Fun With Games of Rummy: America's Most Popular Game: Including Canasta, Bolivia, Samba and all Other Popular Forms of Canasta, Gin Rummy, Contract Rummy, Continental Rum, Panguingue and Every Other Popular Form of Rummy With Official Rules and Advice on Winning Play

By William S. Root

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Sep 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9781473356696

Book preview

Games

What You Should Know About Rummy

Rummy in its many forms is the most popular card game in America. Here are some of the reasons why everyone should learn the basic principles of Rummy games.

It is the easiest card game to learn. Though Rummy is played in innumerable forms (more than thirty are described in this book), anyone who understands the basic game can begin playing any form of the game at once, without lessons and without embarrassment.

It is a social asset. The most fashionable new games for some twenty years or more—Gin Rummy and the various forms of Canasta—have been Rummy games.

Parents can play it with their children. Rummy games are simple enough for 8- to 12-year-olds but appeal equally to adult card players, even those who like to play seriously.

Any group can play it. A beginner does not spoil the game for sharks and need not feel hesitant about playing even if inexperienced. A hostess can organize a table of Rummy without fear that any guest will be criticized or embarrassed.

Rummy is a game of skill sufficient to appeal to the greatest experts, yet it is played with enjoyment by those who do not choose to play it carefully or skillfully.

For these and other reasons, it pays to know the principles of Rummy. It is likely that any new game that becomes very popular in the years to come will be a form of Rummy.

History of Rummy—Most of the popular American games have been played here or in Europe for hundreds of years; but Rummy is little more than sixty years old, dating from the 1890’s. Very likely it was originally taken from one of the ancient Chinese games played with tiles or dominoes, such as mah jongg, but as a card game it first showed up in Mexico, about 1890, under the name con quien (Spanish words meaning with whom). In the southwest U.S. the game was first called Conquian and then Coon Can. The English, seeing its similarity to Poker—because the object was to assemble groups and sequences—called it rum (queer) Poker, and Americans soon were calling it Rum, which became Rummy. Originally, the name Rum had no connection with the alcoholic drink rum, though Gin (Gin Rummy) was so named because gin, like rum, is an alcoholic drink. No game ever achieved popularity faster than Rummy. Since about 1907 it has been one of the ten top games; since 1941 every survey has shown it to be the best-known American game, with the sole exception of Solitaire.

These are the features that make all the Rummy games alike:

1. The object is to form matched sets—groups or sequences—called melds, spreads, etc.

2. Not all the cards are dealt, the undealt cards forming a stock from which players may draw.

3. In each turn a player can draw a card to improve his hand and must then discard a card. The draw may be either from the stock (undealt cards) or from previous discards.

From these basic principles, Rummy games have split into two main groups, equally easy to play. In one group, the object is merely to form matched sets and go out; it does not matter what kind of matched sets they are. Basic Rummy, Continental and Contract Rummy, etc., fall in this group. In the other group, one scores in accordance with special values assigned to the sets he forms, and going out becomes secondary; for example, it may be more profitable to meld four aces and not go out than to meld three deuces and go out. In this second group are Canasta, 500 Rum, and many other games. There are ample games in each group to suit every taste.

Choice of Games—From two to eight or even more players can play in a single Rummy game. The following listing gives the games most often played by certain numbers of players. When Canasta is listed it refers to all the forms of Canasta, which are described beginning on page 49. Games marked (*) are recommended though not widely known and played. The index on pages 71 and 72 tells the page on which each of these games is explained.

2 Players

3 Players

4 Players—Partnership

4 Players—Each for Himself

5 Players

6 or More Players

General Rules of Rummy

The features common to all Rummy games are described below. Each of the various forms of Rummy described in this book has special rules of its own, but every player should know these general rules. He will then find it easy to learn any variant of the game.

Rotation—The turn to deal and play rotates from player to player to the left, clockwise. First turn to play goes to eldest hand, the player at the left of the dealer.

The Shuffle and Cut—Any player who wishes may shuffle the pack. The dealer has the right and duty to shuffle last. The pack is then cut by the player at dealer’s right. Proper etiquette in cutting is for this player to lift off a packet (not less than four cards) from the top of the pack and place it separately on the table, leaving the dealer to close the cut by placing the former bottom packet (not less than four cards) on top.

The Deal—The dealer distributes cards face down, one at a time in rotation, beginning with eldest hand and ending with himself.

Stock and Upcard—The undealt remainder of the pack is placed face down in the center of the table to form the stock. In most variants, the dealer turns the top card of the stock face up beside it, as the upcard.

The Play—Eldest hand has first turn. Each player’s turn must begin with a draw and end with a discard. Between these two acts he may meld, if able and willing.

The draw is the act of taking an extra card into the hand. The player has option of taking the (face down) top card of the stock, or a card (face up) from the discard pile. In most Rummy games, only the top card of the discard pile is available, but there are exceptions to this.

The discard is the act of removing one card from the hand and placing it face up on the discard pile, which is formed by the discards of all the players, and begun by the upcard. In any variant where the player may draw only the top card of the discard pile, and does so, he may not discard this card in the same turn.

Melding is the act of placing cards face up on the table, in matched sets. In some variants, a player may also meld by laying off additional cards on sets previously melded.

Matched Sets—The sets (commonly called melds) recognized in Rummy are of two types:

(a) Group—three or more cards of the same rank, as

(b) Sequence—three or more cards of the same suit and consecutive rank, as

When more than one pack is used, special rules govern how many different suits are required in a group. In most variants, both groups and sequences are valid, but in Continental Rum only sequences are allowed, and in Canasta, only groups.

For forming sequences, the cards other than the ace always rank: K (high), Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. In most variants the rules state whether the ace is high or low, so that either A-K-Q or 3-2-A is a sequence but not both. In some variants the ace may be designated by its holder as either high or low. The optional round-the-corner rule, which can be adopted in any variant, is that the ranking is continuous, and 2-A-K is a valid sequence.

End of Play—The play of a deal ends immediately if any player knocks or goes out. A player goes out when he melds or correctly discards the last card remaining in his hand. In some variants, a player may call a halt without going out, and when he does so he is said to knock. Knocking is usually indicated by exposing the whole hand, or by making a final discard face down, or both.

Object of Play—To be the first to knock or go out is an object of play in all Rummy games, and in some it is the only object. In others, the cards melded have a scoring value apart from the necessity of melding in order to go out. A second object of play is then to amass a high score in matched sets, and this object is in some variants more important than going out.

Irregularities in Rummy Games

In any form of Rummy there may be a few special rules governing irregularities whose effect is especially damaging in that particular game. In the case of an irregularity for which no special rule is stated, the following rules apply.

Play Out of Turn—1. If a player draws out of turn and attention is not called to it before he has discarded, it stands as a play in