Different Rummy Variants | Types of Rummy Games

Introduction

Rummy is, without a doubt, one of the most popular card games of all time. Pundits still debate as to where the game of rummy originally originated from - whether it was derived from the Mexican game of Conquian or if started in Asia based on the Mahjong variant Khanhoo (originally called Kun P'ai).

Either way, Rummy finally found its way to India, and has since been the most played card game in the subcontinent. Today, thanks to smartphones and the internet , everyone can enjoy this classic card game anytime, anywhere!

13-card Rummy, 21-card Rummy and Gin & Contract Rummy are the three main types of Rummy game; with each rummy type having their own variants. However, 13-card Rummy is the most popular game that is played in India (both online and offline). At RummyBo, players can enjoy all variations of the 13-card Indian Rummy.

Different Types of Rummy Variants

Over the years different countries have come up with different versions of Rummy. Today, there are so many different variations of Rummy that it’s almost impossible to keep count. Though similar in most ways, each Rummy variation comes with its own set of rules. To play this game of skill at RummyBo, all players should know the different Rummy rules for each Rummy variant in detail. Here’s an exhaustive list of all the different variants of the rummy card game played all over the world.

13 Card Rummy

13 Card Rummy (Indian Rummy) is a cross between Gin Rummy and 500 Rummy, played by 2 to 6 players. It is the most popular type of rummy that is played in the Indian subcontinent, enjoyed mostly at family gatherings or kitty parties, and especially during Diwali. For 2 players a standard deck of 52 cards is selected and for 6 players two decks of 52 cards are combined. To win, players must form sets or sequences (with at least one pure and one impure sequence) and make a valid declaration. The three most widely played 13 Card Rummy are:

1. Points Rummy
2. Deals Rummy
3. Pool Rummy

Points Rummy

Points Rummy is played between 2 to 6 players who play for points after pre-deciding the rupee value. The game is played with two standard decks of cards with jokers and the goal is to make two sequences where one pure sequence is mandatory. The remaining cards can be a combination of sequences/sets. The game ends when a player makes a valid declaration and gets a score of zero. The scores of other players are calculated based on the number of unmatched cards.

Player Winnings = [Total Points of all Losing Players x Points Value] – RummyBo Fee

Related Post - How to Play & Rules for Points Rummy Online?

Deals Rummy

Deals Rummy in cash games is played between 2 players with one standard deck of cards. The game is played for a number of predetermined deals (also called rounds) and the player who has the lowest score at the end of the deal/rounds wins the entire prizepool.

Player Winnings = [Entry Fee x Number of players] – RummyBo Fee

Related Post - How to Play & Rules for Deals Rummy Online?

Pool Rummy

Pool Rummy is played between 2 to 6 players with one or two standard decks of cards (depending on the players at the table) and a pre-decided points tally (101 or 201 Rummy). Players who reach the tally get eliminated and the player with the lowest score is declared the winner. The player who makes a valid declaration gets zero points while the scores of other players are calculated based on the number of unmatched cards.

Player Winnings = [Entry Fee x Number of players] – RummyBo Fee

Related Post - How to Play & Rules for Pool Rummy Online?

21 Card Rummy

Also called Indian Marriage or Marriage Rummy, 21 Card Rummy is harder to play than its other Rummy counterparts and is played with three or more standard decks of cards along with jokers. As the name suggests, players are dealt 21 cards at the beginning of the game and players need to make a minimum of three pure sequences to win. Also, there are upper and lower jokers which can be used to replace cards to make impure sequences.

Gin Rummy

Gin Rummy is one of the most popular Rummy games and the most widely-played two-player card game played all across the world. Played with a standard deck of cards, each player is dealt 10 cards. Aces are scored at one point (so, AKQ is not a valid sequence), face cards are 10 points, and numbered cards have their numerical/face values. Stu ‘The Kid’ Ungar is considered by everyone to be the greatest gin rummy player of all time.

Chinchón

Also called La Conga, Chinchón is played with a standard or full Spanish-suited deck (40-48 cards) with each player being dealt 7 cards. The rules are similar to Gin Rummy where players have to make sequences and sets. The round ends when a player makes a declaration believing that the value of their unmatched cards (deadwood) might be less than that of the other players. The game ends when one of the players reaches a score of 100 or more, and the player with the lowest score wins.

