Indian Rummy

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Melds
3. Jokers
4. Setup
5. Playing a turn
6. Dropping
7. Declaring
8. Scoring
9. Winning the game
10. Tips for beginners
11. Variants

Overview

Indian Rummy, also called 13-card rummy, is the most popular rummy game in India. Every player holds 13 cards and tries to arrange all of them into melds – groups of cards that belong together. The first player to do so declares and wins the deal; everyone else scores penalty points for the cards they couldn't use. In the usual home game, Pool 101, whoever reaches 101 penalty points is out, and the last player left wins.

• Players: 2–6, each playing for themselves.
• You need: two standard 52-card decks with 2 printed jokers (106 cards), and paper and pencil.
• Direction: dealing and play go anticlockwise (to the right).

Melds

A meld has at least three cards. There are two kinds:

• Sequence (run): three or more cards of the same suit in a row, e.g. 5♥ 6♥ 7♥. The Ace can be low (A 2 3) or high (Q K A), but not both at once: K A 2 is not a sequence.
• Set: three or four cards of the same rank in different suits, e.g. 9♠ 9♥ 9♣. Two cards of the same suit are not allowed in one set (9♠ 9♠ 9♥ is not a set).

A sequence without any joker is a pure sequence. A sequence that uses a joker to stand in for a missing card is an impure sequence.

Example: 4♣ 5♣ 6♣ 7♣ is pure. 4♣ joker 6♣ is impure – the joker stands in for the 5♣.

Jokers

There are two kinds of wild card, and both can stand in for any card in a meld:

• the two printed jokers, and
• the wild jokers: before play starts, one card is drawn at random from the deck and laid face up for everyone to see – the cut joker. Every card of the same rank, in any suit, is a wild joker for this deal. If the cut joker is a printed joker, most players make the Aces wild.

Example: the cut joker is the 7♦. All eight 7s in the game are wild.

A wild joker used as its own natural card (e.g. the 7♠ in 6♠ 7♠ 8♠) does not make a sequence impure.

Setup

1. Choose the first dealer at random; afterwards the deal passes to the right.
2. The dealer shuffles both decks together, and the player on the left cuts.
3. The dealer deals 13 cards to each player, one at a time.
4. The player on the dealer's left draws a card at random from the rest of the deck and lays it face up: the cut joker. Many players tuck it half under the draw pile so it stays visible.
5. The remaining cards are placed face down as the draw pile; the top card is turned face up next to it to start the discard pile.

Playing a turn

The player on the dealer's right starts. On your turn:

1. Draw one card: the top card of the draw pile, or the top card of the discard pile.
2. Discard one card face up onto the discard pile. If you took the top discard, you may not throw that same card back at once.

You now have 13 cards again, and it's the next player's turn. Melds stay in your hand – nothing is laid on the table until someone declares.

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

Dropping

At the start of your turn, instead of drawing, you may drop (give up this deal). You score:

• 20 points if you drop on your very first turn, before drawing any card (first drop);
• 40 points if you drop later in the deal (middle drop).

Declaring

When, after drawing, your 14 cards contain a complete hand, you declare: put your last card face down on the discard pile and show your 13 cards arranged in melds. A valid hand needs:

• at least two sequences,
• at least one of them pure,
• all other cards in sets or sequences (pure or impure).

Example: 3♠ 4♠ 5♠ (pure) · 9♥ 10♥ joker Q♥ (impure) · K♣ K♦ K♥ · 6♦ 6♣ 7♠ – the 7s are wild. Valid!

If the hand is not valid, this is a wrong show: the player scores 80 points and is out of this deal; the others play on.

Scoring

After a valid declaration, the others show their hands and lay out any melds they can. The winner scores 0. Each other player scores the value of their cards:

• If you have two sequences, one of them pure, only the cards outside your melds count.
• Otherwise all 13 cards count – your melds don't help. Sources differ on a hand with a pure sequence but no second sequence: here all its cards count; see Variants for the alternative.
• No player scores more than 80 points in one deal.

Example: Anna declares. Ben has a pure sequence and one impure sequence; left over are K♠ and 4♦ = 14 points. Carla has sets but no pure sequence, so all her cards count: 93 points, capped at 80.

Winning the game

Pool 101: penalty points add up from deal to deal. A player who reaches 101 points is out. The last player left wins.

Tips for beginners

• Build the pure sequence first. Without it, even a hand full of melds counts in full.
• Discard high cards you can't use early – they cost 10 points each if someone declares.
• Watch the discard pile to see which cards your right-hand neighbour needs, and don't give them.
• Drop early if your hand is hopeless: 20 points is cheaper than up to 80.

Variants

All optional – agree on them beforehand.

• Pool 201: you are out at 201 points; first drop costs 25 and middle drop 50.
• Points Rummy: single deals; the winner collects from each other player as many chips as that player scored.
• Deals Rummy: play a fixed number of deals (e.g. 2, 3 or 6); lowest total wins.
• pagat.com version (Paplu): dropping on your first turn costs only 10 points, and the cards of a pure sequence never count, even without a second sequence (your other melds count unless you also have a second sequence).