How to Play Chicago Rummy
Introduction: Learn How To Play Chicago Rummy
The general idea is to collect a combination of cards in order to avoid ending up with a high score of non-scoring cards. If and when a player scores higher than 100 points, they must quit the game. The last man standing is the winner.
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Players and Cards
From between 2 to 8 players can play. Two decks of normal playing cards are shuffled and the jokers removed. Seven cards go to each player face down. The remaining cards are put in a pile, also face down, in the center of the players. The top card is face-up for all to see.
Point Values
Every card in Chicago Rummy has a point value. Face cards are worth 10 points. All the other cards are worth their own face value, all accept the ace that is, which is worth only one point. Two cards are the “wilds” and can be made into any suit you so wish.
Chicago Rummy: Making Melds
Simply put, melds are a collection of three or more cards that make up certain perquisite combinations. For example, they can all be the same rank or can make an order of cards in numerical value. Now in Chicago Rummy, these melts are not put onto the table during the game. All players must keep their melds in their hands.
Collecting Cards
There are two ways to go about collecting new cards. When your turn comes around, you can either pick up a card from the top of the deck or take the card facing upwards beside the deck. In the former, you discard one of the cards from your hand (the least wanted….normally with the highest score) and place this face-up onto the discarded pile. Or with the latter, you “knock”.
Chicago Rummy: Knocking
Knocking is a way of alerting everyone that the round is over. To be able to knock, you’ll need to be holding a certain number of melded cards in your hand. This score will be based on the score at the beginning of the hand. For example, if you had a score of 91 or lower, you may knock with as many as 9 unmelded points in the hand. With a score of 92, you should have 8 or fewer unmelded points. The number of unmelded points decreases by one point for every score above 92, until you reach 100. Now at that point, a player can knock, but to remain in the game, they’ll be needing to score a Rummy to end the hand.
Rummy and Wild Cards
If you’re fortunate enough to have all of your cards make up a meld, then you can instantly end the round with a Rummy. For this, when your turn comes, you simply reveal your hand to everyone. If you happen to have all seven twos in your hand, then the game is over and you win instantly.
Chicago Rummy: Scoring
After you knock, all players must reveal their hands. Each player has to add the total of their unmelded score to their overall score. If the player who has knocked turns out not to have the lowest score, then they receive a 15 point penalty. The player who has a Rummy uses the same scoring, though there are no penalties for not knocking. Like we said, an easy game for an evening’s entertainment.
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