Basic Rummy
Ages: 6 years old and up
Number of players: 2 players (Set-up varies when playing with 3 or more players)
Materials: Deck of Cards, paper and pencil for scoring
Skill Practice: Number sequencing, ordering, planning and shifting
Goal: To make as many sets or melds as possible in order to collect the most points
Specific Card Rules:
- Rummy Meld - A meld is a group or a set of 3 or more cards. There are two types of melds in Rummy.
- Three or more cards of the same number (ex: 5 of Hearts, 5 of Spades, 5 of Clubs)
- Three or more cards in consecutive number order of the same suit (4, 5, and 6 of diamonds).
- Rank of Cards for play
- Kings are the highest and aces are the lowest rank of cards. (King, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8 , 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and ace)
Set up:
- Each player takes the top card from the deck. The person, who selects the card of the lowest value, deals first.
- The dealer passes out 9 cards to each player, face down.
- The remaining cards are placed face down between the players. This forms the draw pile (also known as the stock pile).
- If playing with 3 -4 players, 7 cards are passed out to each player.
- If playing with 5 -6 players, six cards to each player are passed out.
Rules for play:
- Before beginning, the players need to determine the amount of points or the number of hands they will play in the game.
- If playing with 2 players, the youngest player begins.
- If playing with 3 or more players play begins with the person sitting on the left of the dealer and continues counter-clockwise.
- On their turn, each player draws a card from the draw or stock pile or from the discard pile. .
- The player either lays down a meld (a set of cards as defined above).
- Or, the player may “lay off” or play some cards on a existing meld. The cards must match the type of meld played. For example, if there is a run of 7, 8, 9 of diamonds, the player may play a 6 of diamonds to start off the sequence or a 10 of diamonds to finish the sequence.
- After the player’s turn is completed, the player discards 1 card face up to the discard pile.
- The following player is able to draw the top card from the discard pile or from the stock pile to begin their turn.
- If the draw pile becomes depleted, the dealer shuffles the deck, and places it face down between the players. This becomes the new draw pile.
- When a player has gotten rid of all their cards in their hand (goes out), they have won that round. The players tally their score.
- Play continues until players complete the agreed upon number of hands or until a player reaches the agreed upon number of points.
Scoring:
- Each player counts up their score.
- Card Values:
- Face cards (Jack, Queen, and King) are worth 10 points.
- Aces are worth 1 point each.
- Number cards are worth their face value.
- Card Combination Values:
- Three aces in a run are worth 15 points each or a total of 45 points.
- A run of Jack, Queen, and King is worth a total of 15 points.
- A run of ace, 2, and 3 cards is worth a total of 15 points.
- After the players compute their total, the amount of the cards remaining in their hand is deducted from the total.
- The player with the most points wins the game.
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