Contract Rummy

Combination Rummy, Deuces Wild Rummy or Joker Rummy, Contract Rummy is played with multiple decks of standard playing cards along with jokers. Each game is based on 7 rounds of hands where players are dealt ten cards for the first four rounds and 12 cards for the last three rounds. It is also important to note that the rules for each hand are unique, making Contract Rummy one of the harder Rummy games to master.

Conquian

Also called Coon Can or Colonel, Conquian has often been hailed as the predecessor to all modern Rummy games, originating sometime in the mid-1800s. Played between two to six players with a standard Spanish-suited deck of 40 cards, each player is dealt 10 cards in five packets of two. To win the game, players must meld 11 cards which means that the winning player has to use the last drawn card to form a sequence or a set.

Dummy Rummy

Dummy Rummy is played between two to four players with two standard decks of cards along with four printed jokers (total 108 cards). Every player is dealt 13 cards and the jokers and 2’s are the wild cards. Players need to get rid of the cards in their hand by forming valid sequences and sets. After one player clears all the cards in his/her hands, the rest of the players are penalised depending on their unmatched cards (deadwood). The player who finishes twelve hands with the least points wins the game.

Kalooki Rummy

Also called Jamaican Rummy, Kalooki (or Kaluki) is based on Contract rummy and is mostly played in Jamaica. Kalooki is played between three to eight players with two to four standard decks of cards along with jokers. The basic objective is to finish by laying down all of the cards in a player’s hands. Kalooki has its own variations like Super Kalooki, Kalooki 40 and Baby Kalooki.

Shanghai Rum

Also known as California Rummy, Shanghai rum is a mix between Gin Rummy and Contract Rummy. Played between two to eight players with multiple standard decks of cards including the jokers. Every game has ten hands where players are dealt eleven cards, and like Contract Rummy, the rules for each hand are different.

Rummikub

Rummikub, also called Okey in Turkey, is a tile-based game and uses different components of Rummy and mahjong rules. Played between two to four players who are dealt, the game uses 104 number tiles and two jokers with each player getting 14 or 16 tiles at the start. The first player to use all their tiles scores a positive score based on the total of the other players' hands, while the losers get negative scores.

Canasta

Canasta is a variation of 500 Rummy and is mostly played by four players in partnership of two. The game uses two standard decks of cards and players are dealt eleven cards each. The jokers and twos (2) are wild cards with players needing to form melds of seven cards of the same rank to “go out”.

Ponytail Canasta

This is a variation of Canasta but different from Hand and Foot Canasta. Ponytail Canasta is played between four to six players and uses a standard deck of cards, with each additional player adding another deck.

Rummy 500

Also known as, 500 Rum, 500 Rummy, Michigan Rummy, Persian Rummy, or Pinochle Rummy, several Rummy variants have been developed from Rummy 500. Played between two to eight players and uses one or two standard decks of cards including jokers. For a two player game, thirteen cards are dealt while seven cards are dealt for three or more players. Although the rules remain the same as classic Rummy, the first player to score 500 points is declared the winner.

Buraco

Also called Baraziliya in the Middle East, Buraco originated in South America and is played between four players in fixed partnerships. Played with two standard decks of cards, the goal of the game is to make valid combinations of sequences and sets and the first team to make two thousand points or more is declared the winner.

Three Thirteen

Three thirteen is played by two or more players using two standard decks of cards (without jokers) for eleven rounds and players are required to make melds of sets (same cards, different suits), sequences (same suits of consecutive cards) or flush (same suit, different cards). The player who makes the least number of points at the end of eleven rounds is declared the winner.

Bing Rummy

Originating from the mining towns of Alaska, Bing Rummy is a variation of Kalooki Rummy. Played between two to eight players using two standard decks of cards (without jokers), each player is dealt fourteen cards. All numbered cards are worth their face value, the face cards have ten points but the Ace (A) has fifteen points.

Rumino

Also called Rumina or Ramino, it is played by two to six players using two standard decks of cards including four jokers with every player being dealt seven cards. The player who can make a 7-card straight flush or 7 of a kind, announces "rumino" and wins the game. Also, if a player has 6-card straight or 6 of a kind, the player can pick up the seventh card discarded by another player even if it is out of his turn.

Robbers' Rummy

Robbers' Rummy is a variant of German Rummy and is played by two or more players using two standard decks of cards and two to six jokers with every player being dealt eleven to thirteen cards. The first player who is able to discard all the cards from their hand by forming melds and placing them on the table wins the game.

