15 The Different Types Of Rummy Games - [July 2024]

This type of rummy is the overall group of different variants of the game. Played mostly in India, each player is dealt 13 cards, and the rules suggest that at least one pure sequence and one impure sequence will have to be grouped to declare. Different types of Rummy variants fall under 13 Card Rummy.

This type of Rummy is the overall example. There are several rummy types under this. Indian Rummy is a 13 card Rummy game that follows the rules of making sets and sequences before your opponent. The player who finishes their sets will have to make a valid declaration to win the game.

Under 13 Card Rummy, here are the main variations of Rummy: This Rummy type is a variant of 13 cards Indian Rummy where players play for points after pre-deciding the rupee variant. A player wins a Points Rummy game by declaring and getting a score of 0. The loser will have to calculate the remainder of points that are in non-sets and that score will be added. The winner will win all the cash based on the opponents total points.

This Rummy type is another variant of the 13 card Rummy game & Indian Rummy where a fixed number of cards are dealt to each player. At the start of an online deals rummy game, all players are given a fixed amount of chips to play with. At the end of each round, the winner will win chips from the losing player based on the scores. At the end of a deals rummy game, the player with the higher chips count wins the game.

Another variant of Rummy is Pool Rummy. This version is available in most mobile applications when you play Rummy online. Pool Rummy is based on rounds. In Pool Rummy, similar to Points Rummy, the game is played until the last player accumulates over 101 or 201 points. The winning player of each round in Pool Rummy gets 0 points. Therefore, this makes Pool Rummy slightly longer to finish than other versions.

21 Card Rummy follows the same rules as every other Rummy game for the major part. The main difference is that in 21 Card Rummy, players are dealt 21 cards and are expected to make at least 3 pure sequences. This makes 21 card Rummy harder to play. Other differences include the penalty system. In 21 Card Rummy, if you drop out of the game before playing a hand, then you will receive a 30-point penalty. Any drop after playing will get you a 75-point penalty. What is unique about 21 Card Rummy is the use of jokers. In the 21-Card Rummy variant, there are upper and lower jokers assigned. If the cut-joker is a 4♦, then the upper joker is the 5♦ and the lower joker is the 3♦. The upper and lower jokers must be of the same suite as the cut-joker. The Upper and Lower jokers can also be used to substitute any card to form impure sequences.

Another version of the Rummy game is Gin Rummy. This is a 2-4 player game and is slightly different to 13 Card Rummy & 21 Card Rummy. Here, players are dealt 10 cards each instead of 13 to make sets and sequences. One key difference is that the ‘A Card’ can also be considered as the first card, followed by 2 and 3.In Gin Rummy, a player can win without having a full valid set of cards. If your point value is less than 10, a player can ‘knock’ for the win. The points are calculated with the difference between the victor’s deadwood points (points collected when cards are not in a set or sequence) and the opponent’s deadwood. 13 Card Rummy & 21 Card Rummy are played more than Gin Rummy.

Contract Rummy is a type of Rummy variant that is based on Gin Rummy. However, in Contract Rummy, there are seven rounds involved. In each round, players will have to collect a certain combination of sequences. The game gets harder as it progresses.In Contract Rummy, the first four rounds let the player be dealt with 10 cards, and 12 cards in the final three rounds. Apart from these rules, the remaining resembles Gin Rummy.

Canasta is a Rummy variant that originated in Spain and is quite popular. It has the same set of rules as a regular Rummy variant, but the Joker and 2s are considered as wild cards here.

This version of Rummy is a mix between Rummy & Mahjong. Very popular in Asia & Europe, Rummikubh is played with 104 tiles (similar to 2 decks of cards) with numbers marked 1-13. Players are dealt 14 tiles, and will have to make sets and lay down their tiles.

Oklahoma Rummy is very similar to Gin Rummy, but players are dealt only 7 cards instead of 10. Players in this variant can use Jokers to make impure sets and sequences.

This type of Rummy variant comes from Jamaica. Each player is dealt 9 cards and the player with the lowest score is declared the winner.

500 Rummy can be played between 2-8 players and is very popular in America. Also known as Pinochle or Persian Rummy, the rules are very similar to the classic game. However, players are awarded points to win and the one that reaches 500 first is declared the winner.

In Shanghai Rummy, each player is dealt 11 cards. Ideally played between 3-5 players, Shanghai Rummy is very similar to Contract Rummy. In this variant, 2 Spades and 2 Clubs are also used as Jokers.

Dummy Rummy is one of the simplest games to understand. In this variant, all the 2s are considered as jokers in addition to the 4 jokers in a standard 2-deck game. There are several different combinations that you can create with Dummy Rummy.