How To Play Rummy

Learn How to Play Rummy and become a winner

Play Rummy Online at RummyCircle with your Rummy Circle     Play Rummy Online at Classic Rummy

A quick summary of How to Play Rummy the Indian way

  • It is ideal for 2 to 6 players to play Indian Rummy.
  • Depending on the number of players the no: of decks is used. Usually if there are 2 to 3 players, one deck is used and 4 - 6 players, two decks are used.
  • A deck of cards is shuffled well.
  • A dealer (usually one of the players) deals a card to each player face down in a clockwise (or anti-clockwise) manner till each player gets 13 cards. Note that 13 cards are dealt to each player irrespective of the number of players or number of decks used.
  • Once 13 cards are distributed to each player a open card is kept face-up to start the discard pile and the remaining cards in the hands of the dealer are kept face-down to form the draw cards pile.
  • Every players draws (from the face-down pile or the immediate last card in the discard pile) and discards a card with the objective of completing sets and/or sequence with the 13 cards in hand in the format 4+3+3+3.
  • The player needs to show the cards in hand by grouping them in sets and / or sequence to declare.
  • In order to win the game, it is important that the players atleast show two sequences, of which one must be a pure sequence (no joker, unless, it is part of forming the sequence).
  • Do read more about Indian Rummy and Learn How to form Sets and Sequences, Variants of Indian Rummy, Tips & Tricks etc.

How is the dealer and seating arrangement decided?

  • Players pick a card randomly from a deck of cards (no joker allowed).
  • The players with the highest card value chooses his / her seat first. The next highest value chooses a seat next. This process continues till all are seated. There is no art or science to pick a seat.
  • The person who gets the lowest value card shuffles and deals the cards.

Printed Joker & Joker

A printed joker is the joker which comes as apart of a deck of cards. Usually there are 2 jokers in a deck of cards. A printed joker is also sometimes referred to as a wildcard

Apart from the printed joker another joker can also be introduced in the game. The dealer after dealing 13 cards to each player, picks a random card from the deck and places it face-up and declares it as a joker. During the game all cards with the same value ( irrespective of the suit) can be treated as a joker by the players to form sets and / or sequence. Note that the joker picked by the dealer cannot be used during the game and just remains face-up to remind everyone of the joker.

If while picking the joker, the printed joker is picked, the remaining one printed joker will be the only other joker available during the game.

Note: Many a times Indian Rummy Rules are customized a bit by the players. However, the rules are agreed by all the players before hand. Eg: It could be decided by the players that the printed joker will not be a part of the deck while picking the joker. And once the joker is picked, the printed joker will be shuffled back into the deck. This is to ensure that there are more jokers available during the game play.

What if the stock pile face down cards runs out?

If there are no cards on the face down cards pile and the player does not want the last card discarded by the earlier player in the face-up pile; the face-up pile is re-shuffled and placed face-down again for cards to be drawn and the game to continue till a winner is decided.

What is the points that each card carries?

Knowing the points that each card carries is very important, as part of the tips and tricks for this format of 13 cards rummy, it advised to discard high value cards quickly, if the initial indications are that it maybe difficult to form a set or a sequence quickly with the cards in hand.

Jack, Queen & King (Face cards) = 10 points
Ace = 10 Points
Joker = 0 Points
Number cards = The number on the card (irrespective of the suit) represents the points it carries. Eg:  2 hearts carries 2 points, 8 diamonds carries 8 points, 6 spades carries 6 points and so on.

CardsValueExample 1Example 2
Jokers0 points     is worth 0 points     is worth 0 points
Aces10 pointsA  is worth 10 pointsA  is worth 10 points
Faces10 pointsQ  is worth 10 pointsK  is worth 10 points
OthersPip value5  is worth 5 points7  is worth 7 points

Ace in Indian Rummy

Aces have high points value (10) however it can be used in two different sequences while playing rummy.

J,Q,K,A and Q,K,A are valid sequences. Also; A,2,3,4 and  A,2,3 are valid sequence. However a sequence K,A,2 is an invalid sequence. Basically, Aces have to be at the beginning or ending of a sequence unless Ace is one of the jokers.

Apart from this How to Play Rummy section, we recommend reading the information available in the "Indian Rummy - 13 Cards Rummy" navigation tab to learn more about How to form Sets and Sequences, Variants of Indian Rummy, Tips & Tricks etc.
Play Rummy Online at Classic Rummy