About Rummy games

Rummy games are notable for game play based on matching of similar playing cards and one of the most popularly played games which are played by many people across the world. The Mexican game of Conquain can be probably described as the ancestral to all the rummy games, which itself is derived from the Chinese game called “Khanhoo”.

These rummy games are played in diversified ways across many different countries and hence the rules and regulations vary across different countries, while the basic idea of the game play based on the matching of similar playing cards remains the same.These rummy games are best when played with two to four players, but up to six people can also take part. Either a fixed number of deals are played or the game is played to a target score and the number of deals or the target score needs to be agreed before the play begins.

Play begins with the player on the dealer's left and proceeds clockwise. Each player draws a card from the stock or the discard pile. The player may then meld or lay off, which are both optional, before discarding. The main objective of the players in the game is to dispose of all the cards in hand. There are three ways to get rid of the cards: melding, laying off and discarding.

Melding is taking a combination of cards from your hand and then placing it face up in front of you on the table, where it stays. There are two kinds of combination which can be melded: sequences (also known as runs) and groups (also known as sets or books). Laying off is adding a card or cards from your hand to a meld already on the table. The cards added to a meld must make another valid meld.

Discarding consists of playing a card from your hand on top of the discard pile. You can get rid of one card this way at the end of each turn. The main skill of the player lies in changing the game from time to time by remembering the cards which were discarded by the opponents or by guessing the cards going to be discarded by their respective opponents and hence these rummy games can be termed as mind games where a lot of thought process needs to be put in to outguess your opponent.