Rummy

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Melds
3. Setup
4. Playing a turn
5. Going out
6. Scoring
7. Winning the game
8. Tips for beginners
9. Variants

Overview

Rummy is the simplest member of a huge family of card games. You collect cards that belong together – three or four of the same rank, or several in a row of the same suit – and lay them face up on the table. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins the hand and scores points for the cards the others are still holding. Several hands make a game; the first player to reach the agreed target wins.

• Players: 2–6, each playing for themselves. Best with 2–4.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers, and paper and pencil for scoring.

Melds

A meld is a group of at least three cards that belong together. There are two kinds:

• Set (also group or book): 3 or 4 cards of the same rank, e.g. 7♠ 7♥ 7♣ or K♠ K♥ K♦ K♣.
• Run (also sequence): 3 or more cards of the same suit in order, e.g. 4♣ 5♣ 6♣ or 8♥ 9♥ 10♥ J♥.

The cards rank A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J Q K. The Ace is always low: A-2-3 is a run, but Q-K-A and K-A-2 are not.

Setup

1. Dealer: choose the first dealer at random. After each hand, the deal passes to the left.
2. Deal: the dealer shuffles and deals the cards face down, one at a time, clockwise. How many each player gets depends on the number of players:

3. Discard pile: the next card is turned face up in the middle. This starts the discard pile.
4. Stock: the rest of the deck goes face down next to it. This is the stock (draw pile).

Pick up your cards and sort them – the others must not see them. This is your hand.

Playing a turn

The player to the dealer's left starts; then play goes clockwise. Every turn has these steps:

1. Draw one card: either the top card of the stock (you don't see it before you take it) or the top card of the discard pile.
2. Meld (optional): lay any sets or runs from your hand face up in front of you.
3. Lay off (optional): add cards from your hand to any meld on the table – yours or another player's – as long as it is still a correct set or run. To 4♣ 5♣ 6♣ you could add the 3♣ or the 7♣.
4. Discard one card face up onto the discard pile. This ends your turn.

If you took the top discard, you may not discard that same card in the same turn. You may discard it later.

Melds stay on the table for the rest of the hand. You may not take them back or move cards from one meld to another.

Example: Anna holds 5♥ 6♥ and sees the 7♥ on the discard pile. She takes it and lays down the run 5♥ 6♥ 7♥. Ben has already melded three Jacks, so she lays off her J♦ there too. Then she discards the 2♣ to end her turn.

Going out

As soon as a player has got rid of all their cards – by melding, laying off or discarding the last one – they go out and the hand ends at once. The others may not meld or lay off any more cards.

Going rummy: if you go out by laying down your whole hand in a single turn, and you have not melded or laid off anything before in this hand, you have gone rummy – your score for the hand is doubled.

Empty stock: if the stock runs out and the next player doesn't want the top discard, take the discard pile, shuffle it and turn it face down as a new stock. Play continues.

Scoring

Only the player who went out scores. They get the value of all the cards left in the other players' hands – even cards that would make a meld count, as they are still in the hand:

Example: Carla goes out. Anna still holds K♠ 4♦ (10 + 4 = 14), Ben holds A♣ 9♥ 9♠ (1 + 9 + 9 = 19). Carla scores 14 + 19 = 33 points. Had she gone rummy, she would score 66.

Winning the game

Agree on a target score before you start, for example 100. Keep a running total for every player; the first to reach the target at the end of a hand wins (the highest total, if two players reach it in the same hand). Alternatively, play an agreed number of hands and the highest total wins.

Tips for beginners

• Get rid of high cards that don't fit anything – a stray King costs 10 points if someone else goes out.
• Watch the discard pile. What your neighbour picks up tells you what they collect – don't discard cards they need.
• Check every meld on the table before you discard. A card that fits someone's run can be laid off instead.
• Don't wait too long to meld. Holding everything back for a rummy is tempting, but if someone goes out first, all those cards count against you.

Variants

All optional – agree before playing.

• One meld per turn: in the version described on pagat.com, you may lay down only one set or run per turn (laying off is unlimited).
• Rummy bonus: instead of doubling, going rummy earns a bonus of 10 points.
• Laying off only after melding: you may lay off on other players' melds only once you have melded yourself.
• Ace high or low: Q-K-A is also a run. Then an Ace left in hand costs 15 points.
• Last discard: to go out, you must end with a discard – you may not meld your last card.
• Unshuffled stock: the discard pile is turned over without shuffling when the stock runs out.
• Block Rummy: the discard pile is not reused. If the stock is empty and the next player doesn't want the discard, the hand ends: the player with the lowest hand scores the differences between their hand and each other hand.
• Penalty scoring: everyone except the player who went out scores their hand as penalty points. When someone reaches 100, the lowest total wins.