Rummy is a card game that is played by 2 to 6 people and a standard deck of 52 cards is required. At the beginning of the game a target score is agreed upon by the players which is usually 100. The cards are dealt clockwise and the remaining deck which is known as the stock pile is placed on the table. The top card is then turned over and left to the right to start the discard pile. The basic principle of Rummy is to match cards into melds and sets and be left with no cards in your hand.
There really are no official rules for the game and over the years several different sets of rules have evolved in different countries and this is what has led to the different variations that we see in online rummy today.
There are five main variations when it comes to online rummy and these are Gin Rummy, Oklahoma Gin, Canasta, Kalooki 51 and Kalooki 40.
Gin rummy is usually player with 2 to 4 players and a standard deck of 52 cards is used. There are no wild cards. Each player receives 10 cards. A meld consists of three or more cards of the same suit in consecutive order. A player can only knock if they have 10 points or less in their deadwood. Players can also lay off cards at the end. If a player melds all his cards and his deadwood is zero then he calls gin.
Oklahoma Gin is a two person version of Gin rummy. The maximum number of points that can be knocked by a player is decided by the rank of the upcard at the start of the game.
Canasta is player with two decks of 54 cards so it includes jokers. The number of cards that a player will get will depend on the number of people playing the game. The main goal of this version is to secure the most points by melding cards rather than going out as is the case with other rummy variations. The hand ends when a player goes out having at least one Canasta.
Kalooki 51is another version of online rummy and it uses a deck of 54 cards. The ace in this rummy variation can be a 1 or 11 and ace melding can be down in high or low runs. Once a player goes Kalooki every ace or joker in their opponents hand will cost a penalty of 11 and 25 points.
In Kalooki 40 a deck of 54 cards is used and the ace is 11 points. When a player goes Kalooki aces and jokers will cost players 11 and 15 points.
If you fancy trying your hand at online rummy one of the best websites to visit has to be Rummy Royal. They have excellent new player’s tutorials and you can even take part in their cash tournaments.
Until next time,
Deal Those Cards,
Tags: online Rummy, Rummy Royal
