Knock Rummy is a rummy style game for two to six players.

Get your cards into sets of groups and sequences for the best chance to win this game!

Find the video tutorial and written explanation for how to play knock rummy below.

Knock Rummy Tutorial

Needed

52 card deck; Two to six players

Deal

The number of cards dealt to each player depends on how many players are in the game.

  • Two Players: Ten cards each

  • Three or Four Players: Seven cards each

  • Five or Six Players: Six cards each

The remaining deck is placed into the middle, and the top card is flipped up to form the discard pile.

Objective

The objective of the game is to score points. Points are scored by having the lowest amount of unmatched cards at the end of the round.

The goal during the round is to form sets in your hand. A set can be a group of three or four cards in the same rank or a sequence of three or more cards in the same suit.

Card Rank

Highest to lowest

King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace

Game Play

The player left of the dealer is first to play. A turn starts by drawing the top card of the discard pile or the top card of the draw deck. After drawing, the player will choose a card to discard. The play moves clockwise left to the next player to take a turn.

At any point during the round, a player can choose to end the round by knocking on their turn. To knock, a player will start their turn with a draw, knock, then the knocking player will discard. After a knock, all players will show their cards and separate them into matched and unmatched cards.

Scoring

All players will add up their unmatched cards. If the player that knocked has the lowest amount of unmatched cards, they will score points. Face cards are ten points each. All other cards are face value. An ace is one point.

The player with the lowest amount of unmatched cards will win the difference in card amount compared to the other players. For example, let's say the knocking player had the lowest unmatched cards with 11 points, and their opponent had unmatched cards of 16. The knocking player would receive five points from the opponent (16-11=5).

When keeping score, the players that didn't win will lose the difference in points from the winner. In the example, the knocking player scores five points, while the opponent scores negative five points. The total of all the scores should always equal zero.

The player with the most points after an agreed-upon amount of deals wins the game!

Rules

If a player has no unmatched cards after a knock, the player has rum. The player would score the amount of unmatched cards in all other players' hands, plus a 25 point bonus from each player.

If a player knocks, but another player has a lower amount of unmatched cards. The player with the lower amount of unmatched cards wins the round. The player will score the difference between each other player, plus the player that knocked will pay an additional ten point penalty.

If a player knocks, but two or more other players tie for the low amount of unmatched cards. The tying players will split the score.

If a player knocks and ties another player for the lowest unmatched cards, the non-knocking player wins the difference between the other players. The knocking player would not score any points or lose any points.

If the draw deck runs out during play, flip the discard pile over to create a new draw deck.