Rummy rules

Quick start

1. Deal 10 cards each to 2 players, 7 each to 3 or 4, 6 each to 5 or 6. Put the rest face down and turn one card face up beside it.
2. On your turn, first draw one card. Take the top card of the face-down stock or the top card of the face-up discard pile.
3. You may lay sets and runs face up. A set is 3 or 4 cards of one rank. A run is 3 or more cards in order in one suit.
4. You may also add cards from your hand to any set or run on the table, including another player’s. Then end your turn by discarding one card face up.
5. The first player out of cards wins the hand. The others add up the cards they still hold: 10 for kings, queens and jacks, 1 for aces, the number for the rest.
6. The winner scores that total, or double for going rummy: going out in one turn with nothing laid down or laid off before. Play to an agreed target, such as 100.

Rule sheet and score sheet

Print the whole game on one page, and a score sheet made for Rummy. Both are free PDFs for Letter paper.

Download the rule sheet

PDF, 1 page. The whole game on one page.

Download the score sheet

PDF, 1 page. Laid out for Rummy.

Setup

2 to 6 players with one deck, each playing alone. The game is at its best with 2 to 4. Notes for 2 players and for bigger groups are further down.

You need: One standard 52-card deck with the jokers taken out.

• The points show what a card is worth to the winner when it is caught in another player’s hand.

1. Use a standard 52-card deck with no jokers. Aces are low and kings are high.
2. Pick the first dealer at random. After each hand the deal passes to the left. With 2 players, the winner of a hand deals next.
3. Deal one card at a time, face down, starting on the dealer’s left: 10 cards each for 2 players, 7 each for 3 or 4, and 6 each for 5 or 6.
4. Stack the rest face down as the stock. Turn its top card face up beside it to start the discard pile. The player on the dealer’s left goes first, and turns pass clockwise.

Each player’s hand

Stock

The 23 cards left over, face down

Discard pile

Starts with one face-up card

• Deal sizes differ a little from one rule book to another. The sizes here are the ones the two main rule sources we checked agree on.

How to play

Every turn follows the same order: draw a card, lay cards down if you want to, then discard. The hand ends as soon as one player has no cards left.

1. Draw one card

   Start your turn by drawing one card: the top card of the stock or the top card of the discard pile.

   • You can see the top discard before you choose. A card from the stock is not shown to the other players.
   • A card taken from the discard pile goes into your hand like any other. You do not have to lay it down right away.

2. Lay down melds if you want to

   You may lay sets and runs from your hand face up on the table. These are melds. A set is 3 or 4 cards of the same rank, such as three 9s. A run is 3 or more cards of one suit in order, such as 5-6-7. The ace is low, so queen-king-ace is not a run.

   • Melding is never required. You can keep a meld in your hand, but its cards count against you if another player goes out first.
   • You can lay down more than one meld in a turn. Some rule books allow only one new meld per turn, so settle this before the first deal.
   • A card can be part of only one meld. The 7 of hearts cannot count in a set of 7s and in a heart run at the same time.

   A set

   

   Same rank. The 9♦ could be added later.

   A run

   

   Same suit, in order

   Not a run

   

   The ace is low, so it cannot follow the king

3. Lay off cards if you want to

   You may also lay off cards, which means adding cards from your hand to any meld on the table, yours or another player’s. A set can take its fourth card. A run can grow at either end.

   • For example, a run of the 5, 6 and 7 of hearts can take the 4 or the 8 of hearts. If you hold the 8 and the 9, you can add them together.
   • You may lay off any number of cards in one turn.
   • Melds cannot be rearranged. Say the table shows four 8s and the 5, 6 and 7 of hearts, and you hold the 9 of hearts. You may not shift the 8 of hearts from the set to the run so that your 9 fits.
   • You do not need a meld of your own on the table before you lay off. Some groups do require one.

4. Discard one card

   End your turn by putting one card from your hand face up on the discard pile. If you took the top discard this turn, you may not put that same card back.

   • A card you drew from the stock may be discarded in the same turn.
   • A card you took from the discard pile may be discarded on a later turn.
   • You discard on every turn, whether or not you laid anything down. The one exception is a turn on which you go out with no card left.

5. Go out to win the hand

   You go out when you get rid of your last card. The hand ends at once and you win it. The last card may be melded, laid off or discarded, so you do not need a final discard.

   • After a player goes out, nobody else may lay down or lay off anything. That includes complete melds still held in a hand.
   • Many groups play that the last card must be a discard. Agree on this before the first deal.

6. Go rummy for a double score

   Going rummy is getting rid of your whole hand in one turn when you have not laid down or laid off any cards before. It doubles your score for the hand.

   • Some groups give a 10-point bonus instead of doubling. Others do not play the rule at all, so agree on it before the first deal.

7. If the stock runs out

   If the stock is used up, the next player may still take the top discard. If they do not want it, turn the discard pile face down without shuffling. It becomes the new stock, and that player draws from it.

   • That player’s discard starts a new discard pile, and play goes on as before.
   • Because the pile is not shuffled, a player with a good memory knows which cards are coming. Many groups shuffle it for that reason.

8. Score the hand

   The other players add up the cards left in their hands. Kings, queens and jacks count 10, aces count 1, and other cards count the number on them. The winner scores the total, or double the total for going rummy. The deal then moves on.

Example: going out with a lay-off

Four players are in the hand. On an earlier turn you laid down a set of three 7s. Sam has a run on the table: the 9, 10 and jack of diamonds. You hold the 4 and 5 of clubs, the queen of diamonds and the king of spades. You draw the 6 of clubs from the stock. First you lay down the 4, 5 and 6 of clubs as a run. Next you lay off the queen of diamonds on the end of Sam’s run. Your only card left is the king of spades. You discard it and go out. This is not going rummy, because your 7s went down on an earlier turn.

