How to Play Rummy – Rummy Rules & Guide

The rummy card game has gained quite a lot of popularity in recent days. You might as well have heard about it from your friends or family members, so if you are wondering how to play this game, then you have come to the right place because we are going to take you through the entire process. We will also give you some tips and tricks for the most widely played 13 card rummy game that you can use to score more points than your opponent. After you go through this simple Indian rummy guide, you would become well-versed with the rules of the game, and even score big to get your name on the leaderboard chart.

In India, playing the game of 13 Card Rummy is all about making sets and sequences while adhering to the method of draw-and-discard. This game is usually played by 2 to 6 players, where each player gets a set of 13 cards. Now, this set of 13 cards can be further arranged by the player to form a sequence. Whereas, the remaining cards are kept on the table in two stacks namely open and closed decks. The open deck is formed by the cards discarded by all the players, while from the closed deck a player can pick up a card without being able to see the card that he is picking.

The cards in each suit from low to high are Ace, 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10, Jack, Queen, and King. In rummy, the numbered cards are worth their face values, while the pictured cards- King, Queen, Jack, and Ace are worth 10 points each. According to rummy card game rules, the player who gets zero points first is declared the winner.

Objective of Rummy Card Game

The objective of the Rummy card game is to properly arrange all your 13 cards into valid sets and sequences. To win a game in rummy, all you need to do is form at least two sequences out of which at least one set must be a pure sequence and the rest should be any valid sequence. You will not be allowed to make a declaration without a pure sequence. If you declare your hand without a pure sequence, you will be penalized and eventually lose points as well. This is a vital rule that you should keep in mind before playing rummy.

Fundamental Rules of Playing Rummy

Rummy rules are extremely straightforward and easy. So, before we get into the intricacies and nuances of playing this game, let’s take a look at the fundamental rules of playing rummy online in India.

• Indian Rummy is a game played by two to six players using one or two decks of cards. Each player gets 13 cards. Usually, when there are more than 2 players, then 2 decks of cards are used.
• There can be two kinds of Joker – Wild Joker and Printed Joker. A wild Joker is a random card that is selected from the closed deck and deemed as the wild Joker and all the cards of the same face value become wild Joker in a rummy game.
• Every player needs to pick a card from the two stacks of cards kept on the table: the open deck and the closed deck of cards. You need to discard one of your cards, after drawing a card. Remember to place a card face down while putting it in the closed deck, whereas the cards in the open pile can be placed faced up.
• Arranging your 13 cards in a sequence, or set is the main thing. At least, there should be two sequences, and of that one of them must be a pure sequence. The player who makes a valid declaration first becomes the winner of the game.
• During the game, you can include both printed and wild Jokers in impure sequences and sets. 

Types of Sets & Sequences in Rummy

According to the rummy card game rules, there are the following types of sets and sequences:

Pure Sequences – In a pure sequence, you can group three or more consecutive cards belonging to the same suit. For example, you can have a pure sequence of spade suits with three consecutive cards, like Ace, 2,3 of a spade. But, remember, in a pure sequence no card can be replaced by a Joker.

Impure Sequences – In an impure sequence, there can be a group of two or more consecutive cards of the same suit with one or more Jokers (printed or wild joker). Here, Jokers can be used as substitute cards/substitute cards.

Valid Sets – When you are playing 13 card rummy, you must have a clear understanding of valid sets. Therefore, to elaborate further, valid sets are made of a group of three to four cards with the same value but from different suits. However, in a valid set, there should not be two or more than two cards of the same suit. There cannot be more than four cards to form a valid set and a Joker can be used to make a set valid.

Invalid Sets – A set can be called invalid if you have used two or more cards of the same suit to create a set of three or four cards.

How to Play Rummy?

Now let’s understand how the game is played and how points are calculated in rummy. So here we go!

1. Firstly, the dealer needs to shuffle the packs of cards.
2. Then the dealer distributes 13 cards to each player in a circular motion. After the cards have been dealt with, all the players must group their cards into valid sets or sequences. This is called ‘melding’.
3. The remaining cards are kept aside into two piles, as mentioned earlier, one in a ‘closed deck’, and the other is called the ‘open deck’ after all the players have received their cards.
4. In the rummy game, one card is selected randomly from the open deck and is designated as the wild joker.
5. Now, each player, in the prescribed order, can draw/pick a card from the closed deck and simultaneously discard one of his/her cards into the open deck.
6. The player has the liberty to draw a card either from the open deck, where he/she can see the card he/she is drawing, or he/she can choose from the closed deck where the cards are faced down.
7. After picking a card either from the closed or open deck, the player must discard one of the cards in his/her hand to the open deck.
8. A player continues this method of ‘drawing and dropping’ cards until he/she has formed valid sequences and sets which can be shown to the other players. This showing of cards in a valid sequence or set to the other players is called ‘declaration’. The same must be done by other players as well. A valid declaration or show garners zero points.
9. For each Rummy game, a card is randomly selected from the closed deck that serves as the Card Joker. During this process, if by chance a printed Joker is picked then, for that particular game, the Ace cards of all the suits will serve as the Card Joker.

Final Words

Calculating points in Rummy also depends on several factors like the first drop, middle drop, wrong declaration, and leaving the table. By now, you must be very excited to play online rummy game. We hope that the above guidelines will help you win and score better than your opponents.