A group, set or book consists three cards of the same rank, irrespective of suit, such as 5 5 5.

J Q K A are both valid sequences, but Q K A 2 is not valid.

A sequence or run, in this game, consists of at least four consecutive cards of the same suit, such as 4 5 6 7.Īn ace can count as low or high but not both at the same time.

There are two kind of melds, sequences (also called runs) and groups (also called sets or books). Melding or laying off, you must begin by fulfilling your contract for The object of each round is to dispose of all your cards by aĬombination of melding, laying off, and discarding. Stock pile, the top card of which is turned face up and placed alongside The cards remaining after the deal are placed face down on the table to form the In the first three rounds, the players receive 10 cards each in the last four they receive 12 cards each.

The deal itself is clockwise, one card at a time. The first dealer is chosen randomly, and thereafter the turn to deal rotates clockwise. Three players play with 106 cards, four players with 107 and five with 108. The number of jokers used should be one fewer than the number of players, so The game is best played by three to five players the optimum number is four.Ĭontract Rummy is played with two standard decks of 52 cards, plus jokers. This description is based on a contribution from Magnus. Links to several other web pages with rules of various Contract Rummy games can be found at the end of this page. The original game of the group was Zioncheck, invented by Ruth Armson in the 1930's, which had just six contracts. This page describes several games which are so similar that they can almost be regarded as variations of or alternative names for the same game. The contracts become progressively more demanding on each deal.

In each round there is a different contract: players have to collect a particular combination of groups and sequences before they are allowed to meld.

This page is partly based on contributions from Magnus and Greg Petras.Ĭontract Rummy is a version of Rummy consisting of a series of rounds.

Shanghai cards game rules