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Online Rummy is an easy card game to learn and play. Indian rummy is played on 2 player tables or 6 player tables. Rummy is a game of skill; it is half the battle won, if you learn the basics of the game. If you are looking for a reliable and safe platform to learn how to play rummy card game and try your skill at rummy, you are at the right place.
Here are the guidelines for you to follow after which you not only will learn how to play rummy games but also become an expert rummy player.
Rummy is a simple card game played with two or more players, requiring 2 decks of cards if the number of players exceeds five. The main goal is to be the first player at your table to arrange the cards you are dealt into predefined combinations and submit your melded cards. The rest of the players then accumulate points based on the cards in their hands. The player with the least number of points at the end of a game wins it.
The best way to learn is to watch demo videos on our Rummy Tutorials.
• A 52 cards deck includes thirteen ranks of each of the four suits and additional 2 Jokers.
• Four card suits are: Clubs (♣), Diamonds (♦), Hearts (♥) and Spades (♠)
• Cards in each suit rank are: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen and King. Here Jack, Queen and King are called as face cards and Ace can be used either as 1 or as a face card when making the sequences.
• Joker: Jokers act as a replacement or substitute for any card in melding sets or sequences.
• Points associated with cards: Face cards - Jack, Queen, King and Ace have 10 points each. The rest of the cards have points according to the number printed. Printed Jokers or Wild Jokers have no points.
Although the game on Rummy Stars has adequate pointers on the table that tell you about each action you may take, but below is a quick guide on how to play on rummy on a table online.
Picking Cards Up:
You have two options to pick cards up from – the closed deck or the open deck.
Closed Deck: These are the remaining cards from the deck which have not been dealt to the players. The next card, which is the topmost card on the deck, is unknown to the players.
Open Deck: This is the pile of cards discarded per player per round. As the name suggests, these cards are visible to the players.
This is how Closed Deck and Open Deck look like on a Rummystars Table
Rules for picking up cards:
• You may pick only one card at a time, and only when it is your turn.
• You may pick only the topmost card from Closed Deck or Open Deck, whichever pile you choose.
Card Combinations
There are two types of winning card combinations when you finally meld your cards while placing a Show:
Sequence/Runs
Sequence/Runs are 3 or more cards of the same suit in consecutive order.
For Example: Queen of Diamonds, King of Diamonds and Ace of Diamonds can together form a sequence -Q♦K♦A♦
Similarly, Two of Spades, Three of Spades, Four of Spades and Five of Spades can together form a sequence - 2♥ 3♥ 4♥ 5♥
Sets/Trails
Sets/Trails are 3 or more cards of the same rank but different suits, you cannot use two cards of the same value in a single set.
For Example: Queen of Clubs, Queen of Spades and Queen of Hearts can together form a set - Q♣Q♠Q♥
Similarly, Four of Diamonds, Four of Clubs, Four of Spades and Four of Hearts can together form a set - 4♦4♣4♠4♥
Printed Joker & Wild Joker
Jokers are wild cards that play a very important role in the way your rummy game proceeds and in melding your cards as soon as possible.
There are 2 types of Jokers in Rummy – Printed Joker and Wild Joker.
Printed Joker
Every deck of cards 52 cards has 2 extra cards which are known as Printed Jokers which are used to make sequences or sets once a pure sequence has been formed. Below is an image of how a Printed Joker looks like on a Rummystars table.
Printed Joker
In every Rummy game, a card is randomly selected to be used as a Wild Joker which has usage and qualities exactly of how they are in a Printed Joker. Below is a screenshot of how a Wild Joker looks like on a Rummystars table. Here, 10 of Clubs (♣) is chosen as a Wild Joker. This also means that all cards of this rank and different suits also become the Wild Jokers. So 10 of Diamonds (♦), 10 of Hearts (♥) and 10 of Spades (♠) all become Wild Jokers which have 0 points and can be used as a substitute to meld a sequence or a set.
