Rules

How to play Rummy

Updated October 2026 · 2–6 players · 5–10 minutes a deal, 30–45 minutes for a game to 100

Rummy is the basic game of the rummy family. A game is made of several deals. A deal is one dealing of the cards and all the play that follows it. On every turn you take one card and throw one away, and you try to get rid of all your cards by putting them on the table in groups. The first player with no cards left wins the deal, and scores the points still in the other players' hands.

What you are trying to do

You want to get rid of every card in your hand. The way to do it is to put your cards on the table in groups. A group is one of two kinds:

• A set is three or four cards of the same rank, each a different suit, such as 7♥ 7♣ 7♦.
• A run is three or more cards in a row in one suit, with no gaps, such as 4♥ 5♥ 6♥. 4♥ 5♥ 7♥ is not a run, because the 6 is missing.

The ace can be low or high in a run. It can come before the 2 (A-2-3) or after the king (Q-K-A), but it cannot be both at once, so a run may not wrap around: K-A-2 is not a run.

What you need

You need two to six players and one standard 52-card deck without jokers. Play moves clockwise, to the left. Paper and a pencil are enough to keep score.

How a deal starts

Choose the first dealer any fair way, such as each player turning up a card from the deck and comparing the cards. After that, with two players the turn to deal alternates. With more players it passes to the left.

1. Deal the cards one at a time, face down, starting with the player on the dealer's left.
2. Put the rest of the deck face down in the middle as the draw pile. Turn its top card face up beside it. This card starts the discard pile.
3. The player on the dealer's left goes first. With two players, that is the player who did not deal.

If the cards are dealt unevenly, or a card is turned face up during the dealing, the same dealer shuffles and deals again. No one loses anything because of it.

Your turn

On your turn you take a card, put down what you can, and discard one card.

1. Take a card. Take the top card of the draw pile, which you have not seen, or the top card of the discard pile, which everyone can see. You may take only the top card of the discard pile, never one further down.
2. Put down groups. If you hold a group, you may put it face up on the table in front of you. You may put down as many groups as you like, or none.
3. Add cards to groups. You may add a card from your hand to any group on the table, yours or another player's. You can add as many as you like, as long as each one fits.
   • A card fits a set if it has the same rank and the set has only three cards. A set can never have more than four.
   • A card fits a run if it is the same suit and comes right before the run's first card or right after its last card. After you add it, the run is one card longer. For example, the 3♥ or the 7♥ fits 4♥ 5♥ 6♥, and after the 7♥ goes on, the 8♥ fits next.
   • An ace goes before a 2 or after a king. Nothing goes after Q-K-A or before A-2-3.
   You can put down groups and add cards in any order, as often as you like, before you discard.
4. Discard. End your turn by putting one card from your hand face up on top of the discard pile. If you took the top card of the discard pile this turn, you may not put that same card straight back.

Once a group is on the table it stays as it is. You can add to it, but you may not take cards out of it or move cards from one group to another.

Going out

You go out when you get rid of your last card. You can do it by putting it in a group, by adding it to a group, or by discarding it. You do not have to finish with a discard. The deal ends at once, nobody else plays any more, and you win it.

When the draw pile runs out

If the draw pile is empty when your turn comes, you may take the top card of the discard pile as usual. Or you may turn the whole discard pile over, without shuffling it, to make a new draw pile, and draw its top card. The deal goes on.

Card values

Scoring a deal

When a player goes out, the other players add up the value of every card still in their hands. The player who went out scores that total. With more than two players, the winner scores the totals of all the other players added together. Every card in a hand counts, even cards that would have made a group. Cards already on the table do not count. There are no points for putting groups down. They matter only because they get your cards out of your hand.

Winning the game

Add each deal's score to the winner's running total. The first player to reach 100 points wins the game. Agree on the target before you start: some tables play to 250 for a longer game, or play an agreed number of deals and give the win to the highest total.

Play a practice game of Rummy

Rules make more sense once you have held the cards. The practice game deals you in against a computer opponent, checks that every group you put down is a real one, shows how many points your hand would cost you, and explains each rule as it comes up.

