Rules of 7 Card Rummy

7 card rummy is rummy 500’s little cousin. This is a quicker, simpler, more efficient way to show your superior matching skills to an opponent without the trouble of trying to keep score.

You will need a standard 52-card deck. (make sure the jokers have already been taken out). Play begins by the dealer giving each player seven cards. When you deal, you should always deal to the left and go clockwise. All players should leave their cards face down on the table until everyone has their seven. After each player has seven cards, the dealer places the remaining cards in a pile in the center of the table. He or she then turns the first card over so that it is facing up next to the pile.

You want to be the first player to have a certain matching combination. You may either have three of a kind or four of a kind (example: three Jacks and four 7s). You may also have a straight of the same suit (example: 2,3,4,5,6,7,8 of Spades or 2,3,4,5 of Spades and Jack, Queen, King of Hearts). You may have a combination of the two (example: 2,3,4,5 of Spades and three 7s) . The Aces can be played as 1s or as the high card of the game. They cannot be used as both. (example: King, Ace, 2 is not an acceptable combination. Ace, 2, 3 or Queen, King, Ace of the same suit are acceptable.)

Everyone picks up their seven cards from the table. The person to the left of the dealer begins the game. She must take one card from either the pile of remaining cards or the card that is face up. It is advised to only take a face up card if you feel that you can use it to create a combination with the cards in your hand. If you do not need the card that is facing up, then choose from the face down pile. After the player looks at the chosen card, he must choose a card from his hand to discard. This should be a card he needs the least in hisr quest to win. Once this is decided, he will put the card face up on top of the original or replacing it if it was picked up. Play continues in the same manner clockwise. The remaining players may only take a face up card from the top of the pile. Once another card is discarded on top of it, it is out of play. The only time it may reappear is if the face down pile is finished and it needs to be shuffled and replaced.

The first person to have a winning combination in her hand is the winner. Once you pick up the card that wins, you must still discard one from your hand and place it face down in the pile of face up cards on the table to show that you are signing out of the game. You will then show your cards to the rest of the players, and if it is indeed a winning combination, you are the winner.

If the group wishes to continue playing, the person to the left of the dealer should pick up the deck and shuffle. She becomes the new dealer and the game carries on as before.