Wild Joker
Using Jokers to form Sequence/Sets
Below is how a Printed Joker can be used to form sequences and sets:
Forming an sequence with Printed Joker
Forming an set with Printed Joker
Sort Function
In Rummy Stars the cards are distributed randomly between all the opponents and appear in the fashion as shown below. The easiest way to arrange your cards is to hit Sort button. This feature sorts the cards according to their suits in increasing order of their ranks as shown. Using Sort makes it easier for the user to have a quicker understanding of what cards they have, strategize and decide how they want to proceed with the game.
Cards as they are served on the table
Cards after using the Sort feature
Declare
There would be times when your opponent has a valid meld and you need to declare your cards.
Do you think that you’re being watched? Hide your cards by simply clicking on the Flip button. The feature makes sure that your cards are not visible to anyone until it’s your turn to play next.
Before Flip
After Flip
Drop/Auto-Drop Function
As soon as players have been dealt, you may be able to drop a game if you’re displeased with the cards you’ve received. However, this will give you a bunch of undesirable points, so it needs to be a calculated risk! (Don’t try this on your first date!)
Time-bound
Unlike offline rummy, you cannot take your own sweet time for every move. Game starts, manual extra time, discarding cards, melding your combinations, etc. are all time-bound, depending on various factors like the number of players and games. This adds to the thrill of your skill!
Discard a Card
Select the card that you want to discard by clicking on it. Hit the discard icon that appears above the card. The discarded card will then move to the Open deck and your opponent may either pick this card or pick a card from Closed Deck in their next turn.
Place a Show
Group Cards
Select 2 or more cards that you want to group by clicking on them. Once you’ve picked your combination, click on Group icon that appears on top of the cards.
Rummy Stars offers you plenty of fun features which enhance your overall game play and experience. We combat internet issues and disconnections with our awesome Artificial Intelligence and Auto Play, hasty decisions (still talking about game play!) with our super cool Smart Correction, and lots more.
• In 13-card rummy, a player can get a maximum of 80 points irrespective of the total value of the cards in his/her hand.
• Wrong Declaration: If a player declares the hand without completing the objective or without forming correct sequences and/or sets, he/she is penalized with 80 points.
• First Drop: A player gets 20 points if he/she drops out of the game on his/her very first turn without picking a card from the Open Deck.
• Middle Drop: If a player drops out of the game any time after his/her first turn, he/she gets 40 points.
• Consecutive Misses: If a player misses 3 consecutive turns, he/she gets a middle drop and is automatically dropped out of the game.
• Losing Players with a Valid Hand: Players who declare their combinations second and have a valid hand get 2 points. So, if you win a game against players who also have a valid hand, the losing players with valid hands lose by two points each.
• Leaving the Table: You will get a Middle Drop of 40 points if you leave the table after picking a card.
• What is a Table?
A Table is where a Game of rummy is played. Typically, one Game of rummy is played on one Table.
• What is a Deck of cards?
A complete set of cards is called a Deck of cards. A Deck of cards consists of the following cards: 52 cards - 4 Suits with 13 cards each
1 Wild Card joker – Also called as a Paper Joker
• What is a Joker?
Joker is a card that can substitute any card to form a sequence. These cards are special and important in a Rummy Game. There are two types of Joker cards in Rummy.
• Printed Joker- The cards with joker images printed on them are the printed Jokers. You get to play two printed joker cards in a game.
• Wild Joker- At the start of every game, one card from the deck is chosen as the joker for the Game. What be the number value of the card, all the cards with the same number from all the suits turn to be joker cards. If 3 of Heart is chosen joker, then 3 of Spade, Diamond, and Club can also be used as joker cards in the Game.
• What are Chips?
Chips are what players need to play on Rummy Stars. When a player wants to play a Game, a specific number of Chips are deducted from his account. Similarly, when a player wins a Game, a specific number of Chips are added to his account. Chips are of 2 types:
Play Chips are free and used to play fun games; can be reloaded anytime the balance falls below 5000.
Cash Chips you can use cash to play cash games and win huge prizes.
• What is a Round?
A Round is part of a Game that starts with Dealing the cards to each player and ends with a player making a successful Show or the prize being Split.
• What is a Rummy Sequence?
