Rummy

Rummy refers to a family of card games in which players try to form melds of sets (three or four of a kind) and runs (three or more consecutive cards of the same suit). Most versions use a standard 52-card deck, sometimes with multiple decks and jokers acting as wild cards. The objective is to reduce a hand to valid melds and to minimize or eliminate unmatched cards, or to declare a specific hand and end the round.

Play generally proceeds with dealing a fixed number of cards to each player, and with a stock pile and a discard pile. On a turn, a player draws one card from the stock or the discard pile, then discards one card. Melds may be laid down on the table, and players may add cards to existing melds (laying off). The hand ends when a player meets the variant’s declaration condition: for example, in gin rummy by forming all cards into melds (gin) or by having a sufficiently low deadwood count (knocking). Scoring and victory conditions vary by variant.

Major variants include Gin Rummy, typically played by two players, where players aim to form sets and runs and may knock or go gin to end the hand. Indian Rummy (or 13-card rummy) uses larger hands and requires sequences and sets with a declaration. Rummy 500 (or Running Rummy) involves melding with jokers and point-based scoring, often using multiple decks. Canasta, a related variant using two decks and jokers, emphasizes forming canastas (melds of seven) and going out. The rummy family remains popular worldwide, with extensive regional rules and numerous online versions.