The Rules to Rummy

What is Rummy?

The game involves improving the hand that has been dealt to you at the beginning of the game. In order to do this, you need to either pick up cards from a pile or stock or by pick up a card thrown away by your opponent, followed by discarding a card from your hand when your turn comes.

The game can be played by two or more players. When six or more players are playing, a second deck of cards is required. Sheets of paper and pencils are also needed to keep track of the scores.

The Objective

The objective is to meld or put one’s cards into two types of combinations:

• Runs: These are consecutive sequences of three or more cards of the same suit. Example: K,Q, J OR A,2, 3 (of the same suit)
• Sets (also called Books): These are three or four cards of the same rank. If two decks are used, it can include two identical cards of the same rank and suit.

Point to Remember:  The aces can either be high (A,K,Q) or low (A, 2, 3) but not both.

The person who manages to make their whole hand in to combinations one way or another with one remaining card to discard, wins the game.

The Rules:

• Choose a dealer and a scorer.
• The dealer deals out the cards. Each player is dealt a certain number of cards from the deck. One deck of cards is used if five players or less are playing. Two decks of cards are used if more than five players are playing

Number of Players	Number of Cards Dealt
2	10 cards or 7 cards
3	10 cards
4	10 cards
5	6 cards
5+	7 cards

 

• After dealing the cards, the dealer places the remaining, undealt cards face-down in the center of the table. This is the stock.
• The top card from the stock is placed turned upwards, besides the stock, as the first card of the discard pile.
• The player to the left of the dealer will play first.
• The player can pick up the first card from the discard pile or the top card from the stock.
• Then the player tries to put some or all of their hand into combinations.
• If unable to make a combination, the player discards a card from their hand, keeping it face – up on the discard pile.
• The turn moves to the next player on the left.
• The next player has a choice: they can either pick the last card discarded by the previous player on top of the discard pile or take the top-card from the stock.
• Then, the player melds some or all of their cards into combinations.
• If unable to make a combination, the player discards a card from their hand, keeping it face – up on the discard pile.
• The turn then moves to the next player with the game continuing clockwise around the table.
• When all the cards from the stock run out, the discard pile is shuffled and set up again as the stock.
• A player cannot pick up the top card from the discard pile and immediately throw it back on the discard pile.
• If two cards are picked up from the stock by accident and the player sees either of them, the player has to put the bottom card back. This gives the next player an additional option of looking at the returned card and taking it if it is needed. If not, it is put back into the middle of the stock, and the next card from the top of the stock can be taken to continue the game.
• Wild cards can be added to the Rummy game by adding jokers to the deck or making the 2s or any other number wild.
• The card represented by a wild card can be substituted during the player’s turn. For example, if a combination including a Joker, representing the King of Hearts is put on the table, the next player can put in the King of Hearts and pick up the Joker to be used elsewhere.

Point To Remember:

When using wildcards, do not be in a rush to put combinations containing wild cards down immediately as this may give another player the use of a wild card by way of the substitution described above. If it is absolutely to put down the set or run, try to make sure that the card your wild card replaces has already been played in some other set or run.