Rummoli

Jan 14, 2019 This board is smaller than a typical Rummoli board and there aren't enough chips included to actually play a round. Buy a box or two of actual poker chips and toss the mini ones it comes with. Oct 25, 2019 Rummoli combines the excitement of a board game with the intricate movements of a card game. It is a family game and the first step to play Rummoli is getting hold of 2 to 8 players, a standard deck of 52 cards, a Rummoli board and chips or coins.

• How To Play Rummoli
• Rummoli Game
• Rummoli Board Plans
• Rummoli Rules
• Rummoli Online

Ultimate Guide to Rummy (aka 'Rum')

Rummy is one of the most popular classic card games in the world. Often referred to as 'basic rummy” or 'traditional rummy,” or just 'Rum,' it's easy to learn and play once you get the hang of it. Though it's a simple game, playing rummy is exciting and there's a decent amount of skill involved.

How to Play Rummy: Rules & More

Rummy is played with 2-6 players. It is played with a standard 52-card deck and aces are low.

Players take turns dealing when playing a two-player game. When playing with three or more players, whose turn it is to deal rotates clockwise every round. The player who deals first is chosen at random and how many cards dealt to each player depends on the total number of players.

• 2 players: 10 cards each
• 3-4 players: 7 cards each
• 5-6 players: 6 cards each

The dealer deals cards one by one then begins the discard pile by placing the following card face-up in the middle of the table. The dealer then places the rest of the deck face down next to it, forming the stock. Players then are permitted to look at their cards and sort them.

The goal of Rummy is simple: get rid of all your cards first.

Players can rid their hand of cards in three ways: they can meld, lay off, and discard.

• To meld, a player takes multiple cards from his or her hand and places them face-up on the table. That combination of cards then stays there. Melding is the quickest way to get rid of cards.
• Sets (sometimes called groups or books) and runs (sometimes called sequences) are the two valid types of melds in Rummy.
• A set, book or group is 3 or 4 same-ranking cards.
• Example: 10 of spades, 10 of diamonds and 10 of hearts
• Example: 6 of clubs, 6 of spades, 6 of diamonds, and 6 of hearts
• A run or sequence is 3+ consecutive cards of a matching suit. Consecutive cards of different suits do not constitute a valid sequence.
• Example: 3 of spades, 4 of spades, and 5 of spades
• Example: 9 of hearts, 10 of hearts, Jack of hearts, and Queen of hearts.
• To lay off, add cards in your hand to already-existing melds.
• Example: To a set of a 10 of spades, 10 of diamonds and 10 of hearts, a player could add a 10 of clubs.
• Example: To a run of a 3 of spades, 4 of spades, and 5 of spades, a player could add a 2 of spades to the beginning or a 6 of spades to the end.
• However, players may not rearrange any melds as they lay off.
• Example: If a set of the 6 of clubs, 6 of spades, 6 of diamonds, and 6 of hearts and a run of the 3 of spades, 4 of spades, and 5 of spades are both on the table, a player couldn't move the 6 of spades from the set to the run in order to lay down a 7 of spades.
• To discard, put one of your cards in your hand face-up on the discard pile. Players signal the end of every turn by getting rid of a card in this way.

How To Play Rummoli

Once a player has laid down all of his or her cards, the other player's cards are totaled up and added to the previous round's total. The rounds continue in this manner until one player reaches or goes over a target score and the rummy game is over. Then, the player with the lowest score wins.

Players take turns, rotating clockwise, starting with the person to the left of the dealer. In a two-player game, players alternate turns.

Each turn includes the following, in this order:

1. Drawing. Each player must start his or her turn by adding a card to his or her hand. Players can choose to take the first card from the discard pile or the stock pile.
2. Melding. After beginning his or her turn by drawing a card, a player may lay a valid set or run down if he or she has one. Players can only put down one meld per turn (see Variations of Play). (Melding is optional)
3. Laying off. After melding, players can add on to runs or sets already melded by any player. Players can lay off as many cards per turn as they'd like. Laying off is optional as well.
4. Discarding. To signal that his or her turn is over, a player must discard a card from his or her hand to the discard pile. If a player picked up the card from the discard pile at the beginning of his or her turn, that player may not discard the same card in the same turn.

When the stock runs out, the discard pile is shuffled, turned face-down and the top card is turned face up next to it. Play continues. (See Variations of Play for alternate practices)

The round immediately ends when a player gets rid of all cards in his or her hand, or 'goes out.” That player wins the round.

Once the round ends with a player going out, total up the other players' cards as follows:

• Kings, Queens, Jacks, and 10s: 10 points
• Number cards: face value
• Aces: 1 point

The total value of the cards left in each losing player's hand is recorded and added to the previous round's total. The points are penalty points.

