Rummy Glossary, Rummy Terms
Ace: In a standard 52 cards deck there are 4 aces; one of each suit (spade, hearts, clubs and diamonds). Ace can be used as a lower card as well as a higher card i.e. you can make a sequence as Ace-2-3 as well as Ace-King-Queen.
Dealer: Every player draws a card from the shuffled pack of cards and the player getting the lowest value card deals the game. It's up to the players who decide the dealer of the next game. Some players set the rule as "loser to deal" wherein the loser of the previous game deals the next game whereas some players deal one game each in Indian rummy.
Deadwood: Read Unmatched cards
Declare: When you declare that you have finished arranging your cards in desired sequences and/or sets. In a 13 cards rummy game, you declare rummy by putting the 14th card face down on the discard pile.
Deck or Pack of Cards: A deck of pack of cards is the standard collection of 52 cards that has 13 cards from the Spade, Diamonds, Heats and Clubs suits.
Discard/Lay off: In 13 cards rummy game, a player on his/her turn is supposed to pick up the 14th card (either from the draw pile of the discard pile); use the 14th card if required and then discard the 14th card.
The discarded card could be the card he just picked or any card from his existing 13 cards. The player should have 13 cards at the end of his/her turn. The cards that are discarded by the players form the discard pile.
Discard Pile: A discard pile is formed by the card/s discarded by the rummy players. A player on his/her turn can pick the top card from the discard pile (this top card is the last card discarded by the opponent)
Discard time: There is no discard time limit when rummy is played against in person but when you play rummy online, there is some limit to the time that a player can take while discarding a card.
Draw Pile: In a typical 13 cards rummy game, the cards that are not drawn or distributed are kept upside down or face down and kept in front of the players form the draw pile.
A player on his/her turn picks up a card from this draw pile and then discards a card. If the cards in the draw pile finishes, the Discard Pile is reshuffled except the last discarded card and a new draw pile is formed.
Finishing Rummy: Read Declare
Joker: A joker is randomly selected card at the beginning of each rummy game. A joker can be used as any card in that particular game. For example: if the joker is 3 of hearts, the other 3s (spades, clubs and diamonds) can be used as any card for making sets and sequences. Also read Printed Joker
Number of Cards: Each player is dealt 13 cards and the after distributing
Ace = 10 points
King = 10 points
Queen = 10 points
Jack = 10 points
10 = 10 points
The other cards carry points according to their numbers i.e. 4 will have 4 points and 9 will have 9 points. Joker will not cost any point.
Printed Joker: Apart from the 52 cards of 4 suites, there are two or three printed jokers in a standard 52 cards pack. This printed joker can also be used as any card. Printed joker is also called as Wildcard by some.
Pure sequence: A pure sequence is a sequence without a Joker.
Run: Read Sequence
Scoring: The loser gets points based on the sequences and/or sets arranged by him/her. Read points
Sequence: A sequence is made up of three or more consecutive cards of the same suit. For example: 9-10-11 of Spades would make one pure sequence. The order of the sequences can be from Ace to King i.e. A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-A.
Ace can be used as the top card as well as the lower card i.e. you can make Ace King Queen and you can also make Ace-2-Three.
Set: A set is made up of 3 or more cards of the same number i.e. three 7s from any of the three suits can make a set. Remember, when playing rummy games with more than one pack of cards, you cannot make a valid set with 2 cards from the same suit i.e. you cannot make a set with one 7 of hearts and two 7s of clubs. You can also use a joker (printed too) to make a set.
Shuffle: After every rummy game, the dealer is supposed to mix the cards well before dealing the next game. This mixing of cards is called shuffling the cards.
Straight Sequence: Read Pure Sequence
Straight Run: Read Pure Sequence
Suit: There are 4 suits in any pack of cards i.e. Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs.
Unmatched Cards: The cards with which a player is not able to make sequences and/or sets when the opponent has declared rummy. The loser is charged with the points of the unmatched cards. The unmatched cards are also called unarranged cards.
Winner: A winner in a rummy game is a player who declares rummy by arranging his/her cards with desired sets and/or sequences. Also, to win the rummy game, the player has to correctly declare his/her cards. The winner gets 0 points after winning.
Wildcard: Read Printed Joker
The above mentioned rummy glossary provided by RummyCircle is purely for informative purposes only. The Rules for playing rummy that are applicable to RummyCircle.com rummy games can be found at: http://www.rummycircle.com/how-to-play-rummy/rummy-rules.html
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