Rummy Variations and House Rules
Ask four families how they play Rummy and you will hear four slightly different answers. The heart of the game never changes (draw, meld, lay off, discard), but the details around the edges do. This page goes through the differences you are most likely to meet. Four of them can be switched on in the Settings of our online Rummy game; the rest are here so you know what to expect at someone else's table.
How Long a Game Lasts
Our game is played to 100 points unless you change it. That usually takes somewhere between three and eight hands with two players. Settings also offers:
- 250 points: a longer game, where one lucky hand can't settle everything.
- 500 points: an evening's play, popular with couples who keep a running score.
- A single hand: whoever goes out first wins. Good for a quick game over coffee.
Some families skip the target altogether and play for a set number of hands, or for an hour, and see who is ahead. Others play with each loser paying the winner the difference in pennies or chips.
Aces: Low, High or Both
In the classic game the Ace is the lowest card. It can start a run (A-2-3) but can't follow a King, and it counts just 1 point if you are caught holding it. Our game offers the three common choices:
| Setting | A-2-3 | Q-K-A | K-A-2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aces low (usual) | Yes | No | No |
| Aces high | No | Yes | No |
| Either end | Yes | Yes | No |
A few tables also allow "around the corner" runs such as K-A-2. We don't offer that one, because it makes runs very easy to build and very hard to guard against. In every version here the Ace is worth 1 point in your hand.
Going Out With or Without a Discard
In the standard game you can go out any way you like: by melding your last cards, by laying off the last one, or by discarding it. Many families add a rule that your final card must be a discard. That means you can never meld or lay off your very last card; you have to keep one back to throw.
The discard rule makes going out a little harder and slows the game down slightly. It also changes the planning at the end of a hand. A hand of exactly three cards in a run can't go out in one turn, because you would have to keep one of them back. Tick You must discard to go out in Settings to play this way.
The Rummy Bonus
Going out in a single turn, with no melds or lay-offs on any earlier turn, is called going rummy. Most families reward it by doubling the winner's score for that hand. Our game does this by default; untick Going out all at once (rummy) scores double if your family never played it.
The bonus adds a real decision to the game: put your melds down now and be safe, or hold them and hope to go out all at once for double. Our Hard computer player sometimes holds its melds for exactly this reason, and it says so when you tap Why?.
Other Rules You May Meet
Taking from deeper in the discard pile
Some games let you take a card from anywhere in the discard pile, as long as you take every card above it as well and use the deepest one at once. That is the main rule of Rummy 500, which also scores the cards you meld. In basic Rummy only the top card may be taken.
When the stock runs out
Most families turn the discard pile over (keeping its top card) to make a new stock, which is what our game does. Some shuffle it first. A few simply end the hand when the stock is gone, with nobody scoring. To keep a hand from going on forever, our game turns the pile over at most three times.
Must you meld before laying off?
A few tables say you can't lay off on other players' melds until you have put down a meld of your own. Most don't bother, and neither does our game.
Scoring every player
Instead of the winner scoring everyone's leftovers, some groups give each player penalty points for their own leftover cards, and the lowest total wins. The result is much the same; it's just a different way of writing it down.
Bigger groups
With five or six players, use two decks shuffled together and deal 7 cards each. Sets can then hold two of the same card, which some tables allow and others don't.
Which Rules Should You Use?
For a first game, keep the settings as they come: one computer player, a game to 100, Aces low, going out any way you like, and the rummy bonus on. Once that feels comfortable, try the discard-to-go-out rule, which rewards a bit more planning. The full basic rules are on the rules page. If you like this family of games, Gin Rummy and Canasta are well worth a try too.