When any player reaches a previously agreed upon target score (often 100), the player with the lowest score wins. (See Variations of Play for other scoring options)

Strategy

Here are some tips and tricks for how to win Rummy:

• Get rid of face cards and other high-value cards. If you can, do so early on in the game. If not, at least do so towards the end when you notice that your opponent is about to run out of cards. This means you'll run your own score up less.
• Mathematically, it's easier to make a run than it is to get 3 of a kind. So if you're forced to discard either a card that could later form a run or one that could be part of a set, it's better to discard one that could later form a set.
• Pay attention to what your opponent does. If he or she grabs a 10 of spades from the deck, you can bet that they probably either have a 10 already or are trying to complete a run of spades. Do your best to block them from getting rid of their cards!
• Keep in mind that a run can have more than 3 cards in a row. Sometimes, the best way to get rid of cards fast is to form a 5- or 6-card run.

These are just the basics. For more in depth strategy of Rummy, check out White Knuckle.

Variations of Rummy

Looking to mix things up a bit? Here are some alternative house rules you can use. Be sure to discuss and decide upon any variations among fellow players before starting a game.

Instead of playing to a target score, players can decide to play to a set number of rounds. In this case, the player with the least amount of points after the set number of hands is the winner.

Some play that players are allowed to lay down any number of melds during each turn. This is a very common variation; be sure that all players are on the same page about how many melds can be played during each turn before beginning a game.

Many also give a player bonus points if he or she goes out in one turn or 'going rummy,” as they call it. When a player 'goes rummy,' the hand's score is doubled.

Some don't allow a player to lay off cards until he or she has laid down a meld. This is also a very common variation.

The standard rules dictate that aces are only low. Hence, a run of Ace, 2, 3 would count, but a run of Queen, King, Ace wouldn't. Some let aces count as either low or high. When this rule is implemented, aces count for 15 points rather than 1 point, since they're more useful.

Even when this rule is implemented, aces can't be both high and low at the same time, such as in a King, Ace, 2 run. (Some allow these sort of runs, but it's rare)

Standard Rummy doesn't use jokers. Some play that jokers can be used as wild cards that can replace any other card to form sets and sequences. When this rule is implemented, jokers are valued at 15 points and can be used by other players once they're on the table.

Some require players to discard a card even at the end of their last turn. Playing with this rule, a player wouldn't be permitted to meld or lay off all of his or her cards since he or she couldn't finish by discarding one.

In old rummy rules, the discard pile isn't supposed to be shuffled before being reused as stock. However, this version of play isn't very fair because without a shuffle, any player who can memorize the discarded cards in order will have a clear advantage. Due to this, most card game books now recommend shuffling the pile before continuing play.

In both instances, using the discard pile as new stock over and over has other disadvantages. If each player hoards cards that other players want, each player could draw from the pile and discard the card he or she just drew. Theoretically, this sort of game could go on forever. To avoid that sort of repetition, players might consider limiting how many times they reshuffle the discard pile per round.

The discard pile is never reused In a variation of rummy called block rummy. Once the stock pile runs out, the game is over and all players score their remaining cards.

In a common variation of traditional rummy, only the winner scores points after each round. The winner then gets the total number of points from all the cards in the hands of the losing players. When playing this way, the game still ends once a player reaches a target score. The player who reaches it wins the game.

Others play that the winner wins real cash from the losers according to how many points they each have in his or her hand. When playing this way, the game would end after an agreed-upon number of rounds instead of once a certain score is reached.

Glossary of Terms

Block rummy: a variation of rummy in which the discard pile is never reused

Book: 3 or 4 same-ranking cards. Example: 10 of spades, 10 of diamonds and 10 of hearts. One of two types of melds in rummy. Also called a group or set.

Discard: to play a card from your hand on top of the discard pile, signaling the end of a turn.

Gin rummy: a popular version of rummy played with two people. Often confused with traditional rummy.

Go out: To get rid of the last card in your hand, to win and end a round

Go rummy: Going out in a single turn by melding or laying off an entire hand.

Group: 3 or 4 same-ranking cards. Example: 10 of spades, 10 of diamonds and 10 of hearts. One of two types of melds in Rummy. Also called a book or set.

Indian rummy: a popular version of rummy from India played with two decks and wild cards.

Lay off: to add one or more cards from your hand to an already-existing meld

Meld: to place multiple cards from your hand face-up on the table. There are two types of acceptable melds in rummy: sets (also called books and groups) and runs (also called sequences).

Rummy 500: a popular version of rummy in which players play to 500 and score according to cards showing and cards in hand

Run: 3+ consecutive cards of a matching suit. Example: 3 of spades, 4 of spades, and 5 of spades. Also called a sequence.

Sequence: 3+ consecutive cards of a matching suit. Example: 3 of spades, 4 of spades, and 5 of spades. Also called a run.

Set: 3 or 4 same-ranking cards. Example: 10 of spades, 10 of diamonds and 10 of hearts. One of two types of melds in Rummy. Also called a book or group.

Stock: the face-down pile from which players can draw a card at the beginning of each turn

If you get bored here, we have plenty of other games to play! Maybe go play the card game hearts or the card game spades or the card game solitaire!

