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Basic Rummy

Best with 2-4 players. Up to 6 can play. Decide the number of deals or target score before playing.

The Deck

Use standard deck of 52 cards. Cards rank (low to high):

Ace 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Jack Queen King

Deal

Choose the first dealer randomly. Dealers rotate clockwise.

  • 2 players: deal each 10 cards
  • 3-4 players: deal each 7 cards
  • 5-6 players: deal each 6 cards

Deal a card at a time, then 1 face-up to start the discard pile. Put the rest of the deck face down beside it for the stock. Look at and sort your cards.

Play

Get rid of all the cards in your hand. There are three ways to get rid of cards: meld, lay off, or discard.

Melding is putting cards from your hand face-up in front of you on the table to stay. You can meld sequences (runs) or groups (sets/books).

  • a run is 3+ cards of the same suit in order (club4, club5, club6 or heart8, heart9, heart10, heartJ).
  • a set or book is 3-4 cards of the same rank (diamond7, heart7, spade7).

Laying off is adding to a meld on the table. Cards must make another valid meld (to club4, club5, club6 add club3 or club7). You can't rearrange the melds. If club2, heart2, diamond2, spade2 and spade3, spade4, spade5 were melded, you can't move spade2 to the run to lay off *spadeA.

Discarding is putting a card on the discard pile. You discard at the end of each turn.

Players take turns clockwise to the dealer's left. Each turn:

  • Draw. Begin by taking a card from the top of the stockpile or the top of the discard pile. Add it to your hand. The discard pile is face up, so you can see in advance what you're getting. The stock is face down, so you don't see the card until you take it.
  • Meld. If you have a run or set in your hand, you may lay one meld face up on the table in front of you. You can meld only once per turn. Melding is optional; you don't have to just because you can.
  • Lay off. Also optional. You may add cards to runs or sets previously melded by yourself or others. There's no limit to how many of cards you may lay off in a turn.
  • Discard. At the end of your turn, put a card on the discard pile face up. If you drew from the discard pile, you can't discard the same card, leaving the pile unchanged. You may discard it at a later turn.

If the stockpile runs out and the next player doesn't want the discard, turn the pile over without shuffling for new stock and continue play. After stock's exhausted the 2nd time, end play if the next player doesn't want the discard.

You win a hand by melding, laying off, or discarding all your cards. Getting rid of your last card's called going out. When someone goes out, play stops. No more melding or laying off, even if players are holding good cards.

Score

When a player goes out, everyone else adds up all the cards left in their hands:

  • Face cards (K,Q,J): 10 points each
  • Aces: 1 point each
  • Number Cards: face value (a six is worth 6 points)

Add the value of all cards in the hands of other players to the winner's score.

If no one goes out, everybody counts the value of their hands. The player with the least points wins. She scores the sum of differences between hers and points in other players' hands: If A has 6; B 15; C 7; D 21. A wins with 25 = (9 + 1 + 15). If players tie, they share winnings equally.

The game continues with more deals until a player reaches the points target decided before the game began or the agreed number of deals is played.

Source

Modified from pagat.com