Welcome to German Rummy!

Hey there! You might hear some people call this game German Rummy, but to us, it’s just Rommé. What makes German Rummy so special is that it uses not one, but two decks of cards, along with four Jokers. Plus, we’ve got a cool feature called “plundering” Jokers from melds. Sounds exciting, right? Well, hold your horses, because there’s a catch! Your first meld has to be worth at least 40 points. Can you handle that?

Before we dive in, let me explain the basics. Each player at the table gets to be the dealer in their own round. So, you’ll all take turns dealing the cards. The winner is the player with the highest score at the end of the game. Simple enough, right?

Let’s Talk Cards and Deals

In German Rummy, we play with two full decks of 52 cards each, along with four Jokers. Now, the German Rommé deck usually has six Jokers, but most French decks only have two. Just something to keep in mind when you’re playing with different decks.

I’m dealing out 13 cards to each player, one at a time. The rest of the cards go in the middle of the table and that becomes the draw pile. Then, I’ll flip one card face up to start the discard pile.

Now let’s talk about melds. In German Rummy, there are two kinds of melds: runs and sets. A run is when you have three or more cards of the same suit in a sequence, like 2-3-4-5 all of hearts. On the other hand, a set is when you have three or more cards of the same rank, like Q-Q-Q. Remember, sets can’t have cards of the same suit.

In this game, you can use Aces as both high and low cards, but there’s a catch – you can’t put them in the middle of a run. So, if you try to play Q-K-A-2, that’s not allowed.

Now, let’s talk about melds. You can include Jokers in them, but there’s a special rule to keep in mind. You can’t have more than one Joker in a meld, unless there are at least two other cards. For example, a meld of 3-Joker-Joker is not allowed, but a meld of 3-3-Joker-Joker is perfectly fine.

Moving on to the first meld, there’s a requirement. Your first meld must be worth at least 40 points. Once you lay down a meld worth 40 points or more, you can start playing other melds.

Lastly, let’s talk about laying off. This is when you add cards to an existing meld. You can do this as long as you aren’t breaking any rules.

Once I’ve played my first meld, I can also do something called laying off. This means I can play cards on melds that have already been created, whether they’re mine or my opponents’.

THE PLAY

My turn is divided into three parts: draw, meld, and discard.

When I draw, I have the option to take the top card from either the draw pile or the discard pile.

After drawing, I can start creating melds. The first meld I place on the table must be worth at least 40 points. If I meet this requirement, I can also lay off cards on existing melds that have been formed. Additionally, if I have Jokers, I can swap them out (see Joker rules below).

To end my turn, I must choose one card from my hand and discard it by placing it on top of the discard pile.

When I play a round of the game, it ends as soon as I get rid of all the cards in my hand. There are a few ways I can do this – I can make a meld, lay off cards, or simply discard them.

JOKERS

If I’ve already made my first meld, I have the option to swap cards from my hand with any Jokers that are on the table. For example, let’s say one of my opponents has played a sequence of spades like 3-4-Joker-6, and I happen to have the 5 of spades. In that case, I can swap my 5 with the Joker. However, I have to remember that I can’t keep the Joker in my hand – I must immediately use it in a new meld.

SCORING

Once I successfully empty my hand, the round comes to an end. Now, it’s time to tally up the points. The player who won the round earns points equal to the value of their melded cards. As for the other players, they earn points based on the difference between their melded cards and the cards they still have in their hand.

Each card is worth a specific number of points:

Card	Points
King, Queen, Jack	10 Points
10 – 2	Points equal to the value of the card
Ace	11 points in a set 11 points when used high 1 point when used low 11 points if still in hand at end of the round
Joker	Points equal to the card it is replacing 30 points if still in hand at end of the round

WINNING

Whoever has the most points at the end of the last round wins. If there’s a tie, the players who are tied should keep playing until someone breaks the tie.

Whoever has the most points at the end of the last round wins. If there’s a tie, the players who are tied should keep playing until someone breaks the tie.