Card game books and runs

If they also go out, they get zero points, but if they still have cards remaining in their hand after making all legal plays and discarding, they acquire points.

Scoring Each card is worth its face value, with Jacks being 11, Queens 12, and Kings The current wild card is not worth face value, but is instead worth 20 points, and Jokers are always worth 50 points.

Winning After the 13th round, the player with the lowest score wins. And if you were playing with me, congratulation, you are the winner! Name required. Email will not be published required. Website optional. Regardless of my personal feelings about the game, I will proceed with the rules of the game. Leave a Reply Click here to cancel reply. Subscribe to our Feed via RSS. The player to the left of the dealer starts each turn.

The goal for each player is to play out their hand by creating sets or runs. A set or run must contain at least three cards. Play continues until one player lays out all of their cards. At that point, each other player has one more turn in which to empty their hand. Once the points have been totaled, all cards are shuffled and the next hand is dealt.

Remember: the number of cards in hand increases by one each round. The winner of the hand scores zero points, whereas all other players score points based on the cards remaining in their hand:. Only cards left in hand are scored. Once scores are tallied, the next hand begins with the player on the left clockwise becoming the dealer. The winner is the player with the fewest points at the end of all 11 rounds.

This occurs when a card is discarded which could be added to one of the melds that is already on the table. There are two situations:. Note that a "Shanghai" takes precedence over a "May I?

If a player calls "Shanghai" to protect a discard or to take a discard and add it to a meld on the table, this stops any other player taking that card with a "May I?

Two packs of cards are used, with 4 jokers cards in all. The above table shows the initial meld requirements. Having laid down your initial meld you can add more cards to your own and other players' melds in the same or subsequent turns.

In runs, aces count high or low but not both. There is no rule against a player laying down two consecutive runs in the same suit, such as and of hearts, as separate runs, but once they are on the table separate runs must remain separate - runs cannot be joined or split. A set can consist of any three or more cards of the same rank - identical cards can be included. A pair needed for hand 14 is two cards of the same rank. There is no rule against a player melding two sets of the same rank.

Jokers and twos are wild. A set or run may contain any number of wild cards to substitute for missing cards. The player must specify if it is not clear whether the meld is a run or a set, the rank of the set, and the rank and suit of a run.

Wild cards once melded cannot be moved - a player who holds the real card represented by a melded wild card is not allowed to substitute the real card for the wild card.

To make up the number of cards required for hands it is necessary to 'buy' the face-up card from the discard pile. Each card bought costs one penny, paid to a kitty, and you place the bought card in your hand. In hands and 14 you can buy on one occasion during the hand; in hands 12 and 13 you are allowed to buy twice. In hands 12 and 13, at the same time you buy the up-card you also take the next blind card from the face-down stock. If it is your turn you have the right to buy first if you wish and then take your normal turn.

If it is not your turn you have to state that you wish to buy the card. The current player may only stop you if they wish to take or buy the card themselves.

If several players want to buy the face up card, the one whose next turn to play comes soonest has priority, so any player to your right, up to the current player can opt to buy the card you wanted.

You can only buy in hands , and you only get one or two opportunities to buy depending on the hand, as detailed on the score sheet. Play ends when a player "goes out" by getting rid of all the cards from their hand. This can be done by putting down all the cards in melds or by discarding one's last card. Each of the other players scores penalty points for the cards they are holding:.

At the end of the 15 deals, the player with the lowest score is the winner, the next lowest is second, etc. The players settle up in pennies according to their position - for example for a four player game the payments are as follows:.

Other schedules of amounts are possible. Also, by prior agreement, the kitty can be split between the winner and second player - two thirds for the winner and one third for second.

The variation - which was played in Pittsburgh in the late 's, is described on a web page by Alan Hoyle. A variation called Continental Rummy is described on an archive copy of Mike Gaston's page.

Archive copy of Bill Whitnack's description of a version which he calls Rummy Rummy. Several games described on other pages of pagat. These are available from Card Games Galore.

Alternative Names and Variants This page describes several games which are so similar that they can almost be regarded as variations of or alternative names for the same game. Shanghai Rummy Progressive Rummy The original game of the group was Zioncheck , invented by Ruth Armson in the 's, which had just six contracts.

Contract Rummy This description is based on a contribution from Magnus. Players The game is best played by three to five players; the optimum number is four.

Cards Contract Rummy is played with two standard decks of 52 cards, plus jokers. The Deal There are seven rounds altogether. Object of the Game The object of each round is to dispose of all your cards by a combination of melding, laying off, and discarding. A sequence or run , in this game, consists of at least four consecutive cards of the same suit, such as 4 5 6 7.

An ace can count as low or high but not both at the same time. A group , set or book consists three cards of the same rank, irrespective of suit, such as 5 5 5. The Contracts The contracts in each successive round are as the following.

A turn consists of: 1. The Draw The player must either draw the top card of the stock pile or take the top card of the discard pile. A player who chooses to draw a card from the stock pile must first give any other player who wishes the opportunity to take the discard see below. Melding The player may place groups or sequences from hand face up on the table. This can only be done once by each player during each round. When melding, you must lay down exactly the combination of groups or sequences which is required by the contract for the round you are in.

For example, you cannot lay down one group if you need two, or if you need a sequence also. When you meld, you can only meld the minimum number of cards required. For example if you have a sequence of a greater number of cards than four, or a group of more than three, you must wait until your next turn before you can lay off the additional cards. Melding is optional - you are not required to meld as soon as you are able to.

Laying off. Laying off is adding cards to groups or sequences which have already been melded - both your own and those melded by your opponents. You may lay off only if you have already melded in some previous turn of the current round.