds already placed on the table by yourself or other players. Any cards that you add must form a legitimate meld and so, for example, if there is a run of 6, 7, 8 on the table, you may add 5 or you could add 4 and 5 or even 4, 5 and 9, 10. Also, if there is a set of three cards of the same rank and different suite, you may add the 4th card of the suit – for example, if there is a set of 4, 4, 4, you may add the 4. Rules vary in terms of whether you are permitted to move cards from one meld to another to form new melds and this should be decided before the start of the game. For example, if there is a run of 2, 3, 4, 5, the 5 card may be removed and added to create a new meld such as 5, 5, 5. A player may lay off on his own meld. Also, you are not obligated to lay off cards just because you can and there is no limit to the number of cards you can lay off during a single turn. It can also be agreed prior to the game that a player cannot lay off any cards unless they have put down at least one meld of their own.

(3) DISCARDING (Compulsory) – After any melds or layoffs, a player must discard a single card to the discard pile, face up. This is referred to as discarding and each player must end their turn by discarding one card from his hand face up on the discard pile. A card counts as a discard once a player takes his hand off it. Once the player has discarded a card, his turn is over and he may not play any cards again until the turn moves back to him. According to some house rules, if you drew from the discard pile you cannot discard the same card in the same turn. You may, however, return it on the next turn. In addition, if you drew from the stock instead of the discard pile, you are allowed to return that card in the same turn and in this way, the discard pile changes every turn.

A single turn therefore, consists of a player drawing a card (compulsory) and then he/she may optionally place a meld on the table or lay off cards to an existing meld or melds on the table if any there are any available. He/she must then discard one card thus ending a turn (compulsory). If the stock pile runs out, then the top card from the discard pile is set aside and the remainder of the discard pile is shuffled and turned face down to become the new stock pile and the top card starts the new discard pile. Some house rules say that the game ends when the stock pile runs out and the score is calculated based on the value of the cards left in their hand.

In some instances, jokers have been involved to spice up the game. For example, it has been played with the rule if you discard a joker you miss some turns, either missing two turns for discarding the red joker and 5 turns for discarding the black joker.

Ending the Hand

A player wins the hand by being the first to play all the cards in their hand by either melding, laying off or discarding. Once a player has gone out, the hand is ended and no other players may meld, lay off or discard their cards even if they have valid combinations already in their hand.

Point Scoring

At the end of the hand, each player adds up the points of the cards remaining in his or her hand as follows:

CARDS	VALUE	EXAMPLE ONE	EXAMPLE TWO
ACES **	1 POINT	A is worth 1 point	A is worth 1 point
FACE CARDS (King, Queen, Jack)	10 POINTS	J is worth 10 points	K is worth 10 points
ALL OTHER CARDS	PIP VALUE/ CARD VALUE	3 is worth 3 points	6 is worth 6 points

** Aces value is low by default in this game and is only worth 1 point each. Some house rules may determine that Aces are high and carry a value of 15 points. As examples, Q-K-A and sometimes also K-A-2 (round the corner) are seen as valid runs and Aces are given the value of 15 points.

The cards rank in order – that is, Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, and King.

Scoring Variations

There are several scoring variations – in some cases, Wild cards are worth 20 points, Aces are worth 15 points, Face cards and 10′s count as 10 points each and the rest of the cards are worth 5 points each. A Wild card is a card which the dealer chooses as the wild card before each hand is dealt.

Another variation is that Face cards count as 10 points and Aces count as 5 or 15 points each; in a run of Ace, King, Queen, the ace is worth 15 points; in a run of Ace, two, three, the ace is worth 5 points; and the rest of the cards are worth 5 points each.

The total value of all cards remaining in the hands of other players is added to the cumulative score of the winning player and the game continues until either a previously agreed upon target score is reached (100 points by default) or until a previously agreed upon number of hands has been played. The winner is the player with the highest score or the first to reach the target score. As a variation, values in the hand at the end of the round are added to the player’s own score as a penalty and in this case, the player with the lowest score at the end of the specified number of rounds or when the target score is reached is the winner.

Going Out

A player ‘goes out’ when he gets rid of all his cards and therefore wins the game. Each player must wait until their second turn to go out. If all his remaining cards are melded, he may lay them down without discarding a card to end his last turn. This will then end the game and there is no further play. Some house rules state that in order to go out, you must end your turn by discarding your last card and also a player who has not previously melded or laid off any cards earns a bonus if they can go out in a single turn by melding or laying off their entire hand.

Going Rummy

A player ‘goes Rummy‘ when he disposes of all the cards in his hand in one turn and goes out without previously having put down or laid off any cards. When this happens, every other player earns him twice the amount of points they would ordinarily owe. Some house rules may provide a 10 point bonus and not a doubling of points owed. Playing for Rummy is more risky, but it carries the reward of a higher score.

Strategy

When a player is in the no discard stage or has only a few cards left in his hand, it’s generally a good idea to discard Aces or ten-pointers. (10, Jack, Queen, King) as these are worth 15 or 10 points respectively, which could really hurt your score.

Also, watch the cards on the table and use this information. For example, if two Aces are already laid down, it is fairly safe to discard an Ace, even if there is an Ace in the discard pile already. Also, watch what cards your opponents have picked up from the discard pile and use this information when deciding what to discard. For example, you know your opponent has picked up 2 Jacks and played neither. You would not want to discard another Jack, which he could pick up to create a set.