How to Play Rummy

Don't hesitate to play an Online Rummy game even if it's your first time. Here, you will find all the information on how to play a rummy game online. Once you've read the basic rummy rule mentioned here, you will no longer be a stranger to online Rummy.

The objective of the 13 card rummy game is to arrange all the cards in your hands to form at least two sequences, one of which has to be a pure sequence. The remaining cards can be arranged into valid sets or impure sequences.

A sequence is the combination of 3 or more consecutive cards of the same suit. In rummy, there are 2 types of sequences -

• Pure sequence: Out of 13 cards in hand, you need to form at least one pure sequence. It is a sequence of cards of the same suit without a Joker card.
• Impure sequence: An impure sequence is the one that has the cards of the same suit, but is allowed to have jokers. In order to win, out of 13 cards in hand, you need to have another sequence, pure or impure.

In rummy, when you have a combination of 3 or more cards of the same value but of different suits, it is called a ‘set’. It is acceptable to use wild cards and joker while forming a set. Examples of a set are - A♥ A♣ A♦ and 9♦ 9♣ 9♠ 9♥,etc.

• According to the rummy game rules, the number of players ranges from two to six.
• For each Rummy game, the number of decks depends upon the number of players.
• At the beginning of every Rummy game, each player receives 13 cards. The undealt pack of cards is placed face down, forming the Closed deck. The next card in the pack is placed face up forming a new Discard pile.
• The player must begin by drawing a card; either the topmost card from the Closed deck or the last discarded card from the Discard Pile
• Now, the player temporarily has 14 cards and thus, must end his turn by placing one card from his hand face-up on the Discard Pile.
• The chance moves to the next player.
• The game progresses in a turn-wise manner until one of the players completes the game by forming valid sequences and sets.
• The points for other players are calculated on the basis of their cards.

Here are a few tips and tricks, keeping in mind the 13 card rummy rules, that will help you ace your rummy game -

• Make sure you create a pure sequence right in the beginning because it is a compulsory combination without which you will not be able to win.
• Don’t forget to observe and note your opponents’ moves. This will help you understand rummy and your particular game better.
• Make sure to review your cards before making a declaration to avoid losing the game.

• Joker: A joker card in a rummy game can be used as a substitute for any card to form a set, except Pure Sequence. The number of Cut Jokers per deck is 4. There are also two Paper Jokers in each deck of rummy. These have the image of a joker drawn on them. They don't have any face value, but like a declared joker, they can also be used as a substitute for any card, to form a set.
• Draw:  It simply means to ‘pick’ or select the card.
• Discard: When a player has to get rid of 1 extra card, that is called discard.
• Drop: A player can always drop out of the rummy game to save his points. If a player drops out, he will be allocated some penalty points based on the Game variant's special rules. A drop may turn out to be a rummy strategy in case the cards are particularly bad for a rummy player. The points allotted on a drop also vary according to the time of the drop. If the drop has been done right at the beginning of the play, lesser points are given than if it has been done in the middle.
• Declaration: If all the 13 cards of the hand can be clubbed into 4 correct sets, then the player should Declare in the game. At the time of declaring in the Rummy Game, the player needs to select the combination of sets for declaring. After declaring, the player needs to Meld the cards, that is put the 13 cards into 4 sets and send them for Validation. The player has limited time to meld the cards that will be shown on the screen. The player, who declares, wins the game if his cards are authenticated according to the validation rules. If the melded sets do not comply with the criteria, he gets an 80 points penalty for invalid declaration. The winner has to pay zero penalties but gets the points of all other players as a win. When a player declares, the remaining rummy players also need to select their combination of sets so that a winner is chosen and the points are distributed accordingly. The Player whose declaration is correct wins the game.

• Ace, King, Queen and Jack (face cards) have a value of 10 points each.
• The numbered cards have the same value as the value of their face cards.
• The score of every losing player will be based on the remaining cards in their hand that
• are not a part of any valid combination (deadwood).
• If a player decides to drop the game at any point, the initial drop value will be 10 points
• and the middle drop value will be 30 points.

Now that you know how to play Indian rummy, let us discuss how your winnings are calculated.

In Points Rummy, all the players get points according to their melded hands. If a player has 2 correct & 2 incorrect hands, then he will get 0 points each for his correct hand while he will get points for his incorrect hands based on the Rummy points system. The player with the correct declaration gets the sum of points of all opponents.