How to play Rummy: card game rules & interactive tutorial
Rummy is a "draw-and-discard" card game for 4 players. Like its two-player cousin, Gin Rummy, it's a game of drawing cards and forming melds. Only the player who goes out scores, and the first player to reach 200 points wins. If you want a longer game with more melding, try Hand & Foot.
Below you'll find a thorough explanation of the rules. Above, you'll find an interactive tutorial to help you learn how to play. Whichever way you choose, you should be well-acquainted with the rules in no time.
Once you're familiar with the rules, you can play Rummy online for free at World of Card Games. You have the option to play against other people online or with friends. We recommend playing a couple of games against our bots before playing against other people.
Let the Rummy extravaganza begin!
Rummy at a glance
The classic draw-and-discard game of sets and runs.
- Players: 4, everyone for themselves
- Deck: standard 52 cards, no Jokers
- Type: draw and discard (melding)
- Objective: form sets and runs, then go out by playing all your cards
- Winning: first player to reach 200 points
The cards
Rummy uses a standard deck of 52 playing cards. Cards are ranked from Ace (low) to King. Face cards (Jack, Queen, King) are worth 10 points, number cards are worth their face value, and Aces count as 1 point. These values matter when calculating points at the end of each hand.
Objective
The goal is to be the first player to reach 200 points. You score by going out, which means getting rid of every card in your hand before the other players do. A strategic balance between forming your own melds and preventing opponents from completing theirs is key to winning.
Deal
A random player is chosen as the dealer for the first hand. Each player receives 7 cards and the remaining cards form the draw pile in the center of the table. One card is turned face up beside the draw pile to start the discard pile. Play proceeds clockwise from the dealer.
Gameplay
On your turn, you must first draw one of these cards.
- The top card from the draw pile
- The top card of the discard pile
If you take the top card of the discard pile, you can't discard that same card in the same turn, but you can discard it on a later turn. You don't have to meld it at once. You can keep it, use it in a new meld, or add it to a meld on the table, alone or together with cards from your hand. For example, you can take the 3 of Hearts to add it with your 4 of Hearts to a 5-6-7 of Hearts run. Because you can't discard the card you took, you can't meld or lay off cards if that leaves only that card in your hand.
You can then form melds and lay them on the table or add cards to existing melds, including melds other players laid down. Adding a card to a meld on the table is called laying off. There are two types of melds.
- Sets: three or four cards of the same rank (for example, three 7s)
- Runs: three or more consecutive cards in the same suit (for example, 5-6-7 of Hearts). Aces can be used as either high or low in runs, meaning they can be played before a 2 (A-2-3) or after a King (Q-K-A)
Remember that each card can only be part of one meld at a time. You end your turn by discarding one card face up onto the discard pile.
Going out
The hand ends as soon as a player has no cards left. You can go out by melding, by laying off or by discarding your last card. If you meld or lay off all your cards, you go out without a discard.
If you go out in a single turn and you have not melded or laid off any cards earlier in the hand, you go rummy and your score for the hand is doubled.
When the draw pile runs out
The first time in a hand that a player must draw and the draw pile is empty, the discard pile is turned over to make a new draw pile. The top card stays face up to start the new discard pile, and the other cards are not shuffled. Play then continues as normal.
If the draw pile runs out a second time in the same hand, the hand ends at once. Nobody scores, and a new hand is dealt.
Scoring
Only the player who goes out scores. They collect the points for all the cards left in the other players' hands. Melds on the table don't score, and nobody loses points.
- Face cards (J, Q, K): 10 points each
- Ace: 1 point
- Number cards: face value (2=2 points, 3=3 points, etc.)
If the player who goes out went rummy, these points are doubled. Scores carry over from hand to hand.
Game end
The game ends after the hand in which a player reaches 200 points.
The player with the highest score wins!
If two or more players tie for the highest score, they share the win.
History
Rummy games first appeared in the early twentieth century, derived from the Mexican game Conquian. This version is known as Basic Rummy or Straight Rummy in card game literature. The game's simple yet strategic gameplay has made it a popular choice worldwide, spawning many variants including 500 Rummy, which allows multiple cards to be taken from the discard pile.
The rules in practice
A turn has three parts. Say you hold the 5 and 6 of Hearts and the up card on the discard pile is the 7 of Hearts. You take it, because it completes the 5-6-7 run right away. You lay the run on the table, meld anything else you have ready, and finish by discarding one card. You can also take the up card when it doesn't fit a meld yet, but you can't throw it straight back onto the discard pile in the same turn, so take it only when you want to keep it. If the draw pile ever runs out, the discard pile is turned over to make a new one, but only once per hand. The second time it runs out, the hand ends and nobody scores.
Aces are flexible in runs, but only at one end at a time. A-2-3 of Spades is a valid run and so is Q-K-A of Spades. A run can't wrap around the corner, though, so K-A-2 is never valid. For points the Ace is the cheapest card in the deck at just 1, while every face card costs 10.
Only going out scores. Suppose you play your last card while your three opponents are still holding a King and a 4 (14 points), two 7s (14 points), and an Ace and a 9 (10 points). You collect all 38 points, and your opponents score nothing that hand. If you had laid down all your cards in that one turn, without melding or laying off earlier in the hand, you'd go rummy and collect 76 points instead. That's why hoarding a big hand is risky. Every card you're still holding when someone else goes out becomes their points.
Strategy basics
A few habits will win you more hands than any single clever play.
- Meld early. Cards on the table can't score for someone else, while cards in your hand can. Save a hand for going rummy only when you're close to going out.
- Get rid of face cards you're not using. At 10 points each, they're the most expensive cards to be caught holding.
- Watch every pickup from the discard pile. A player who takes the up card wants it, so each pickup tells you what that player is collecting.
- Choose safe discards. Avoid throwing cards that match the rank an opponent picked up or that extend a run they've shown.
- When a discard decision is close, keep the cards that could grow into runs. A run can keep extending one card at a time, and every card you add to a meld on the table brings you closer to going out.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to lay down a meld as soon as I have one?
No. Melding is optional and you can hold a completed meld in your hand as long as you like. Waiting is risky, though. If another player goes out first, every card still in your hand scores points for them.
Can I add cards to melds other players laid down?
Yes. You can add cards to any meld on the table, not just your own. A run can be extended at either end and a set of three can take its fourth card. You can add several cards at once, like the 3 and 4 of Hearts to a 5-6-7 of Hearts run.
Can I discard the card I took from the discard pile?
Not in the same turn. If you take the top card of the discard pile, you must discard a different card, or go out. You can keep the card you took and discard it on a later turn.
Can a card be part of two melds at once?
No. Each card belongs to one meld only, so a 7 of Hearts used in a set of 7s can't also count toward a heart run.
How do I go out?
You go out by getting rid of every card in your hand. Your last card can go into a meld, onto a meld on the table or onto the discard pile, so you don't need a final discard. When your last card leaves your hand, the hand ends and you score points for all the cards your opponents are still holding.
What is going rummy?
You go rummy when you go out in a single turn without having melded or laid off any cards earlier in the hand. Your points for that hand are doubled.
Who wins the game?
The game ends after the hand in which a player reaches 200 points, and the highest score wins. Only the player who goes out scores in a hand, so only one player's score goes up at a time. If two or more players tie for the highest score, they share the win.