Rummy rules: the complete guide

• Equipment: two 52-card decks + 2 jokers (4 in Rummy 51).
• A turn: draw 1 card → lay down if you can → discard 1 card.
• Melds: the Suivi, a run (5♣ 6♣ 7♣) in one suit, and the Tria, a set (J♠ J♥ J♦) of one rank in different suits.
• Opening: in Simple you lay everything down at once at the end; in Rummy 51 your first lay-down is worth at least 51 points; in Rummy 71 at least 71 points without jokers, with a run (8♠ 9♠ 10♠) and a set (9♠ 9♥ 9♦).
• Winning: discard your last card. Opponents pay for their cards (a fixed 100 per loser in Simple); the side that reaches 600 points in Simple, 351 in Rummy 51 or 451 in Rummy 71 (300 points in Simple or 251 in Rummy 51 and 71 in 1 vs 1) loses.

The goal of each round is simple: be the first to get rid of all your cards, by forming them into melds and then discarding the very last one. When a player does it, the round stops and the opposing side takes penalty points: the value of the cards left in hand in Rummy 51 and 71, a fixed 100 points per loser in Simple. Rounds follow one another until one side reaches the limit (600 points in Simple, 351 in Rummy 51 or 451 in Rummy 71 in 2 vs 2, 300 points in Simple or 251 in Rummy 51 and 71 in 1 vs 1): that side has lost the game.

So in rummy you are not chasing points — you are trying to take as few as possible. Holding a hand full of face cards when an opponent goes out is expensive.

Rummy is played with two standard 52-card decks (Ace, 2 to 10, Jack, Queen, King in the four suits ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣) shuffled together, plus jokers. Every card therefore exists twice: there are two 7♥ in the pack, and they are two separate cards.

The dealer starts with the player on their right and serves themselves last. The remaining cards form the face-down stock in the middle. The discard pile starts empty.

Every card you lay down must belong to a valid meld. There are only two kinds, and a meld always has at least three cards.

1. Draw exactly one card: the top of the stock, or the face-up card of the discard pile (under the conditions below).
2. Lay down, if you can and want to: open, lay new melds, add to melds on the table (Rummy 51 and 71), or lay out your whole hand to go out (Simple).
3. Discard one card onto the discard pile. Your turn is over; play passes on.

The opening is your first lay-down of the round. This is where the three variants really differ.

Each variant has its own page: Simple rummy, Rummy 51 and Rummy 71.

In Rummy 51 and 71, once you have opened you can, on each of your turns, lay new melds and add cards to any meld on the table — yours, your partner’s, and your opponents’ too. A 10♠ extends a Suivi (7♠ 8♠ 9♠); the K♣ completes a Tria (K♠ K♥ K♦).

Swapping the joker: a player who has already opened can take back a joker on the table by replacing it with exactly the card it represents. In a Suivi (6♦ joker 8♦), the 7♦ frees the joker. In a Tria (4♠ 4♥ 4♦), the joker can only be swapped if it is the fourth card: with (6♠ 6♥ 6♦ joker), the 6♣ frees it; with (6♠ joker 6♦), a 6 is simply added and the joker stays. The freed joker goes into your hand to be played whenever you like.

You win the round by discarding your last card. There are three ways to get there:

• Going out after opening (Rummy 51 and 71): you have laid down bit by bit, one card is left, you discard it.
• Laying everything down to go out (Rummy 51 and 71): if you can lay down all your cards but one, you may do so even below the threshold, then discard the last one. The variant’s requirements still apply: in Rummy 71 you still need a run (3♣ 4♣ 5♣) and a set (6♠ 6♥ 6♣) without jokers, and if you took the discard this turn, a run (7♦ 8♦ 9♦) built without it. If you had not laid anything down before, that is going rummy (“rami sec”): it is allowed and does not double the penalties.
• Going out in Simple: you lay down everything but one card at once, with at least one run (5♥ 6♥ 7♥) and one set (4♠ 4♥ 4♦), then discard the last one.

Very rare case: if the stock is empty and there is nothing left to reshuffle, the round ends with no winner and nobody pays.

At the end of the round, only the winner’s opponents pay. In 2 vs 2, the winner’s partner pays nothing, and the two opponents add their penalties together. The scale depends on the variant.

In Simple the scoring is fixed: cards are not counted, each loser takes 100 points, whatever their hand. In 1 vs 1 the loser takes 100; in 2 vs 2 the losing team takes 200 (100 per player), and both the winner and their partner stay at 0.

Penalties add up from round to round. In 2 vs 2, the team that reaches 600 points in Simple, 351 in Rummy 51 or 451 in Rummy 71 loses; in 1 vs 1, the player who reaches 300 points in Simple or 251 in Rummy 51 and 71 loses. Since only one side pays each round, there is never a tie. All the tables and worked examples are on the rummy scoring page.

In 2 vs 2, partners share one score. Once one of them has opened, the other can lay down without a threshold (in Rummy 71, with a Suivi (5♥ 6♥ 7♥) without a joker), and both can add to melds on the table. Going out fast often means winning together: → partners rummy, rules and tactics.

Rummy comes with countless house rules. If you learned Rummy 51 at home or on another site, here are the most common differences with the Atlas Carta app version:

To explore the other members of the rummy family (Gin Rummy, Rummikub, Kalooki, 13-card rummy…), read our page on rummy variations.

• 15 rummy strategy tips to take fewer points.
• The rummy glossary: Suivi (3♣ 4♣ 5♣), Tria (6♠ 6♥ 6♣), tournante, going rummy… with their French, Spanish and Arabic equivalents.