Liverpool Rummy

Even though it’s called Liverpool Rummy, the game actually originated in the United States of America and is played between three to eight players using one or more standard decks of cards. Like Contract Rummy, each game is based on 7 rounds of hands where players are dealt ten cards for the first four rounds and 12 cards for the last three rounds. The rules of Liverpool Rummy are almost the same as Contract Rummy with one major exception - a player who manages to cut the exact number of cards required to deal the hand and leave a face-up card, then the cutting player's score is reduced by 50 points.

German Rummy

Also called Deutsches Rommé or simply Rommé, it is the most popular form of Rummy played in Germany and Austria. Played by two to six players using two standard decks of cards and three jokers and the first player who is able to discard all the cards from their hand by forming melds and placing them on the table wins the game.

Viennese Rummy

Also called Wiener Rummy in German, Viennese Rummy is played by two to six players using two standard decks of cards and one joker each and every player is dealt ten cards while the dealer gets eleven cards. Though the rules are the same as that of German Rummy (unless decided otherwise), like German Rummy itself, there are no standardised rules for Wiener Rummy.

Mahjong Rummy

Originating in China as Mahjong lami, the game is played using mahjong tiles between a maximum of four players and every player is dealt twenty tiles at the beginning. The player who gets rid of all their tiles first is declared the winner but if no player achieves getting rid of all their tiles, the player with the least number of tiles wins.

Penang Rummy

Also known as Si Rummy, Penang Rummy is played between two to five players using two standard decks of cards with six jokers as wild cards. Players aren’t allowed to draw or exchange any cards and must form melds while discarding deadwood. The player with the lowest points at the end of the game is declared the winner.

Continental Rummy

Also called Double-deck rummy, Continental, May I or Žolíky (in Slovakia and Czech Republic), Continental Rummy is a progressive partnership game played between two to eight players using two standard decks of cards and four jokers for seven rounds. Every player is dealt twelve cards at the beginning of the game and players need to make valid combinations of sequences or sets. In Continental Rummy, red Aces (A♥️, A♦️) are used as wild cards.

Biriba

Originating in Greece, Bribi is a version of Pinnacola. Played by two to six players using two standard decks of cards and four jokers with eleven cards being dealt to every player. Also, two other sets of eleven cards (called Paketa or Biribakia) are also dealt and put face down. The main objective of the game is to be the first player to surpass a predetermined point tally.

Four Colour Cards

Also known as Tứ Sắc in Vietnam, the game originated in China where it has been widely played since the 18th century. Played between four players using a Chinese chess cards set of 112 cards (28 cards of four colours each) with each player being dealt twenty cards at the beginning of the game. The goal of the game is to form valid combinations of melds where the winning hand should contain an odd number of points made with twenty one cards.

Desmoche

Desmoche or Conquién is a matching card game originating in Nicaragua and is similar to Gin Rummy and Conquian. Played between two to four players using a standard deck of cards, every player is dealt nine cards each and the goal is to play exactly ten cards on the table in sequences or sets.

Militaire

Militaire was played between three or four players using a 54-card pack which contained cards that portrayed a rank badge of the British Army and a card value in points. Every player was dealt seven cards each and the objective was to make sequences of at least three cards or sets of 3 or 4 cards. Militaire is rarely played as the cards are no longer manufactured.

Mille

A popular card game of Canadian origin, Millie is similar to the game of Canasta. The game is played between two players using two standard decks of cards and every player is dealt fifteen cards at the beginning. A player needs to get rid of all the cards in their hand by discarding all the cards from their hand by forming melds and placing them on the table. A player must make a valid declaration only when they have two or one card left in their hand.

Rooky

The term Rooky is a mix of the words ‘Rook’ and ‘Rumny’. Though the rules of Rooky are similar to that of a classic Rummy game, Rooky uses a Rook deck instead of a standard deck of cards. Played by two to five players with each player being dealt seven cards each, the goal is to form the highest-scoring melds.

Ten Pennies

Ten Pennies is played between two to eight players with multiple standard decks of cards including jokers where each player is dealt eleven cards. Played for seven rounds, the player with the least number of points at the end of the seventh round is declared the winner.

