Play Online Rummy – Guide For beginners
Welcome to Play Online Rummy
If you are new to Online Rummy, then you have come to the right place.
We have articles covering any angel of rummy, whether it is rules for beginners, or advanced rummy strategy for players who already know the rules.
If you havent opened a Rummy Royal player account yet, then we got a special promotion running that you can take advantage of.
As a new player you can get $5 absolutely free to try and play online rummy for real money.
On top of that, you will also get a bonus if you make a deposit.
Rummyroyal.com matched your first deposit 100% up to $200.
Click Here to claim your free Rummy Bonuses
Rummy Guide for beginners
Card players who are fond of playing rummy the traditional way have a reason to cheer with the recent introduction of online rummy.
The game of rummy has various forms and the traditional version of rummy is no longer the most popular among players.
You can play online rummy since the game has many variations and each of them is pretty exciting.
Besides, online rummy gives you the opportunity to pit yourself against some top players worldwide.
View an instruction video on online rummy.
If you’re used to playing rummy the traditional way, you don’t have to be apprehensive about playing online rummy because the basic play structure remains the same in all the versions, that is, a standard deck with 52 cards is used.
A fixed number of deals are played to achieve a certain score.
Each player will draw a card and the one having the lowest value card becomes the dealer.
The dealer deals the cards clockwise, face down, with each player being given ten cards.
The remaining cards in the deck, known as the stock pile are placed face down between the players.
The discard pile is formed by drawing a single card and placing it face up.
When you play online rummy, the computer takes care of score keeping, thus taking out the tedium of maintaining a manual record.
Online rummy is a memory game.
You have to observe the cards to keep track of all the moves your opponent makes so that you can strategize your game to win.
Usually 2 people can play rummy, but there can be games with up to six players.
In three or four player games, each player gets seven cards.
In a game with five or six players, six cards are dealt to each player.
The draw and discard method of play is common for all the variants of the game.
So a typical game will begin with the player to the dealer’s left who will draw a card from either the draw or the discard pile.
During his turn, the player can either meld or lay off depending on the cards he holds, before discarding.
In rummy, your aim is to get rid of all the cards in your hand before your opponent does.
To be able to play online rummy, it is important to understand the various terms used in the game, and these are described below:
Set: If you have a series of 3 or more same value cards, you have a set.
To quote an example, you have a set when you have 4h-4c-4d.
Run: It is a sequence of 4 cards of the same suit.
For instance, you have a run if you hold 4, 5, 6 and 7 of spades.
Meld: A meld is formed when the player lays down the runs and sets on the table.
The melds are to be placed face up and the runs laid in the correct sequence.
Building: This is building on the meld.
Once a meld is created, the owner of the meld and the other players can continue with that meld.
For example, a set of 6’s can have other 6’s added to it.
Or, a run of 4, 5, 6 and 7 of clubs can hold a 3 of clubs or an 8 of clubs.
A point to be noted here is that only a player who has initiated a meld can build on existing melds.
The basic rules to play online rummy or the traditional rummy or any of the variants for that matter, are the same.
During his turn of play, a player has to draw a card and form a meld or ‘lay off’ cards. ‘Lay off’ is when you add to the sequence or group of cards that is on the table.
In other words, this is building on an existing meld.
The third stage of the turn of play after creating melds or lay off is to drop a single card, face up on to the discard pile.
The player is not allowed to discard the same card he drew from the discard pile during the same turn –it can be discarded only at the next turn.
A card drawn from the stock pile however, can be dropped during the same turn.
The discard pile is thus constantly changing at every turn.
Supposing the stock pile runs out while you play rummy, the subsequent player can turn over the discard pile to form new stock, or choose to draw from the discard pile.
If the discard pile is turned over, the top card is drawn to initiate the new discard pile.
There are no minimum or maximum requirements as to how many sets or runs can be played in a single hand in traditional rummy.
You are free to place any viable combination of melds (sets and runs), as long as you run out of cards. However, players must fulfill certain specific conditions for other variations of online rummy games.
When you play online rummy, there are two ways in which you can win – ‘Going Out’ and ‘Going Rummy’.
When a player runs out of cards either by melding, building on melds and discarding the last card over a period of time, he is said to be ‘Going Out’. A player is said to be ‘Going Rummy’ when he runs out of cards by dropping his first meld, building on his own as well as existing melds and discarding the final card, all in the same turn of play.
The score is calculated by adding up all the card values in the players hand after one of them runs out of cards.
Cards from 2 to 10 are counted at face value, Face cards equal 10 points and the Ace equals 11 points. The person who has run out of cards will score no points and is declared the winner of the hand since, in Rummy, the lowest score wins. However, if a player has Gone Rummy, the others receive a penalty of 25 points.
If you wish to play online rummy, there are numerous sites which you can login to.
I would recommend Rummyroyal.com, where you can easily play free games or play for money.
You even get a starting bonus which would certainly ease your entry into the online gaming world.
