Contract Rummy

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Groups and sequences
3. The seven contracts
4. Setup
5. Playing a turn
6. "May I?" – taking the discard out of turn
7. Jokers in melds
8. Going out
9. Scoring
10. Winning the game
11. Tips for beginners
12. Variants

Overview

Contract Rummy is played over seven deals. In each deal there is a fixed contract – a certain combination of sets and runs you must collect before you may lay anything down. The contracts get harder from deal to deal. Whoever gets rid of all their cards first ends the deal; everyone else scores penalty points for the cards left in their hand. After the seventh deal, the lowest total wins.

• Players: 3–5 (best with 4); 6–8 with more decks, see Variants.
• You need: two standard 52-card decks shuffled together, plus jokers – one fewer than the number of players (3 players: 2 jokers, 4 players: 3, 5 players: 4). Paper and pencil for the score.

Groups and sequences

• A group (set) is three or more cards of the same rank, regardless of suit, e.g. 9♠ 9♥ 9♠. Two identical cards are fine.
• A sequence (run) is four or more cards of the same suit in a row, e.g. 5♥ 6♥ 7♥ 8♥. The Ace can be low (A-2-3-4) or high (J-Q-K-A), but not both at once.

Jokers are wild: a joker can stand in for any card in a group or sequence.

The seven contracts

In deals 3, 6 and 7, two sequences of the same suit may not simply join up (like 3♠–6♠ and 7♠–10♠); same-suit sequences must overlap or leave a gap.

Setup

1. Choose the first dealer at random; afterwards the deal passes clockwise.
2. The dealer deals the cards one at a time, clockwise – 10 or 12 each, as shown in the table.
3. The rest is placed face down as the stock (draw pile). The top card is turned face up next to it as the start of the discard pile.

Playing a turn

The player to the dealer's left begins; play goes clockwise. On your turn:

1. Draw the top card of the stock or the top card of the discard pile.
2. Meld your contract (optional): if you hold it, lay it face up in front of you – exactly the contract and no extra cards (groups of exactly 3, sequences of exactly 4). You meld only once per deal.
3. Lay off (only on turns after the one you melded): add any number of cards to any melds on the table – yours or other players'.
4. Discard one card face up onto the discard pile.

If the stock runs out, shuffle the discard pile except its top card to make a new stock.

"May I?" – taking the discard out of turn

When the player whose turn it is doesn't want the top discard, any other player may ask for it ("May I?").

• The player whose turn it is always has first claim: they may take the discard as their normal draw, and then nobody else gets it.
• Otherwise the discard goes to the asking player who comes earliest in turn order after the current player.
• Whoever takes it this way must also take the top card of the stock as a penalty card. Then the current player draws from the stock as usual.
• The card below it is now on top, and a different player may take it the same way (again with a penalty card). The same player may not take two discards in a row.

Example: Anna discards the 7♦. It's Ben's turn, but he wants a card from the stock. Carla says "May I?" and takes the 7♦ plus the top stock card – now she holds two extra cards. Then Ben draws from the stock.

Jokers in melds

If a joker is in a sequence, a player who has already melded their contract (on an earlier turn) and holds the real card may, while laying off, put the real card in its place and take the joker to use elsewhere. A joker in a group is "dead" and stays where it is.

Going out

You go out when you have no cards left – by melding, laying off and discarding your last card. The deal ends at once.

In deal 7 you must meld all your cards at once in three sequences of 4 – there is no discard, and the deal ends right after the meld.

Scoring

Every other player adds up the cards left in their hand as penalty points:

The player who went out scores 0.

Example: Anna goes out. Ben still holds K♣ 7♥ and a joker: 10 + 7 + 15 = 32 penalty points.

Winning the game

After the seventh deal, the player with the lowest total wins.

Tips for beginners

• Keep jokers for sequences – a joker in a sequence can come back to you, one in a group is gone for good.
• "May I?" costs a card: you get the card you want, but also an unknown one to get rid of.
• Once you've melded, dump high cards – Aces and jokers cost 15 if someone goes out.
• Don't wait too long. Melding early lets you lay off cards on everyone's melds from your next turn.

Variants

Optional – agree before playing.

• Liverpool Rummy: as the main rules, but the player to the dealer's right cuts the deck; if they cut off exactly the number of cards needed for the deal and the upcard, 50 points are taken off their score.
• Shanghai Rummy: 11 cards per deal, different contracts, "May I?" at most twice per deal, jokers 50 points.
• More players: with 6–8 players, use three or four decks.
• Free meld: some allow melding more cards than the contract, and sequences of the same suit that join up.