Indian Rummy, often called 13-card rummy, deals each player 13 cards from two decks shuffled together with their two printed jokers. You draw and discard until every card in your hand belongs to a sequence or a set, then declare. Two rules make it different from other rummy games: a wild rank chosen afresh for every deal, and the pure sequence, a run with no wild card in it, which every winning hand needs. This is the two-player Points format, against one computer opponent, Alex, who can be set to any of four levels. One deal decides the game, and the loser pays a penalty for the cards left out of their melds.
The two decks give 106 cards, made up of 104 standard cards plus 2 printed jokers. The computer deals, so you always take the first turn. After 13 cards each, one card is turned face up as the wild joker indicator, the next starts the open pile, and the remaining 78 cards form the closed deck.
Every card with the same rank as the indicator is wild for this deal, in all four suits, and so are both printed jokers. If the indicator is itself a printed joker, the aces are wild. Wild cards in your hand carry a WILD badge.
Each turn has two steps:
A card you have just taken from the open pile can't go straight back onto it in the same turn. Because every card exists twice, the other copy with the same suit and rank can be discarded.
Instead of drawing, you may drop out of the deal, which hands the game to Alex at a fixed cost. Before you have drawn any card the button reads "Drop −20", and after your first draw, whether from the closed deck or the open pile, it reads "Drop −40". A deal can also end with no winner when someone draws the last closed card and discards without declaring, which makes the hand void so neither player scores.
Every meld has at least three cards, and one physical card can sit in only one meld. Assuming 7s are wild:
| Meld | Valid with 7s wild | Not valid |
|---|---|---|
| Pure sequence: three or more cards in a row in one suit, with no wild card standing in for another | 4♠ 5♠ 6♠; 6♥ 7♥ 8♥, where the 7♥ sits in its own place; Q♣ K♣ A♣ | K♣ A♣ 2♣, because sequences never wrap round the ace |
| Impure sequence: a run in one suit where wild cards or jokers fill the gaps | 6♦ 7♠ 8♦, with the 7♠ standing in for the 7♦; 10♦ joker Q♦ | 6♦ 7♠ 8♣, which mixes suits |
| Set: three or four cards of one rank in different suits, with wild cards allowed | 8♠ 8♦ 8♥; 9♣ 9♥ 7♦ | 8♠ 8♠ 8♥, which uses the same suit twice |
The ace can start a sequence (A 2 3) or end one (Q K A). The second 8♠ from the other deck is a real card, but it can't add a suit to a set, and two copies of the same card can't both sit in one pure sequence.
You can declare only when all 13 cards are in melds, at least two of those melds are sequences, and at least one of the sequences is pure.
With jacks wild, this hand qualifies:
Swap the J♦ for the 8♦ and the hand falls one card short because 9♠ 10♠ 8♦ is not a sequence, so the 8♦ is left over. Several draws repair it. Any jack or the other joker completes the spades. So does the 8♠, which makes 8♠ 9♠ 10♠ a pure sequence, and so do the 7♠, Q♠, 4♥ and 6♥, each of which lets the joker leave the sixes and fill the gap in the spades. In every case you discard the 8♦ and the Declare button appears.
A full-looking hand can still fail the test. With 7s wild, 4♠ 5♠ 6♠, 9♥ 9♦ 9♣, K♥ K♠ K♣ and 2♦ 2♣ 2♥ 2♠ puts every card in a meld, but only one of those melds is a sequence. No Declare button appears, and if Alex declared first, the three sets would count against you for 65 points.
When someone declares, the winner scores 0 and the loser is charged for unmatched cards. The 2 to 9 count their face value, the 10, J, Q, K and A count 10 each, and wild cards and jokers count 0. The penalty is capped at 80.
Which cards count as matched depends on how far the loser got. Here is the same losing hand at three stages, with 5s wild:
| Loser's hand | What is protected | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| 7♦ 8♦ 5♠, Q♥ Q♠ Q♣, 2♣ 3♣, 9♥ K♦ 4♠ 6♥ A♠ | Nothing: the only run uses the wild 5♠, so there is no pure sequence and every card counts | 89, capped at 80 |
| The same, with the 9♦ in place of the 5♠ | Only the pure 7♦ 8♦ 9♦; with no second sequence, the queens still count | 74 |
| The same again, with a joker in place of the A♠ | Both sequences (7♦ 8♦ 9♦ and 2♣ 3♣ joker) and the set of queens | 29, for 9♥ K♦ 4♠ 6♥ |
The other endings have fixed scores, at 20 for a drop before your first draw, 40 for a drop after it, and 0 for both players in a void deal.
If you know rummy from Gin Rummy, these are the differences that change how you play. Both columns describe the games as played on this site:
| Indian Rummy | Gin Rummy | |
|---|---|---|
| Cards | Two decks with 2 printed jokers, 106 cards; 13 each | One 52-card deck; 10 each |
| Wild cards | The indicator's rank in all four suits, plus the jokers | None |
| Ace in a run | Low (A 2 3) or high (Q K A) | Low only |
| Ending a hand | Declare with all 13 cards melded | Knock with little enough deadwood (10 or fewer in Standard), or go gin |
| Required melds | Two sequences, one of them pure | None |
| Scoring | The loser's unmatched cards, capped at 80, in a single deal | Deadwood difference and bonuses, played to 100 (150 in Oklahoma) |
| Leaving early | Drop for 20 or 40 | Not possible |
Sets also work differently, since Gin takes any three or four cards of a rank, while a set here must use different suits, because the second deck would otherwise allow two identical cards in one set.
Neither. Only the Points format is played here, where a single deal decides the game, and the loser's unmatched cards are the score. Pool Rummy carries penalty points from deal to deal and knocks a player out on reaching 101 or 201, the number in its name, while Deals Rummy plays a fixed run of deals for chips. Both are multi-deal formats, and neither is offered.
A pure sequence is the one meld no wild card can replace, and without it your whole hand counts against you. Two cards in a row in one suit leave twice as many ways in as a pair with a gap, because each card exists twice. Holding 9♣ 10♣ becomes a pure sequence with either copy of the 8♣ or of the J♣, four cards in all, while 9♣ J♣ needs one of the two 10♣. Keep connected pairs like that, and when a natural card can finish a run, don't spend a wild card on it, or the run would turn impure.
Your first discards should be high cards with no neighbours, a lone K♠ or Q♦, which count 10 each if Alex declares while you still hold them. Wild cards and jokers count 0 and fit almost anywhere, so throwing one away mostly helps Alex. Watch what Alex picks up as well, since the side panel lists under "Alex holds" every card taken from the open pile and still in that hand. If Alex took the 8♦, the other 8s, the 7♦ and the 9♦ are cards you would rather not discard.
A drop has a fixed price, whereas playing on does not. An opening hand with no pure sequence in sight, no two suited cards in a row and several 10-point cards may be worth giving up for 20 on your first turn, since being caught later can cost up to 80. After one draw the drop costs 40, so the time to decide is before you touch the deck.
Only the top card of the open pile can be taken, so every card buried beneath it is gone for the rest of the deal. When you are one card from declaring, count how many of the cards you need are still unseen. If both copies of the 10♣ you were waiting for are already in the pile, rebuild around a meld you can still finish.
Build two sequences including one pure sequence, use the wild Joker carefully, and declare all thirteen cards before your opponent in fast two-player Points Rummy.
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