How to play
Thirteen cards, one declaration.
A rummy hand runs eight numbered steps from the opening deal to a declaration that holds. Each step has its own heading and one short list. The five edge-case hands carry their rulebook clause reference.
Eight steps from deal to declaration
Five starter reads in this section.
Step 1: shuffle, cut and deal
The deck is shuffled, cut by the player to the right of the dealer, and dealt in two cut piles of thirteen cards each to two to six players. One card is turned face-up on the table; its rank is the wild joker for the deal.
Step 2: read the first thirty seconds
The player to the left of the dealer draws first from the closed deck or the open joker. The first thirty seconds of sorting decide most deals; the hand that finds a pure sequence in the first pass reads as a winning hand from the first round.
Step 3: sort for pure sequence first
The first mandatory shape is a pure sequence. The hand should be sorted for the longest pure sequence first, then the impure sequence, then the sets. The loose cards sit at the right edge of the hand.
Step 4: where the joker fits
The joker can sit inside an impure sequence or inside a set. A pure sequence cannot contain a joker. The joker does not cross suits; the joker stands in for the rank of the missing card in the suit of the surrounding cards.
Step 5: draw and discard in turn
Each turn begins with a draw (closed deck or open joker) and ends with a discard (one card face-up on the open pile). A player who draws from the closed deck must discard; a player who draws the open joker may discard any card.
Step 6: track the discard pile
The discard pile is a probability channel. A high card discarded in the opening two rounds is a near-certain signal that the discarder does not have the surrounding sequence. The discard pile fills at the rate of one card per turn, so the read sharpens across the hand.
Step 7: declare when the hand is valid
A declaration requires at least one pure sequence, at least one impure sequence (or a second pure sequence), and any number of sets. The remaining card or cards (the loose cards) are scored at face value at settlement.
Step 8: settle the score
The winner takes the sum of the loser's loose cards. The loser takes zero. If the declaration is invalid, the declarer takes the full count: the sum of all thirteen cards, scored as if every card were loose.
Worked example, four draws
A rummy hand that runs four draws and shows restructuring in place. The first draw is the open joker; the second draw fills the impure sequence; the third draw drops a wildcard; the fourth draw completes a set.
Opening hand
The hand opens with: 7 of spades, 8 of spades, 9 of spades, 5 of hearts, 6 of hearts, 7 of hearts, J of clubs, Q of clubs, K of clubs, 3 of diamonds, 6 of diamonds, 9 of diamonds, A of diamonds. The pure sequence is the 7-8-9 of spades; the impure sequence is in progress at the 5-6-7 of hearts.
Draw 1: open joker
The first draw takes the open joker. The joker slots into the J-Q-K of clubs as an impure sequence (J, printed joker, K of clubs is a valid impure sequence of three cards where the joker stands in for the Q).
Draw 2: 10 of hearts
The second draw fills the impure sequence at the hearts. The 5-6-7 of hearts plus the 10 of hearts makes a sequence broken across the 8 and 9 of hearts; the hand waits to see if the 8 or 9 of hearts turns up.
Draw 3: drop a wildcard
The third draw takes a wildcard from the closed deck. The wildcard is discarded; the suit of the discard tells the table the discarder is sorting for a sequence, not a set.
Draw 4: complete a set
The fourth draw completes a set of three kings (Q of clubs plus two kings from the closed deck). The hand now has a pure sequence (7-8-9 of spades), an impure sequence (5-6-7 plus 10 of hearts is not yet valid; the hand needs the 8 or 9 of hearts to declare), and a set of three kings.
Five edge-case hands and their clause reference
Hands that look ambiguous but resolve cleanly once the rulebook clause is named. The five below cover the cases the desk fields most often from adult readers.
Player count
Two, three, five and six players.
What changes with player count
Two players play a different tempo than six. The discard pile fills faster at six; the probability window tightens; the read becomes a habit. Three players run about ten per cent faster than six on average. Five is the most common configuration on a Saturday evening.
How to read a four-player table
A four-player table sits between three and five in tempo. The discard pile is rich enough for a clean probability read but slow enough to track individual habits. The four-player table is the format the desk recommends for adults learning the second mandatory shape.
Reader questions
Five questions about how to play.
Can I declare with one pure sequence and three sets?
Yes, provided one of the sets carries a joker that satisfies the impure-sequence rule (the joker is treated as a sequence slot). Otherwise a second pure sequence is required.
What is the drop penalty?
Dropping before seeing the first draw costs 20 points in Points rummy; dropping after the first draw costs 10 points. Middle drop is a smaller penalty than first drop.
Does the wild joker carry across the table?
Yes. The card turned face-up at the deal is the wild joker for the whole deal; every player can use its rank as a wildcard.
Can the joker substitute a card across suits?
No. The joker stands in for the rank of the missing card in the suit of the surrounding cards. A joker inside a hearts sequence stands for a hearts card, not a spade or a club.
What is full count?
Full count is the penalty for an invalid declaration: the declarer scores the full sum of all thirteen cards as if every card were loose. It is the largest penalty in the hand.
Reading a hand in the first pass
Four reads the desk recommends in the opening thirty seconds.
Read 1: pure sequence first
The first pass sorts for the pure sequence. A pure sequence is a run of three or more consecutive cards of the same suit with no joker. The pure sequence is the mandatory shape; the first pass should reveal it or signal the hand is a drop.
Read 2: impure sequence second
The second pass sorts for the impure sequence. An impure sequence is a run with a joker slotted in. The joker is bound to the suit of the surrounding cards; the impure sequence is the second mandatory shape at declaration.
Read 3: sets third
The third pass sorts for sets. A set is three or four cards of the same rank but different suits. Sets are optional; the player who has filled the mandatory shapes and has sets left over declares.
Read 4: loose cards last
The fourth pass identifies the loose cards. The loose cards are the cards that do not fit any of the three shapes. The loose cards cost the player at settlement; the player who has only one loose card is in the strongest position.
Where the joker fits, in detail
Three places the joker can sit, two places it cannot.
Three places it can sit
The joker can sit inside an impure sequence, replacing the missing rank in the suit of the surrounding cards. The joker can sit inside a set, replacing the missing suit of a same-rank card. The joker can sit unused, held for a future draw that fits.
Two places it cannot
The joker cannot sit inside a pure sequence. A pure sequence is a clean run with no joker. The joker cannot cross suits; the joker does not stand in for a card of a different suit. The 2026 rulebook update (publisher unverified at the time of writing) tightens the cross-suit rule.
Next desk
Read the strategy desk.
The strategy desk walks through four habits that move the win rate, five hand-shape categories, three myths that look like strategy but cost points, and a worked tempo example. The formats desk pairs the eight-step procedure with the cap shape across Points, Pool and Deals.