Melding 3 or more consecutive cards of the same suit is called a Sequence, Ex: 5, 6, and 7 of Spade is a sequence. There are two types of Sequences- Pure and Impure Sequence.
Pure Sequence- It is mandatory to make a successful declaration. When three or more successive cards are melded without using a joker card, you get a Pure Sequence. For Example - 3♥, 4♥, 5♥ make a pure sequence
Impure Sequence- It is a sequence melded using a Joker card. For Example: If 6 of any suit be the joker for the Game, then 10 and Q of any suit can be melded with the joker card. Therefore the sequence turns to be 10♥, 6♣, Q♥ is the impure sequence.
• What is Draw and Discard?
In all Rummy games, each player is dealt a hand of cards. Additionally, there are 2 stacks from which each player can select cards, thereby drawing a card. Once a player draws a card, he has to get rid of one card - this is called discarding. A player can draw from either the closed un-dealt cards or the open discarded pile. A Player may wish to drop the game when the turn comes. However a game can only be dropped before drawing a card.
• What is Meld and Show?
For a particular Hand, each player is provided with 13 cards. The objective of Rummy is to arrange these cards into 4 groups of 3, 3, 3 and 4 cards. These groups can be either Life or Set. Once the player has made these groups, he has to submit the cards in groups for validation. This action of submitting the cards is called Show. However, to have a successful Show, the player has to arrange the cards into Lives or Sets. This action of arranging the cards in groups is called Meld or Melding.
• What is a Group?
Grouping allows a player to group his cards based upon his choice. On Rummy Stars table, when a player selects two or more cards, he is shown “Group” button. Clicking the “Group” button creates a separate group for the selected cards. Rummy Stars currently allows creation of maximum 6 groups on the table at one point in time.
• What is a Drop?
Players can choose not to play a particular Round before Drawing the first card. This action is termed as Drop. If a player Drops in 101 Pool, the score is 20. If a player Drops in 201 Pool, the score is 25. A player cannot Drop in Best of 2 and Best of 3.
• What is a Middle Drop?
Players can choose not to play after a Round starts by neither Drawing nor Discarding any cards. This action is termed as Middle Drop. If a player does a Middle Drop in 101 Pool, the score is 40.If a player does a Middle Drop in 201 Pool, the score is 50.A player should not make a Middle Drop in Best of 2 and Best of 3.
• What is a Full Count?
A Full Count is the maximum possible score for one Round. For all types of games in Rummy Stars, the Full Count is 80.
• What is Auto Play?
In case of player disconnection, Auto play will be enabled for pool and stake table players, who have at least withdrawn a card from open or closed deck. For a disconnected player, there will be three rounds of auto-play by default, after which the system will decide future course based upon the player's saved group score.
• What is Valid declaration?
Example #1 Declaring with Pure Sequences and Sets
A♥ K♥ Q♥ J♥| 2♣ 3♣ 4♣ | 5♦ 5♠ 5♥ | K♥ K♦ K♣
This is a valid declaration as it meets the objective of the game.
All the 13 cards are arranged in valid sequences and sets.
It has a minimum of two sequences - A♥K♥ Q♥ J♥ and 2♣ 3♣ 4♣. Both are pure sequences and meet the valid declaration criteria of having at least two sequences, out of which one is a pure sequence and one has four cards.
Example #2: Declaring with Pure and Impure Sets & Sequence Combo
K♦ is the Wild Joker
A♥ 2♥ 3♥ K♦| 2♣ 3♣ 4♣ | 5♦ 5♠ 5♥ | K♥ K♦ K♣
This is a valid declaration as it meets the objective of the game.
All the 13 cards are arranged in valid sequences and sets
It has a minimum of two sequences - A♥ 2♥ 3♥ K♦ and 2♣ 3♣ 4♣. Here, 2♣ 3♣ 4♣ is a pure sequence and A♥ 2♥ 3♥ K♦ is an impure sequence. The objective of the game is met of having at least two sequences, out of which one is a pure sequence and one has four in a sequence.