The practice game follows these rules, with these differences:

• It is for two players: you and the computer. Each of you gets ten cards, and the dealer changes after every deal.
• When the draw pile runs out, the discard pile is turned over once. If the draw pile runs out a second time, the deal ends. The player holding fewer points wins and scores the difference between the two hands, and if the hands are worth the same, nobody scores. This stops a deal from going on forever.
• You may not discard the card you just took from the discard pile, unless it is your last card.
• The game will not let you put down a group that breaks the rules, and it tells you why.
• When a card you add fits more than one group, you click the group you want.
• The game ends when one player reaches 100 points. A deal you throw away with New deal does not count.

Three things beginners get wrong

Holding groups in your hand

It feels safe to keep a group in your hand until you can put down more at once. It is not. Every card in your hand counts against you if another player goes out first, groups included. Put a group down as soon as you have it. The price is that the other players can add cards to it, and that helps them get rid of cards too. It is usually worth paying.

Throwing away a card the other player can use

The discard pile is face up, so the next player can take the card you throw away. A card that fits a group on the table is easy for them to use: they take it, add it, and it is gone from their hand. Before you discard, check whether your card fits a group on the table. If it does, add it yourself instead.

Keeping high cards too long

A king, queen, jack or 10 is worth 10 points, and an ace is worth only 1. A high card that goes with nothing in your hand is the most expensive thing to be caught holding. Throw those away first, and keep cards that are close to making a group: a pair, or two cards of one suit that are one or two places apart, like the 5♥ and 7♥.

Questions people ask

Can you add cards to the other player's groups?

Yes. You can add a card to any group on the table that it fits, whoever put that group down. Some tables only allow it once you have put down a group of your own. See Common variations.

Can I take a card from lower down in the discard pile?

Not in this game. You may take only the top card. Taking a card from further down, along with every card after it, is what makes Rummy 500 a different game.

Is the ace high or low?

Either, in a run, but not both at once. A-2-3 and Q-K-A are runs. K-A-2 is not. An ace is worth 1 point whichever way you use it.

Do I have to discard when I go out?

No. If putting down or adding cards uses up your last card, the deal ends at once. If you still have one card left and cannot put it on the table, you go out by discarding it.

What if nobody can go out?

The draw pile is turned over and play goes on until somebody goes out. A table that wants a firm limit can stop the deal when the draw pile runs out, and give the win to the player holding fewer points. The practice game does something like this after the draw pile has run out twice.

Common variations

Tables often change a rule or two. If you want one of these, agree on it before the first deal.

• Ace low only — the ace is always the lowest card. A-2-3 is a run, but Q-K-A is not.
• Ace value — some tables count an ace as 15 (or 11) instead of 1, because it can be high.
• One group at a time — some tables allow only one new group to be put down on each turn.
• Adding to groups — some tables do not let you add cards to the other players' groups until you have put down a group of your own. Some allow it only from the turn after you first put one down.
• Finishing with a discard — some tables say you may go out only by discarding your last card. You may not put every card on the table and keep nothing to discard.
• Going out in one turn — if you put down your whole hand in a single turn, having put down nothing before, many tables pay double. Some pay a bonus of 10 points instead.
• When the draw pile runs out — some tables shuffle the discard pile to make the new draw pile. Others do not reuse it at all: the deal ends as soon as the draw pile has run out and the next player does not want the top card of the discard pile. The player holding the fewest points wins and scores the difference.
• Who deals next — with two players, some tables let the winner of a deal deal the next one, instead of taking turns.
• More cards for more players — some rule books deal ten cards each to three or four players, and use two decks when a larger group plays.
• Points against you — instead of the winner scoring, each of the other players scores the points left in their own hand. The game ends when someone reaches 100 or more, and the player with the lowest total wins.
• Longer or shorter games — play to 250 points, or play an agreed number of deals.
• Wild cards — jokers are added to the deck, and a joker can stand in for any card in a group.
• Runs that wrap around — a few players let the ace be both low and high, so Q-K-A-2 is a run. It is unusual.
• Taking more than the top card — some tables let you take several cards from the discard pile at once. That comes close to Rummy 500.

If you like making groups but want a game that is over in a few minutes, try Gin Rummy, or practice a game of Gin Rummy against the computer.