Contract Rummy is a rummy style game for three to eight players.
Be first to play your cards into specific melds based on the round number in order to help you win this game!
Find the video tutorial and written explanation for how to play contract rummy below.
Contract Rummy Tutorial
Needed
Three to eight players; Two 52 card decks with a joker for three or four players. You will need a third deck and another joker for five to eight players.
Deal
The game is played over seven deals. For the first four deals, each player will receive ten cards. In the last three deals, each player will receive 12 cards.
After the deal, the remaining deck is placed into the middle, and the top card is flipped over to form a discard pile.
Objective
The object of the game is to score the least amount of points during the game. Each round, the goal is to create specific types of melds with your cards depending on the deal you are in.
A meld can be a group with three cards of the same rank or a sequence with three cards in a row of the same suit. Each deal has a specific combination of melds for the players to try and get.
Melds
First Deal: Two groups
Second Deal: One group and one sequence
Third Deal: Two sequences
Forth Deal: Three groups
Fifth Deal: Two groups and one sequence
Sixth Deal: One group and two sequences
Seventh Deal: Three sequences (with no unmatched cards)
Game Play
The player left of the dealer is first to play. The player has the option to take the top discard or the top card from the deck. If the player wants the top card from the deck, all other players have the option to take the top card from the discard pile.
If a player draws a discard out of turn, the player must also draw a card from the deck as a penalty. After drawing out of turn, the play returns to the original player to draw from the deck.
After drawing, a player can make a meld, if possible. The first meld a player makes must be the specific meld combination for the round. Finally, a player's turn will end by discarding one card.
After a player has made the initial meld, they are able to lay off cards onto their own or other players' melds.
Once a player has melded all their cards, the round is over.
Scoring
At the end of the round, players will score points for the amount of cards left in their hands.
Aces/joker = 15 points
Kings/Queens/Jacks = 10 points
10s to 2s = face value
The scores are recorded. The deal moves clockwise left to the next player, and all players will try for the next deal combination in the round.
Winning
The player with the lowest score after the seventh deal wins the game!
Rules
For rounds one through six, the initial meld of a group or sequence is three cards. In round seven, a player needs to use all their cards in three sequences of cards for their initial meld. This means when a player makes the first meld, the game is over.
Only the specific round's meld combination can be melded by each player. All other cards in hand must be laid off and cannot be used to create another separate meld.
The joker is a wild card and can be used in a group or a sequence. When used is a sequence, the player with the card the joker is being used for can lay it off to replace the joker and move the joker to either end of the sequence.
Anytime a deal calls for multiple sequences, the sequences must be separate. A sequence of six cannot be used as two sequences of three. When the initial sequence melds are separate, a connecting card can be laid off later, but the sequences remain separate.
The ace can be in a sequence below the 2 or above the king, but king, ace, 2 is not a valid sequence.