Rummy (Rommé)

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Melds
3. Jokers
4. Card values
5. Setup
6. Playing a turn
7. The first meld
8. Exchanging a joker
9. Going out
10. Scoring
11. Winning the game
12. Tips for beginners
13. Variants

Overview

Rommé is the rummy game played in German-speaking countries. Everyone tries to arrange their cards into matching groups and lay them out on the table. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins the round; everyone else scores penalty points for the cards still in their hand. After several rounds, the player with the fewest penalty points wins.

• Players: 2 to 6, each playing for themselves.
• You need: two standard 52-card decks with their jokers – 104 cards plus 4 jokers, 108 cards in all – and paper and pencil for scoring. Both decks should have the same back design if possible.

Melds

A meld is a group of at least three cards that belong together. There are two kinds:

• Set: 3 or 4 cards of the same rank in different suits, e.g. K♥ K♦ K♣ or 3♠ 3♥ 3♦ 3♣. Because there are two decks, you may hold two identical cards (say two 7♠) – but they can never be in the same set.
• Run: 3 or more cards of the same suit in sequence, e.g. 8♦ 9♦ 10♦ J♦.

The Ace can be at either end of a run: A-2-3 (low) or Q-K-A (high). It cannot go "round the corner": K-A-2 is not a run.

Jokers

A joker is a wild card: it can stand for any card you need in a meld. For example J♣ Q♣ Joker A♣ (the joker is the K♣), or 6♠ 6♥ Joker (the joker is a third 6).

• A meld may not consist of one natural card plus two jokers.
• Two jokers may sit directly next to each other only in a run of at least four cards, e.g. 3♠ Joker Joker 6♠.

Card values

Card values matter twice: for your first meld (see below) and for the penalty points at the end of a round.

An Ace left in your hand at the end always counts 11.

Setup

1. First dealer: everyone draws a card; the highest card deals first. After each round, the deal passes to the left (clockwise).
2. Deal: the dealer shuffles, lets the player on the right cut, and deals the cards face down one at a time, clockwise, starting on the left. Everyone gets 13 cards; the dealer takes 14. This is your hand – keep it hidden.
3. Stock: the remaining cards go face down in the middle as the stock (draw pile). The discard pile will form next to it.

Playing a turn

The dealer starts. Because they already have 14 cards, they do not draw: they may meld (if they can) and then discard one card face up next to the stock. This starts the discard pile. Then play passes clockwise.

From then on, every turn has three steps:

1. Draw one card: either the top card of the stock or the top card of the discard pile.
2. Meld (optional): lay out melds, lay off cards or exchange jokers – see below.
3. Discard one card face up onto the discard pile. This ends your turn.

Example: Clara holds 5♣ 6♣ and the top discard is 7♣. She takes it – now she has a run 5♣ 6♣ 7♣ – and ends her turn by discarding a card she doesn't need, say the 2♥.

The first meld

Laying out cards for the first time is called coming out (German: rauskommen or auslegen). Your first meld must be worth at least 40 points in total. You may lay out several melds at once to reach 40.

• For this count, a joker is worth the card it replaces, and an Ace in A-2-3 is worth only 1.
• If you can't reach 40, you must keep your cards in your hand.

Example: Ben holds A♦ 2♦ 3♦ 4♦ and J♠ J♥ J♣. The run is worth 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10, the set of Jacks 30 – exactly 40, so he may come out. Without the 4♦ he would only have 36 and would have to wait.

Once your first meld is on the table (from the same turn on):

• you may lay out more melds of any value,
• you may lay off – add single cards to any meld on the table, your own or someone else's. For example, with 2♥ 3♥ 4♥ on the table, you may add A♥ and 5♥. Cards you lay off in the turn you come out don't count toward the 40.

Cards on the table stay there: you may never take a meld back into your hand.

Exchanging a joker

If a meld on the table contains a joker and you hold the real card the joker stands for, you may put your card in its place and take the joker. This is allowed only after your first meld, and only on your turn. You must use the joker straight away in a new meld – it may not go into your hand.

Example: On the table lies 9♣ 10♣ Joker Q♣ – the joker is the J♣. Dana, who has already come out, holds J♣, 7♠ and 7♥. She puts her J♣ into the run, takes the joker and lays out 7♠ 7♥ Joker as a new set.

In a set of three with a joker (e.g. 6♠ 6♥ Joker), the joker can be exchanged for either missing suit – here 6♣ or 6♦.

Going out

The first player to get rid of all cards goes out and ends the round. Usually you meld or lay off everything but one card and discard that last card face down – the sign that the round is over. If you can meld your very last card, you don't need to discard.

If the stock runs out before anyone goes out, the round ends: everyone scores the cards in their hand.

Scoring

The player who went out scores 0. Everyone else adds up the cards left in their hand (see card values: Ace 11, joker 20) and writes that down as penalty points – even cards that would form a meld count if they are still in the hand.

Hand Rommé: if you go out by laying out all your cards in one turn, without having melded anything before and before any other player has melded, that is a Hand Rommé. The 40-point minimum does not apply, and the other players' penalty points are doubled for that round.

Example: Anna goes out. Ben still holds K♠ 7♦ A♥ and a joker: 10 + 7 + 11 + 20 = 48 penalty points. Clara holds 3♣ 3♠ 9♥: 3 + 3 + 9 = 15. Had Anna gone out with a Hand Rommé, Ben would get 96 and Clara 30.

Winning the game

Agree before you start how long to play – for example, until everyone has dealt the same number of times, or until one player passes an agreed penalty total such as 500. Then the player with the fewest penalty points wins.

Tips for beginners

• Come out early. As long as you haven't met the 40, cards pile up in your hand – and every point there counts against you.
• Get rid of high cards that don't fit anything: an unused King or Ace costs 10 or 11 points.
• Keep your jokers for melds, and don't discard them – a joker left in your hand costs 20, but one on the discard pile helps the next player.
• Watch the discards. What others pick up shows what they collect; don't feed them the cards they need.
• Look at every meld on the table before discarding – a card that fits someone's run can often be laid off instead.

Variants

There are no binding rules for Rommé – agree on these before playing.

• Lower opening: the first meld needs only 30 points (sometimes 35) instead of 40.
• Discard pile only for melding: you may take the top discard only if you meld it immediately. Before your first meld, it then counts toward the 40.
• Round the corner: K-A-2 is allowed as a run.
• Tournament jokers: in the German Skat Association's tournament rules, a joker in a set can only be taken once the set is completed to four cards, and a joker may be discarded only to go out.
• Joker 30: a joker left in hand costs 30 instead of 20.
• Fresh stock: if the stock runs out, shuffle the discard pile (except its top card) and use it as a new stock instead of ending the round.