Rummy Point Instructions

History of the Game

Ahoy! There are a few theories as to the origin of Rummy. All point to the 19th century, some to Mexico and some to China. All point to the 19th century, and some to Mexico and China. We know Rummy is likely a variant of Conquian and Mahjongg, and several rummy variations, like Gin and Onze, became popular in the 20th century.

Why the name Rummy Point? Well, what’s better than playing cards at the beach with friends and a happy rum cocktail in your hand. Rum Point is a white sand beach with hammocks hanging from trees and crystal blue water on Cayman islands. Cayman has a long history with privateers aka pirates. In fact, the first settlers were those considered to be on the fringe of society - a frontier society where pirate plundering ruled! Ye be rarin’ to go?

Players And Objective

2-4 scallywags aka players (A 2nd deck is needed for more than 4 players.)
Objective - Be the first player to reach the agreed upon total
No jokers
Aces are high or low, but cannot be both

Winning the Game

The winner is the first player to reach the agreed upon number of points; 300 is standard. Each round ends when 1 player is able to make their whole hand into combinations of runs/sets. Runs are the consecutive sequence of 3+ cards of the same suit. Sets are 3+ cards of the same rank. The set may not include 2 identical cards of the same suit. May ye be the ruler of the seven seas!

Dealing and Game Play

Obey the rules or walk the plank!

2-4 players, each player is dealt 7 cards
5+, each player is dealt 6 cards

To start, each player draws a card from the deck, and the player with the highest card is the first dealer. The dealer shuffles the deck, and starting with the player on their left, deals each player 1 card at a time, going clockwise, until all hands are dealt.

After dealing, all cards are placed face down forming the stock pile. Flip the top card of the stock pile over and place it next to the stock pile to create the discard pile.

The player to the left of the dealer plays first. The player can pick up a card from the discard pile/ top card from the stock pile. If the player can put some of their cards into sets/runs, they may do so by placing them face up on the table, and then discarding 1 card on the discard pile. If the player cannot create any sets/runs, the player discards 1 card on the discard pile. Each turn begins with drawing 1 card and ends with a discard.

Instead of taking from the discard/stock piles, a player can choose a "buried treasure" card. A "buried treasure" is a previously discarded card. However, there is a cost with a "buried treasure": the player must take all discarded cards on top of the desired "buried treasure". The player MUST play that "buried treasure" card during this turn.

A player may add 1/more cards from their own hand to another player’s displayed combination. For example, if 5’s are showing from an opponent, the player may add the fourth 5; and if 9,10,J of hearts are showing, the player may add 8 hearts or 7,8 or Q hearts or Q/K hearts. Instead of physically adding to their opponent’s face up display, the player verbally notes they have added to others hands, but keep their played cards on their table space in order to correctly tally their points at the end of the game. The round continues clockwise until someone makes their whole hand into sets/runs and discards.

Scoring

2’s - 9’s = 5 points
10’-K’s = 10 points
A’s = 15 points

Once someone has made their whole hand into sets/runs, the round is over. Each player adds up the cards face up on the table in front of them, and then deducts the total of all the cards still in their hand to tally their total points for the round. The points for the round are recorded and the next round begins, and this repeats until 1 player reaches the winning number.

May ye anchor be tight, your cork be loose, your rum be spiced and your compass be true.