Your set, laid down earlier

Sam’s run

Your Q♦ fits on the end

Your hand

Lay down the clubs, lay off the Q♦, discard the K♠

Scoring

Only the player who goes out scores for a hand. The points come from the cards the other players are still holding.

• Cards on the table never count. Only cards still in a hand are added up.
• A complete set or run that is still in a player’s hand counts in full, the same as loose cards.
• The two main rule sources we checked do not fix a target score. Some groups agree on a number of deals instead of a target.

Agree on a target score before the first deal, such as 100 points. The first player to reach the target wins the game.

Use a sheet of paper with a column for each player. After each hand, write the winner’s points in that player’s column and add them to the running total. Nobody else scores for that hand.

A worked example: scoring one hand

This is a different hand, with 4 players. You go out, and the other three are caught holding the cards shown. Kim’s three 9s make a set, but they were still in Kim’s hand, so they count. You score 76 points. Had you gone rummy, the score would be doubled to 152.

Sam

10 + 8 + 3 = 21

Lee

10 + 10 + 5 + 1 = 26

Kim

9 + 9 + 9 + 2 = 29

What happened	Points
Sam: king of clubs	10
Sam: 8 of diamonds	8
Sam: 3 of spades	3
Lee: queen of hearts and queen of diamonds, 10 each	20
Lee: 5 of spades	5
Lee: ace of clubs	1
Kim: three 9s, a set that was never laid down	27
Kim: 2 of diamonds	2
Your score for the hand	76

Scorekeeper

One row for each hand. Only the player who went out gets points for that hand. The first player to the target wins. The target starts at 100 and can be changed, because groups set their own. It works in this browser, keeps the game if the page reloads, and needs no account.

Other ways to play

House rules and other versions

Discard to go out

Your last card must be a discard. You cannot go out by melding or laying off every card, so you always need one card left over to throw away. This is a common house rule, and some rule books give it as the standard rule.

Ace high or low

The ace can be the low end or the high end of a run, so ace-2-3 and queen-king-ace both count. King-ace-2 still does not. Groups that play this often make the ace cost more when it is caught in a hand. One rule source says 15 points and another says 11.

Round the corner

A few groups let a run pass through the ace, such as king-ace-2. This is unusual.

One meld a turn

Some rule books let you lay down only one new set or run on each turn. Laying off stays unlimited.

Meld before you lay off

You may not lay off cards until you have laid down a meld of your own. In one version you must also wait until your next turn.

Shuffle the discards

When the stock runs out, shuffle the discard pile before turning it over. Many rule books give this version. It stops players from memorizing the order of the cards.

Block rummy

The discard pile is never turned over. When the stock is gone and the next player does not want the top discard, the hand ends with nobody out. All players add up their hands. The lowest hand wins and scores the difference between it and each of the other hands. Players tied for lowest share those points.

A limit on turning the pile

Agree that the discard pile is turned over only once, or only twice. After that, when the stock runs out and the next player does not want the top discard, the hand ends with nobody out. Score it the same way as block rummy.

A 10-point bonus for rummy

A player who goes rummy adds a 10-point bonus to the score for the hand instead of doubling it. Some groups do not reward going rummy at all.

Penalty points

Nobody scores for winning a hand. Each player caught with cards writes down their value as penalty points. If a hand ends with nobody out, everyone takes the points in their hand. When a player reaches 100 or more, the player with the lowest total wins the game.

Wild cards

Add the jokers to the deck as wild cards, or agree that every 2 is wild. A wild card can stand for any card in a set or run. A wild card caught in your hand counts 15 points.

Other deal sizes

Rule books do not all agree on the deal. One gives 10 cards each to 2, 3 or 4 players. Another gives 7 cards each to 5 players. A 2-player game is sometimes played with 7 cards each.

Rule questions

Words used in Rummy

Meld

A set or a run laid face up on the table. To meld is to lay one down.

Set

3 or 4 cards of the same rank, such as three kings. Also called a group or a book.

Run

3 or more cards of the same suit in order, such as the 4, 5 and 6 of clubs. Also called a sequence.

Stock

The face-down pile of undealt cards that players draw from.

Discard pile

The face-up pile where every turn ends. Only its top card can be taken.

Upcard

The card turned face up after the deal to start the discard pile.

Lay off

To add a card from your hand to a meld that is already on the table.

Go out

To get rid of the last card in your hand. It ends the hand.

Going rummy

Going out in a single turn without having laid down or laid off any cards earlier in the hand. It scores double.

Hand

One round of play, from the deal until a player goes out. Also the cards a player holds.

Straight rummy

Another name for basic rummy, the game on this page.

Block rummy

A version in which the discard pile is never turned over to make a new stock.

Round the corner

A run that passes through the ace, such as king-ace-2. Basic rummy does not allow it.

Wild card

A card, often a joker, that can stand for any other card. Basic rummy has none unless your group adds them.

What you need

• A standard deck of playing cardsOne 52-card deck is enough for 2 to 6 players. Take the jokers out.Find it on Amazon (A standard deck of playing cards, opens in a new tab)
• A second deckOnly for groups of 7 or more. Decks are often sold two to a box.Find it on Amazon (A second deck, opens in a new tab)
• A score pad and pencilAny paper works. A printed pad has a column ready for each player.Find it on Amazon (A score pad and pencil, opens in a new tab)
• Card holdersOptional. They help small hands keep 7 or 10 cards in order.Find it on Amazon (Card holders, opens in a new tab)

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