Common Rummy mistakes

Most Rummy disputes are about melds and going out. This guide follows Basic Rummy on our Rummy rules page. See also the strategy guide and the scoring guide.

Meld mistakes

• Running mixed suits. A run is three or more consecutive cards of one suit.
• Making a set of two cards. A set needs three or four cards of one rank.
• Putting five cards in a set. A set is three or four cards, because a deck has four of each rank.
• Running over the king. Aces are low here. A-2-3 works, Q-K-A does not.
• Wrapping around. K-A-2 is not a run.

Turn mistakes

• Drawing more than one card. Take either the top stock card or the top discard.
• Discarding the card you just took from the discard pile. It cannot go straight back.
• Rearranging melds on the table. You can lay cards off onto a meld, but you can’t rearrange it.
• Laying off a card that doesn’t fit. If 5♠-6♠-7♠ is on the table, only the 4♠ or 8♠ extends it.
• Skipping the discard. Every turn ends with a discard, unless you go out by melding all of your remaining cards.

Going out and scoring

• Insisting on a final discard. In this version, you may go out by melding all of your remaining cards without discarding.
• Forgetting the going-rummy double. If the winner goes out in one turn without having melded or laid off earlier, opponents’ totals count double.
• Scoring your own melds. Melds earn nothing here. Only the cards left in opponents’ hands score.
• Counting a face card as 11. Jacks, queens and kings are worth 10. Aces are 1.
• Forgetting the winner deals next in a two-player game.

Mixing games

• Adding Gin Rummy’s knock. There’s no knocking in Basic Rummy.
• Scoring melds as in Rummy 500. That is a different game.

Before you start

Agree the target score or number of deals, whether aces can be high, and whether the discard pile is recycled when the stock runs out.