Rummy is one of the most popular card games in India. And ever since the leaps in rummy online, more players download rummy and it has become easier and more popular among the masses. 13 card rummy is the most favoured rummy variant, but there are many more. Given this game’s popularity over the globe, here are all the types of rummy played across the country:
13 Card Rummy
This is the most popular rummy variant in India. Each player is dealt 13 cards and they have to keep exchanging one card at a time from the deck or discard pile till they form sets and sequences of all the 13 cards. 13 card rummy is further divided into different types.
Indian Rummy: Each player is dealt 13 cards and they have to make sets and sequences and make valid declarations before their opponents. A single deck is used for 2-3 players and two decks are used for 4-6 players.
Points Rummy: Players play for points and have a pre-decided rupee value. The goal is to have the minimum points. The more points you have, the more money you lose!
Deals Rummy: Each player is given a specific amount of chips at the start of the game. The winner is the person with the most chips. After every round, the winner takes the chips of the losers.
Pool Rummy: This rummy variant is most popular in mobile applications. It is based on rounds. The game is played until all players accumulate over 101 or 201 points. This game takes longer than others to complete. Download rummy and play this for hours of fun.
21 Card Rummy
21 card rummy follows similar rummy rules to 13 card rummy, the key difference being each player gets 21 cards and have to make at least 3 pure sequences, compared to 1 in 13 card rummy. There is also a rule of penalty. If a player drops out of the game before playing a hand, they get a 30-point penalty. Quitting after playing a hand gets you 75 points. Concept of the joker is also different here. If 3 of diamonds is chosen from the deck, then 2 of diamonds and 4 of diamonds become jokers.
Gin Rummy
This is the simplest form of popular rummy variants. According to the rummy rules, it is played mostly between 2 players, each player gets 10 cards that need to be melded in sets and sequences of at least 3 cards each. Face cards have a value of 10 and all other cards are of the value printed on them. When a player’s deadwood points (summation of values of cards that are not part of a set or sequence) are fewer than 10, they can ‘knock’ to end the game. If your opponent’s deadwood points are fewer than 10, then they win. Otherwise, you are the winner. There is one other variant of gin rummy:
Contract Rummy: The main difference here is that there are a minimum of 7 rounds played. Each round, players have to make a certain combination of sequences. For the first 4 rounds, players get 10 cards each. The last four are played with 12 cards each.
These are the most popular forms of rummy played around the globe. Some other lesser-known variants of the game are:
Canasta: This version has its roots in Spain. It is mainly played between 4 players in two teams and 2 decks are used. All 4 jokers and all 2s are considered wild cards. Players need to collect 7 cards of the same rank and ‘go out’ by playing all of them.
Rummikubh: This game is closer to Mahjong. It is played with tiles instead of cards. There are 104 tiles with numbers 1 to 13 in 4 different colours, like using 2 decks of cards. The rummy rules dictate that players are given 14 tiles and they have to lay them down after forming sets and sequences.
Oklahoma Rummy: Quite similar to gin rummy, but played with 7 cards. Impure sequences are allowed here.
Kalooki Rummy: It is similar to contract rummy, but played with 9 cards. The player with the least points wins. Joker is worth 50 points, Black aces 15 points, red aces 1 points, face cards 10 points, and all other cards have the printed value points.
500 Rummy: It is quite similar to the classic rummy game. The first player to score 500 points wins.
Shanghai Rummy: It is similar to contract rummy but played with 11 cards. It is played between 3 to 5 players and 2 club cards and 2 spade cards are considered as jokers.
Dummy Rummy: This version, well, as the name suggests, is rummy for dummies! It is the simplest form of rummy and each player is dealt 13 cards and 2 decks with jokers are used, meaning a total of 108 cards. All the 2s are considered wild cards. Players have to make sets and sequences and can then get rid of da cards. The first player to get rid of all the cards is considered the winner.
These are the most popular rummy variants. Download rummy app and play rummy online!