Example #3: Declaring with Pure and Impure Sets & Sequence Combo
Q♦ is the Wild Joker
Q♦ 8♥ 9♥ 10♥| 2♣ 3♣ 4♣ | 5♦ Q♦ 5♥ | K♥ K♦ K♣
This is a valid declaration as it meets the objective of the game.
All the 13 cards are arranged in valid sequences and sets
It has a minimum of two sequences - Q♦ 8♥ 9♥ 10♥ and 2♣ 3♣ 4♣. Here, 2♣ 3♣ 4♣ is a pure sequence and Q♦ 8♥ 9♥ 10♥ is an impure sequence. The objective of the game is met of having at least two sequences, out of which one is a pure sequence and one has four in a sequence using the Printed joker.
The set 5♦ Q♦ 5♥ is an impure set which automatically becomes the joker once the printed joker is selected to be the wild card.
• What is Wrong declaration?
Example #1: Invalid Set
A♥ K♥ Q♥ J♥| 2♣ 3♣ 4♣ 5♣ 6♣ |6♦ 6♥ 6♥ 6♣
A set is group of three or four cards of the same face value with different suits.
6♦ 6♥ 6♥ 6♣ is an invalid set since it consists of two cards of the same suit 6♥.
Example #2: Declaring without any Sequence
3♦ 3♠ 3♥ 3♣ | 6♦ 6♠ 6♥ | A♥ A♣ A♦ | 5♦ 5♠ 5♥|
There are no sequences in this example.
A valid declaration must contain at least two sequences, out of which one has to be a pure sequence and one has to be a sequence of four.
Example #3: Declaring without Two Sequences
K♥ is the Wild Joker
A♥ 2♥ 3♥ 4♥ | 5♣ 5♠ 5♥ | 6♦ 6♠ 6♥ | 3♦ 3♠ 3♥ |
There is only one sequence in this example.
No second sequence is found with or without Joker.
Here, there is only one sequence and you need to have at least two to make a valid declaration, one out of which needs to be of at least four cards.
Example #4: Declaring without Pure Sequence
K♥ is the Wild Joker
A♥ 2♥ K♥ | 2♣ K♥ 4♣ 5♣ 6♣ |6♦ 6♥ 6♥ 6♣
There is no pure sequence in this example.
In order to make a valid declaration, there has to be at least one pure sequence (without Joker).
Here, there are two impure sequences using the wild card and there is no pure sequence.
Example #5: Declaring without a Sequences of Four
K♥ is the Wild Joker
8♥ 9♥ 10♥| 2♣ 3♣ 4♣ | 5♦ 5♠ 5♥ |Q♥ Q♦ Q♣ K♥
No sequence of four cards can be found in this example.
In order to make a valid declaration, there has to be at least one pure sequence (without Joker) and another sequence (with or without Joker) with at least four cards.
K♥ should have been placed with either of the pure sequence to make this a valid declare.
• The primary goal for any rummy player is to have a pure sequence, so focus on building it.
• Discard cards with high points like Ace, Jack, Queen and King. Replace these cards with Joker or Wild Cards. It reduces the point load, in case you lose the game.
• As much as possible, avoid picking from the discard pile. It gives away what hand you are trying to form.
• Look out for smart cards. For example, a 7 of any suit can work with 5 and 6 of the same suit and also 8 and 9 of the same suit.
• Jokers play an important role in rummy. Try using them to replace high value cards. Remember, Joker and wild cards cannot be used to form pure sequence.
• When you are ready to make a declaration, check and recheck your cards and then press the button. An wrong declaration will cost you 80 points.
• Be smart enough to decide on whether to drop the Game or to play the Game.
Rummy Stars offers unlimited free and cash rummy games to its registered users. We also have practice games for beginners for free. It is important for players to learn the tips and tricks of the game before starting to play rummy for cash.
Once you are comfortable with the game, you can start playing cash Rummy for small amounts. Once you are confident, you may choose to play for bigger amounts as well.
In case you are wondering how to get started, it’s simple! All you need to do is to download Rummy Stars App, register and start playing. To play any of the cash games, the player first has to add money to their Rummy Stars account.
Now that you know the rules, join in and play rummy from the comfort of your home. PLAY NOW!
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