Points Rummy is a popular variant of online rummy and is one of the easiest to play. The game is best suited for two to six players and can be played with or without jokers. The game aims to arrange all the cards in your hand into valid sequences or sets and then declare by discarding a card.
The winner is the first player to reach the agreed points limit or the player with the least points at the end of the game if no one has reached the limit. In case of a tie, the player who declared first wins.
How to start?
- In Points Rummy, each player is provided with 13 cards from a standard deck of 52 cards plus two jokers (if playing with jokers). The remaining cards are placed face down in the players’ middle to form the draw pile.
- The player to the dealer’s left starts the game by picking up a card from the draw pile or the discard pile and discarding one card face-up on the discard pile. Play then passes clockwise around the table.
- You must either pick up a card from the draw pile or take the top card from the discard pile on your turn.
- You can then either meld some of your cards or lay them off on existing melds on the table.
- Finally, you must end your turn by discarding one card face-up on the discard pile.
Next step
- If you pick up a card from the draw pile and it can be used to form a valid meld, you may do so immediately and then lay off that meld on the table.
- If you can lay off all 13 of your cards in this way, you declare “Rummy” and score a predetermined number of points (usually 100). Otherwise, play passes to the next player.
- If the draw pile is depleted during the game, the remaining cards are shuffled together to form a new draw pile. Play then continues as normal.
What happens when one player has no card?
- When one player has no cards left in their hand, they are out of that particular hand.
- The other players continue playing until they either have no cards left or only two remaining players.
- The player with the highest score at the end of the game wins.
Playing for points
- If you are playing for points, then each hand is worth a certain number of points depending on how many cards are left in each player’s hand when someone goes out.
- The winner of the hand scores zero points, while each of the other player’s points equals the number of cards left in their hand.
- If two or more players tie for the lowest number of points, they all score the same points.
Playing with joker
Jokers can be used as wildcards to substitute for any other card in a meld.
- For example, if you have two jokers and two 7s, you could use the jokers to substitute for the missing 8s and 9s to form a valid sequence.
- Jokers can also substitute for cards in sets, e.g., three jacks and a joker could be used to form a set of four jacks.
- If you are playing with jokers, each player is dealt 14 cards rather than 13.
- In addition, the value of the joker is fixed at 30 points rather than being worth the number of points equal to the number of cards left in the player’s hand when they go out.
There are many different variations of Points Rummy, so make sure you agree on the rules before starting to play.
