Complete rules are also available for other games under the rummy umbrella, including gin rummy, Hollywood gin, Three Thirteen, Oklahoma gin, Phase 10, Manipulation, and canasta.
Players
Play rummy with two to six players.
Deck
Use a standard 52-card deck. The king is high and the ace is low (see “Ace Either High or Low” below for a common variant).
Goal
Your goal is to be the first to play (also known as “meld”) all of your cards.
Setup
Shuffle the deck and choose a dealer. The dealer will deal cards to the players as follows:
With two players, 10 cards eachWith three or four players, seven cards eachWith five or six players, six cards each
Cards that are not dealt are placed face down in the middle of the table to form the draw pile. Turn the top card from the draw pile face up and set it next to the draw pile; this card begins the discard pile. Note that as you play the game and the draw pile becomes exhausted (all cards are taken), shuffle all of the cards in the discard pile except for the one on top to form a new draw pile.
Gameplay
On each turn, players must follow this sequence: NOTE: If a player chose to draw the top card from the discard pile in step one, he may not discard that card on the same turn in step three.
Meld of Cards
A meld of cards can be played if it meets one of two conditions:
Groups (or Books): Three or four of a kindSequences (or Runs): Three or more consecutive cards of the same suit
NOTE: When making a sequence in basic rummy, the ace is always a low card. It may not be played above the king.
Laying Off
A player may play a card or cards from his hand that fits a meld already on the table. This is known as “laying off.” Cards that are laid off get placed on the table in front of the player who plays them. EXAMPLE: Player A has played a meld that includes three eights. Player B can lay off an eight from her hand. EXAMPLE: Player A has played a meld that includes the eight, nine, or 10 of hearts. Player B can lay off the seven of hearts or the jack of hearts, or both, from his hand. EXAMPLE: Player A has played a meld that includes the three. four, or five of clubs. Player B can lay off the six and seven of clubs from her hand.
Going Out
A player “goes out” when he plays the last card in his hand either by melding, laying off, or discarding. NOTE: Some players require that the final card in a player’s hand be discarded. That is, a player cannot go out by melding or laying off. He must discard the final card.
Rummy Scoring
When a player goes out, the round is scored. All of the cards remaining in other players’ hands are credited to the winner of the hand, as follows:
Aces are worth one point.Number cards are worth face value.Face cards are worth 10 points each.
Going Rummy
A player “goes rummy” if he plays all of his cards (in any combination of melding, laying off, and discarding) in a single play, having played no cards at all previously during that hand. When a player goes rummy, all points are doubled for that hand.
Ace Either High or Low
Some players play that the ace can be either low card (as it normally is, as in ace, two, and three) or high card (so that a meld of queen, king, and ace would also be legal). If playing this way, aces should be counted as 15 points each in scoring to better reflect their value.
Winning Rummy
The first player to reach a predetermined number of points (such as 150), or to have the most points after a predetermined number of hands are played, is the winner.
