Indian Rummy Rules:
Indian Rummy rules mentioned here are most commonly used rules of the card game. However, optional variations of the card game rules exist.
Players: This card game can be played 2 or more players.
Deck: Depending on the number of players, one or more decks are used. If there are 2 to 3 players, then a single deck of 52 cards are used. When jokers or wild cards are included then 54 cards are used. If there are more than 7 players then 3 decks of cards are usually used. Each player is dealt 13 cards.
Deal: The dealer deals each player 13 cards face down. Once all players have received 13 cards, the next card is placed face up which indicates the start of discard pile. Rest of the deck is positioned face down and it becomes the stock pile.
Objective of the game: The main objective of the Indian rummy game is to complete a hand with most or all the cards to form sets and/or sequence.
i) Sequence or run: A sequence or run is made up of three or more cards bearing the same suit and in consecutive order
ii) Set: A set is formed of three or four cards that are identical in rank and are of different suits.
In Indian Rummy, your hand must have at least two sequences. If there is a joker involved, then one of the sequences must be pure or natural. It means that such sequence should not have a joker counted in it.
Life 1 is a pure sequence without a joker involved.
Life 2 is a sequence where a joker is used.
Game Play: The two main elements during a single turn in Indian rummy are a simple draw and discard.
A player must take a card from either the discard pile or the stock pile and add it to his 13 cards. Discard pile is face up and the top card known as the upcard is visible. Stock pile is placed face down and other players will not see the card chosen by the player.
After drawing from the either pile, the player must discard the card that is least wanted in his 13 cards. It will be a card that is probably not in the sequence or is hindering in forming a sequence. Such card should be placed in the discard pile face up.
If a player manages to form at least two sequences (one of which is pure, with no wild cards), only then can he / she go out. Player has to do this by placing the melds on the table and discarding the final card. Now, other players meld their cards and score is counted.
Sometimes, there is only one card left in the stock pile while playing a hand. If the player whose turn it is does not want to use the card on the discard pile, then the whole discard pile is shuffled and turned over to form a new stock pile.
Scoring: Player who forms the sequences and / or set first should have at least one pure sequence. In case the player fails to form a pure sequence, then all the other cards are counted as unmatched and no other meld is valid.
Details of the value of cards are mentioned below:
Details of the value of cards are mentioned below:
Cards
|
Value
|
Jokers
|
0 points
|
Aces
|
10 points
|
Faces (Jack,
Queen and King)
|
10 points
|
Others (Number
cards)
|
Pip value (eg;
2 heart carries 2 points)
|
There is no knocking, no line or game bonuses. The dealer will tally up the value of each player’s unmatched cards. If they have unmatched cards they get negative points. Winner earns the combined unmatched count as positive value. Players can play a single hand but keep dealing cards for subsequent game(s) until one reaches the agreed score. They can also play until fixed number of deals or for a set amount of time.
