How to play Contract Rummy
Contract Rummy is one of the most popular versions of the game which actually consist of several similar games. Some of them include Liverpool Rummy, Progressive Rummy, Shanghai Rummy, Continental Rummy and some others. Contract Rummy is generally played with 2 decks of cards along with the jokers, hence a total of 108 cards. The game can be played with 3 to 8 players. If 3 or 4 players are playing then 2 decks along with a joker is used so a total of 105 cards. If more than 5 players play the game, then 2 jokers are used.
The set of cards are shuffled and then cut. Each player in turn draws a card. Now the player who draws the lowest card has to deal first. After the first player the deal passes in a clockwise direction. The game has seven rounds altogether. In the first four rounds the players are dealt with 10 cards each and in the last three rounds 12 cards are dealt to each player. The remaining cards are kept on the table in the form of stock pile. The topmost card is kept face up to for the discard pile.
The main objective of each round or deal is to dispose all the cards by forming melds, discarding or laying off. The one who can lay all his cards first wins the hand. And finally the one with the lowest cumulative score after the seven rounds wins the game. You can form melds in two types called as Sequences and groups. In a sequence it should consist of four consecutive cards. And the group should contain three cards of same rank, irrespective of the suit. If a player is able to go out by disposing all his cards in the hand, the remaining players get penalty for the cards they have in their hands.
The game continues and players take turns till a player get rids of all his cards in his hand. In each deal there is a different contract which has a certain combination of sets and sequences. In the first deal, the contract consist of two sets, in second deal it consist of a set and a sequence, in third, two sequences, in fourth it has 3 sets, in fifth two sets and a sequence, in sixth one set and two sequences and in the last deal it has three sequences. When a hand ends, each player gets a score of the cards he has in his hand. And all the cards have a pre-defined point value. And at the end of seven deals or rounds the one with lowest points wins the game. The other Contract Rummy Variations also have rules which almost resemble the rules described above.