Rummoli is a family card game for 2 to 8 people. This Canadianboard game, first marketed in 1940 by the Copp Clark Publishing Company of Toronto^[1] requires a Rummoli board, a deck of playing cards (52 cards, no jokers), and chips or coins to play. The game is usually played for fun, or for small stakes (e.g. Canadian Dimes). Rummoli is one of the more popular versions of the Stops Group of matching card games,^[2] in particular it falls into a subgroup of stops games based on the German Poch^[3] and falls into a family of Poch variants such as the French Nain Jaune(Yellow Dwarf), the Victorian Pope Joan but most like the American game Tripoley (a proprietary name, occasionally called by the generic Michigan rummy, but not to be confused with 500 rum) which debuted eight years earlier in Chicago in 1932.^[4][5]

Rummoli board[edit]

A Rummoli board, used during play, has the shape of an octagon. It is generally simply printed on a large sheet of paper.^{[citation needed]}

In the centre of the board is a pot called Rummoli, surrounded by eight pots:

• The poker pot
• Ten of spades
• Jack of diamonds
• Queen of clubs
• King of hearts
• Ace and King of diamonds
• Sequence 7-8-9 of any suit

Each of these pots on the board is used to store chips. The ordering of the pots around the board is not important.

Rummoli Game

Play[edit]

Ace is high. For brevity, in the following description the 'lowest card' means the lowest card in a player's hand or, if two or more cards are equally low, either or any of them.

Rummoli Board Plans

A game is played in one or more rounds. The game ends at the end of a round, at the discretion of the players. For example, it may be agreed to finish at a certain time, or when all but one player have exhausted their chips.

Rounds[edit]

For each round, there are four stages: the Deal, the Poker phase, the Rummoli phase, and the End of round, which are played in sequence.

Deal[edit]

Before the cards are dealt, each player pays one chip to each pot on the Rummoli board.The dealer then deals around the table to every player, and an extra hand (in some terminology known as a ghost hand) called the widow.

• All cards are dealt, so some players may have one more card than others.
• Once this is completed all players look at their own hands.
• The widow hand can (at the dealer's wish) be swapped with the dealer's hand (must not be exchanged if his hand contains a pay card).
• If the dealer does not exchange hands, the widow hand is auctioned off to the highest bidder, who pays their bid to the dealer, and that player exchanges hands with the widow. Any player except the dealer may bid at any time (must not be exchanged if his hand contains a pay card)

Once the bid is accepted the player is committed to the exchange regardless if the widow is a poorer hand. The widow hand takes no further part in the play.

Poker phase[edit]

• The player to the left of the dealer starts off the betting, having the option to check.
• Betting continues in regular poker fashion.
• The remaining player with the best poker hand wins the poker pot and begins the Rummoli phase. He or she then 'plays' the lowest card in the hand. To play a card, the player states the card he or she is playing and puts it down in front of them. For example, if the lowest card in my hand is the 3 of hearts, I put the card down in front of me, say, 'three of hearts.' If I have the four of hearts, I would play that as well. If I have two 3s in my hand, I may choose either 3.

Rummoli phase[edit]

While this phase is being played if any player lays down a card corresponding to a pot such as Ace of Spades, the player picks up that pot. If a player places down a card that corresponds to a pot without realizing so, then the chips stay in the pot.

The player with the next card in the sequence of the suit must lay that card, and this continues with players laying cards until nobody has the card that follows in sequence (remember, some cards are missing from the spare hand that is not being played).

• If no one holds that next card (that is, it has already been laid or is in the widow hand) the player who last laid a card then lays the lowest card in a suit of the opposite colour (that is, hearts or diamonds if the last card was spades or clubs, and the other way about).
• Having laid an ace the next card in sequence is the lowest card in the opposite colour. The player who played the ace continues.
• A player not having a card of the required colour, the play then moves clockwise. If the next player also cannot play, this step repeats as necessary.<ref>If an impasse is reached (all players only have red cards), everyone counts their cards, and throws one chip/coin in the center pot for each card in their hand. The winner of the next hand collects both pots.

A card once laid takes no further part in the play.

End of round[edit]

The first player to have an empty hand wins the Rummoli pot.

• All other players must then pay one chip for each remaining card they hold.
• All pots that are not won remain on the board and accumulate in subsequent rounds.
  • The pots for 7-8-9 and Ace and King of Diamonds often accumulate over several rounds, since these combinations are less likely to be held by one player alone, and even if they are, another player may win the round before there is any chance to play them.

The deal shifts after each round, one player clockwise.

End of play[edit]

After the agreed end of the round play, all chips on the board are placed into one pot and a round of poker dealt and played for it. A variation is to play a round for each pot that still has chips in it, starting with the pot with the fewest chips.

The player with the most chips at the end of the game wins.

References[edit]

Rummoli Rules

1. ^'Rummoli'. canadiandesignresource.ca. 20 June 2006. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
2. ^'Card Games: Stops Group'. Pagat.com. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
3. ^'Poch/Le Poque'. Pagat.com. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
4. ^'Tripoley Rummy Card Game'. AddA52.com. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
5. ^'Tripoli'. AddA52.com. Retrieved 3 April 2020.

Rummoli Online