Rummy rules – how to play

Rummy is a very popular card game world wide. It is mostly played in two, three or four players using two decks of 52 cards, plus 4 Jokers. The goal of the game is to get rid of all the cards before the other players, respecting the rules of the game which are explained below.

Game Start

The dealer deals 14 cards to each player, except the first one on his right, to whom he deals 15 cards and that player starts the game. The rest of the cards are put aside on the table. Each time when Your turn it is, You have to draw one card from the top of the remaining deck. After You draw a card you can make some of the moves which are defined by the Rummy game rules (we will explain them below.). The exception to this rule is the player which plays first in the first game cycle. In the first game cycle, he does not draw a card from the top of the deck, but only gets rid of the card that is his "surplus".

The most important game terms - Tercet, Joker Card, Opening and Handling

Tercet

We already said that the main goal of the game is to get rid of all the cards before other players. How do we get rid of our playing cards? We get rid of them by throwing out the third. Tercet is a group of at least 3 cards in a row of the same character, or a group of 3 or 4 cards of the same value. You can see examples below:

1♥ 2♥ 3♥ 4♥
6♣ 7♣ 8♣
9♠ 10♠ 12♠
13♥ 14♥ 1♥
13♥ 14♥ 1♥ 2♥ - is not tercet!
10♦ 10♣ 10♥

It is very important to note that Rummy rules said that card 10 is followed by card 12 (Gendarme), not with A (as it is shown in example 3). Also, card A (ace) can be placed in the group behind the King (example 4.), but it cannot be continued behind by putting card 2 (example 5).

Joker Card

Joker Card is the most useful card in Rummy. It is very easy to understand its purpose from the name itself. The Joker card can replace any other card when forming the Terce. Let's assume that you have a Joker card and for example - 5♣, 6♣ and 8♣. To form a Tercet, you obviously need a 7♣ card, which you can replace with your Joker, and you get a valid Tercet 5♣ 6♣ J 8♣ .

Note - If you have two or more Jokers, you can use them to form different Tercets, but if you want to use more then one Jockers in the Tercet, there are limitations. Two or more Jokers can only be used in a Tercet made up of consecutive cards of the same sign, but those Jockers cannot be next to each other. Here is an example permitted and unauthorized use of the Joker in different types of Tercet:

1♥ 2♥ 3♥ 4♥
6♣ 6♣ 7♣ 8♣
8♥ 8♥ 10♥ 10♥ 12♥
7♥ J 10♥ 10♥ 12♥ - not tercet! (two Jokers cannot be next to each other in a Tercet)
10♦ 10♣ J
10♦ 10♣ J 10♠
10♦ J 10♣ J - not tercet! (only one Joker card can be used)

Open

Opening is one of the toughest rules in Rummy, also it is the hardest game move. Don't let this discourage you, just a little practice and everything will be ok. We in the Balkans often like to make things a little more complicated than it's necessary. So from Yahtzee, we made the Yamb game which is more complex then Yahtzee, which is pretty standard in the rest of the world. There are other examples of complications, but we will focus on this one concerning Rummy, and that is Opening . In order for a player to Open the sum of all cards in formed Tercets, it must be 51 or higher! So, in order to Open up, and thus gain huge benefits in the game (will be discussed later), you must first create one, or more often, two or more Tercets whose total sum of cards is greater than or equal to 51, and to throw them out at once, i.e. one by one Tercet on Your turn. It is important to note here that opening is not possible in the first round of the game!

Opening - benefits

Once you Open yourself on your turn, you will be able to:

Draw a card from a pile of discarded cards, which the player has discarded before you, if that card suits to you (instead of necessarily drawing the card only from the deck)
You'll be able to discard more cards by adding them to already opened Tercetes, of course without violating the Tercet (it must remain valid even after adding your playing card)
You'll be able to take the Joker card from any open Tercet, assuming that you have coresponding playing card in your hands. Practically, you exchange your card with the Joker from the third, so you can use that Joker to create (and maybe discard) a new Tercet.
Probably the biggest benefit of Opening is: You will be able to drop out any new formed Tercet, without any restrictions. Now, on your turn, you can discard any valid Tercet, with no limits in terms of the total cards amount.

From all the above, it means that it is very desirable to Open yourself as soon as possible. This is not necessarily true, but once you understand that, you will already be the master of Remi;)

Handling

Handling is called a player's victory if he throws all groups of cards (Tercetes) on the table at once and closes with one remaining card. In order for a player to hand, it doesn't matter from which pile he took the last card. If a player wants to hand, then we must not add one of our cards to another player's exposed group during the opening.

Card value

Ace (A), King (K), Queen (Q), Gendarme (J) and Ten 10 are worth 10 points each, other cards are scored according to their denominations (two is worth 2 points, three is 3, etc.). The Joker stands out here as well, he is worth 20 points. Also he takes the value of the card he changes in Tercet he belongs to. If, for example, he changes the Queen in Tercet, then he's worth is 10 points, if he changes Six, then he is worth 6.

Last card rule

As it is a case with many other games (Uno, Mau Mau, etc.), there is a limit in Rummy regarding last card in your "hands". You have to throw your last card on the pile of open (discarded) cards. So, you can't use the last your card to make a Tercet, also you can't add your last card to some of the already discarded Tercets. You have to throw the last card on the pile and this way you'll finish the game (you closed it), which means that YOU WON!

Scoring

This is quite flexible in a Rummy and is usually a matter of agreement between the players before they start playing a game. Since this is actually irrelevant (the only thing that matters is that all the rules are the same for each player), our program will score as follows

The winner, if he closes with the Joker (or he/she Handling), gets -40 points (other players get double the amount of their cards),otherwise if he closes with any other card, he gets -20 points.
All other players count the number of points by calculating the sum of all the cards they failed to get rid of. (which "remained in their hands")
If someone has a Joker in his hand, his value when collecting points is 20.

The end note

Rummy is not an easy game to play. Don't be discouraged if you don't understand everything about this game, after reading this guide. The only way to learn Rummy is to start playing it with basic knowledge / understanding of the game. This way, you'll progress the fastest, and after a couple of games played, you will be a serious skilled opponent to others. We did our best to make the game interface as easy to use as possible, considering game complexity. The program will guide you through the game flow, by suggesting you what you need to do in certain game position. This will greatly facilitates learning, but also mastering your Rummy game skills.