Rummy is a skill-based and strategy-based card game. It usually takes not more than a few minutes to play a game of rummy. As such, it is popular among card-game lovers. However, in recent years, with the increasing number of rummy game download, more and more people are investing their time in this game. It relates to people of almost all age groups. The game is a great stress-buster as well. All you need to do to get started with this game is to learn its basic rules. They are pretty simple and easy to understand and remember. Read this article for a quick glance at the classic rummy rules.

The rules of the game

• The basics about the cards in rummy

Rummy can be played to 2 to 6 people together at a time. For 2 players, 1 deck of cards with 1 printed joker is used. For more than 2 players, 2 decks with a printed joker each are used. Each card has a point value. The numerical cards from 2 to 10 have points corresponding to their face value. The face cards like Jack, Queen, and King, as well as the Ace card, have 10 points each. Each player is dealt 13 cards. 1 random card is selected as the wildcard joker and kept face up beneath the closed deck. All suits of this card from both the decks are then treated as wildcard jokers. Another card is placed face up to start the open deck. In each turn, players need to pick a card from either the open deck or the closed deck and discard a card from his/her hand into the closed deck.

• The Objective

The objective in the game is to arrange or meld your cards into valid sets and sequences before all the other players. Sets are a group of cards having the same face value but belonging to different suits. A sequence is a group of consecutive cards belonging to the same suit. Joker cards can be used to form sequences by using them as substitutes for other important cards missing in your hand. Sequences can be either pure or impure. Pure sequences are formed without the joker cards, whereas impure sequences are formed with the joker cards.

• Points and calculation

According to rummy rules, points are calculated based on the unmatched cards in the losing players’ hands. The more the number of unmatched cards, the more points they have. Players should try to have as few points in their hands as possible. This is because the cumulative points of all losing players decide the amount of money the player wins. To avoid getting more points, it is advisable to lose all the high-value face cards early on in the game. In case the hand does not seem favorable, a player should drop out as soon as possible, to avoid collecting more than 20 points.

Conclusion

Once you learn all these rules of the game, you can enjoy rummy on your smartphone as and when you like. Not only does it serve as a way of recreation, but it also helps sharpen your mental capabilities.

Danny White