Tong

Also known as Tunk, the game originated in the United States of America and mixes the rules of Conquian and Knock Rummy. It is played between two to four players using a standard deck of cards including two jokers and every player is dealt five, seven, or nine cards, depending on the number of players. The objective of Tong is to make valid combinations (spreads) of sequences or sets. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins the game.

Tong-its

Also called Tongits or Tung-it, the game is played between three players using a standard deck of cards. In Tong-its, every player is dealt twelve cards except the dealer, who gets 13 cards. The game ends when one player gets rid of all the cards in their hand by making melds (also called Bahay) or has the least number of points at the end of the game.

Treppenrommé

Treppenrommé means Staircase Rummy and is related to Rummy 500, though there are several differences. Played between two to four players using a standard deck of cards and every player is dealt seven cards each. The goal of the game is to make the most points by forming high-scoring melds.

Zioncheck

Based on Shanghai Rummy and Contract Rummy, the game is played by two to four players using multiple standard decks of cards along with the joker. Similar to Contract Rummy, each game is based on 6 rounds of hands - players are dealt ten cards for the first four rounds, eleven cards for the fifth round and fourteen cards each for the sixth and last round. For each hand players need to form valid combinations of sequences and sets.

Why Play Rummy Games at RummyBo

RummyBo is India’s favourite destination to play different Rummy games. Made in India, by India, for India - our platform has been built with the latest cutting-edge technology and we aim to achieve quality & service distinction by providing a seamless gaming experience to our players. We promise to take user experience to a new level of engagement by giving increased bonus, mega discounts, better offers and bigger tournaments. Here’s what sets us apart from our competitors:

No Waiting:

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Withdraw as much as you want, as many times as you want! At RummyBo, you can get your winnings transferred to your bank account in just a couple of minutes.

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Tournaments never stop at RummyBo and you can enjoy some of the biggest rummy tournaments at very low entry fees. With buy-ins as low as ₹5, you can choose from a variety of tournaments, all day, everyday.

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Our Customer Support is second to none! We are happy to help with any queries you might have. Get in touch with us anytime, anywhere - we are here to serve you 24x7, all year round!

How to Join Different Types of Rummy at RummyBo

You can start playing your choice of Rummy games at RummyBo by following a few simple steps.

1. Download the RummyBo app on your mobile device
2. Open the app and sign up (use referral code if you have one)
3. Add cash (you get 300% GameCash on your first deposit)
4. Select the Rummy game you wish to play
5. Select the table you want to join
6. Start rummyboing!

Want to Learn More About How to Win at Online Rummy?

1. Learn How to Play Rummy Online
2. How to win Rummy Cash Games Online and Win Real Money Daily?
3. Free Rummy Games to Earn Real Cash

FAQs on Types of Online Rummy

1. How many types of Rummy games are available at RummyBo?

There are 3 types of Rummy games available that you can play for free or cash at RummyBo - Points, Deals or Pool Rummy.

2. Which is the best Rummy app to play different types of Rummy games?

RummyBo is the best app to play all types of Rummy Games in India. The different Rummy games available at RummyBo include Deals Rummy, Points Rummy & Pool Rummy (101 & 201). At RummyBo, you have a wide selection of tables and innumerable Rummy tournaments to choose from.

3. Are all the Rummy variants the same?

All Rummy variants have their own set of rules and are different from each other in some way or another. But, the fundamental rule of Rummy is to win the game by making sets and sequences (pure and impure) for a valid declaration.

4. What is the most popular rummy game?

While Gin Rummy is the most popular game of Rummy played in the United States of America, 13 Card Rummy (Indian Rummy) is the most popular Rummy game played in the Indian subcontinent.

5. Is Rummy game safe to play?

When playing Rummy on a credible platform like RummyBo, it is completely safe for you to register to play online rummy. We have the best RNG algorithm (random number generator) that guarantees fair play.

6. Is rummy a skill or luck game?

Rummy is a game of skill and not a game of chance as declared by the Hon'ble. Supreme Court of India in 1968. Hence, online rummy is absolutely legal to play for free or cash.

7. What's the difference between rummy and Gin Rummy?

Indian Rummy differs from Gin Rummy in a lot of ways. Most importantly, in Indian Rummy 13 cards are dealt to players while in Gin Rummy 10 cards are dealt to the players. Also, Indian Rummy is played between 2-6 players while Gin Rummy is played between 2 players.