The traditional Rummy game is played by between two and six players with a single deck of standard playing cards (52 cards, no jokers). The game is played up to a certain number of points, which is agreed before the start of play. Normally this is 100 points. The initial dealer is decided by whoever draws the lowest value card from the deck.
The number of cards dealt to each player is dependent on the number of players. In a game with two players each player receives 10 cards, 3-4 players receive 7 cards each and 5-6 players receive 6 cards each. The deal rotates clockwise around the table (or simply alternates if there are just two players). The dealer begins with the player to his left and deals the cards one at a time clockwise around the table until each player has the correct number of starting cards. The dealer then places the remainder of the deck face down on the table (making the stock pile), turns the top card face up and begins a separate pile (the discard pile) next to the stock pile. This is the upcard. During play, cards placed on the discard pile are always face up, cards drawn from the stock pile are always face-down.
Play begins with the player to the left of the dealer. Each turn begins with a compulsory draw. The player must draw one card from either the discard pile or the stock pile and add it to their hand. Obviously, if the player decides to draw from the discard pile, the other players will be able to see what card they are drawing. If the player draws from the stock pile the card is not shown to the other players, so they will be unaware of the identity of the card drawn.
After the compulsory draw the player has the option of laying down melds on the table in front of them. Melds are either sets or runs. A set is three or more cards of the same rank, for example three 8s, three Jacks, or four Kings. As only one deck is in play, all cards in a set will be of a different suit and the maximum number of cards in a set will be four. A run is a sequence of at least three cards of the same suit in order. So the 4, 5 and 6 of Hearts is a valid run, as would be the 9, 10, Jack and Queen of Clubs. It is important to note that all cards in a run must be of the same suit.
Following melding another optional action is available to the player whose turn it is: laying off. This is where a player can add any number of cards to melds already laid down on the table. The additional cards must form a legitimate meld once they have been added to the meld already laid down. Thus, adding the 6 of Clubs to a meld consisting of the 3, 4 and 5 of Clubs is allowed. If the player had the 7 of Clubs they could add that also. They could also add the 2 of Clubs if they possess it. Similarly, a player may add to a set by adding the fourth card of the same rank to an already placed meld of three same-ranking cards. A player is not obligated to meld or lay off cards just because they are able to.
The final action in a player’s turn is the compulsory discard. This requires the player to discard one card from their hand face-up on the discard pile. It is often ruled that if a player draws a card from the discard pile they cannot return that same card to the discard pile on the same turn. They can, however, discard the card they drew that turn if they drew from the stock pile as the other players will not have seen the identity of the card when it was drawn. That player’s turn is over after the discard and the next player to the left begins their turn.
If the stock pile runs out the top card of the discard pile is left in place, whilst the rest of the discard pile is shuffled and used to form a new stock pile. The hand ends when a player is the first to play all of their cards by melding, laying off or discarding. This is called, “Going Out”. If a player plays all his cards in a single turn, without previously having melded or laid off any cards, this is called, “Going Rummy”. In this case the player receives a bonus number of points. This is normally either double the points they are owed, or a flat bonus of 25 points.
The score is calculated by adding up the value of all the cards the losing players have remaining. Face cards are worth 10 points, Aces are normally low (and thus worth 1 point), although sometimes they are played as high. The player that played all their cards first receives the total score of the sum of all the other players’ remaining cards.
