Scala 40

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Card values
3. Melds
4. Setup
5. Playing a turn
6. Opening
7. After opening
8. Going out
9. The stock runs out
10. Scoring
11. Winning the game
12. Tips for beginners
13. Variants

Overview

Scala 40 (Scala Quaranta) is one of Italy's most popular rummy games. You collect sets and runs and lay them face up on the table (melding), but the first time you must do so with at least 40 points in a single turn – that's where the name comes from. Once you have opened, you may add cards to anyone's melds and swap Jokers. The player who goes out by discarding their last card ends the hand and scores zero. The others count the cards left in their hands as penalty points, and anyone who reaches 101 is out. The last player left wins.

• Players: 2 to 6.
• You need: two standard 52-card decks and their 4 jokers (108 cards), shuffled together, and paper and pen for the score.

Card values

Melds

A meld is a group of at least three cards laid face up on the table.

• Set: 3 or 4 cards of the same rank in different suits, e.g. 9♠ 9♥ 9♣. You can have several sets of the same rank on the table.
• Run: 3 or more cards of one suit in sequence, e.g. 6♦ 7♦ 8♦. The Ace can be low (A-2-3) or high (Q-K-A) but never in the middle: K-A-2 is not a run. Several runs in the same suit may lie side by side.
• Jokers: a meld may contain one Joker as a substitute for one of its cards. When you lay it down you say which card it stands for – in Joker-7-8 it is the 6, not the 9. In a three-card set, say which of the two missing suits it stands for.
• One card can't belong to two melds at once.

Setup

1. Dealer: pick the first dealer at random; the deal passes to the left.
2. Deal: the dealer shuffles, the player to the right cuts, and the dealer deals 13 cards to each player, one at a time, starting on the left. Play clockwise.
3. Stock: the rest of the cards form the face-down stock. Turn the top card face up beside it to start the discard pile.

The player to the dealer's left starts.

Playing a turn

Each turn has three steps:

1. Draw: take the top card of the stock. That is the only option until you have opened. After that, you may instead take the top card of the discard pile, but only if you meld it at once – as a new meld or added to a meld on the table. You can never keep it in your hand.
2. Meld (optional): lay down melds or add cards to melds.
3. Discard: put one card face up on the discard pile. This ends your turn. Until you have opened, you may not discard a Joker or a card that could be added to a meld on the table. You may discard the card you just drew from the stock, but not one taken from the discard pile – that must be melded.

Opening

Your first melds must add up to at least 40 points in one turn – as new melds only. You can't add to existing melds before you have opened. Cards count at the values in the table; an Ace in a set or at the top of a run counts 11.

Example: Anna opens with K♥ Q♥ J♥ (30) and 7♠ 7♦ 7♣ (21): 51 points. Ben's hand only has a set of three Kings – 30 points, not enough. He has to wait.

After opening

Once you have opened, you may in the same or a later turn:

• lay down new melds;
• add cards to any meld on the table, no matter who laid it: extend a run at either end, or add a card of the fourth suit to a set of three;
• swap a Joker for the real card it stands for, and use the Joker in another meld or keep it in your hand.

Going out

You go out by discarding your last card. You may meld all but one card and discard the last – but you may not meld all your cards and have none left to discard. Nobody may go out in their first turn; everyone plays one turn first.

The stock runs out

If the last card of the stock is drawn, shuffle the discard pile (except the last discard) to make a new stock. The last discard starts a new discard pile.

Scoring

The player who went out scores 0. Every other player adds the value of the cards left in their hand to their score: Jokers 25, Aces 11, K Q J 10 each, other cards their number.

Anyone whose total reaches 101 or more is out. The last player still in the game wins. If all the remaining players reach 101 in the same hand, the player with the lowest total wins.

Example: Carla still holds a Joker, a King and a 4: 25 + 10 + 4 = 39 penalty points. Ben has 62 and Dan has 88 after an earlier hand; Dan adds 21 and is out at 109.

Winning the game

Play hand after hand until only one player is left.

Tips for beginners

• Jokers are worth holding until you can open. They help you reach 40 – but a Joker left in your hand costs 25.
• Open in one go. Sets of high cards and long runs reach 40 fastest; keep an eye on Aces (11).
• Watch the discard pile. After you have opened, the top card can complete a meld for you.
• Don't discard what fits. Cards that fit melds on the table are gold for the players who have opened.
• Plan your last card. You must keep one card to discard to go out.

Variants

All optional – agree before you start.

• Single hand: each deal is a separate game. The player who goes out wins, and nobody counts cards.
• Higher target: play to 151 or 201.
• Re-entry: a player who reaches the target is not out while more than one player is still in. Instead, everyone at or over the target is reset to the highest total still under it.
• No elimination: play until someone reaches an agreed score (1000, say); the lowest score wins.
• Face-card values: J = 11, Q = 12, K = 13 and A = 14 in sets and at the top of runs, so three Aces open; a Joker in hand costs 14.
• Early use of the discard pile: a player who hasn't opened may take the top card of the discard pile if it lets them open.