Card-Game-Favorite: Shanghai Rummy

First,
Shanghai Rummy has one of the longest rule descriptions of any of the games
we feature on Go Camping America. However, it’s one of our favorites for a
reason and think it’s worth the few extra minutes to get through the rules.
Second, there are many different variations of Rummy, with Contract Rummy as
the general name given for a whole class of Rummy games. All rummy games
share two specific characterisitics:

• A specfic
  number of deals comprise a game
• In each deal a
  “contract” or a particular, predtermined pattern of melds, are
  required to lay down any cards. Melding is the act of laying down or
  declaring (a combination of cards) in order to score
  points.

With all that, Shanghai Rummy is a
version with more contracts and wilder scoring. Number of
Players 3 to 8 players, each plays for themselves. No
partnerships.
Decks

• For 3 to 4
  players: use two decks of cards, 52 cards each plus one joker for a total of
  105 cards.
• For 5 or more players: use three decks of 52
  cardseach, plus two jokers, for a total of 158
  cards.

Card
Values

• The cards are ranked
  (high) K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2 (low)
• An ace may be
  ranked either high or low.
• Jokers are
  wild

Starting a
Game To determine who deals first, the deck is shuffled and
cut and each player draws a card. The player drawing the lowest card delas
first. Thereafter, the deal passes from player to player to the left. Cards
are dealt clockwise, starting with the player on the dealers left. After
dealing, the top card is turned as the upcard, and the remainder of the deck
is turned face-down to form the stock. How to
Play

• There are ten
  rounds
• 11 cards are dealt to each player in every
  deal
• Each player’s turn consists of a draw, possible
  melding and a discard. Each player’s turn must end in a discard, placed face
  up on the discard pile
• Each meld consists of either a
  set, consisting of three or more cards of the same value, or a sequence
  consisting of four or more cards of the same rank and consecutive
  value
• An ace may rank either high (A-K-Q) or low (3-2-A),
  but sequences may not extend “round the corner”
  (K-A-2)
• Jokers are wild and can be played for any card
  value
• When two or more sequences are required, they must
  be in different suits, or in the same suit. They cannot be in consecutive
  order and must be separated by at least one card.
• The
  game uses the term “buying” for when an out-of-turn player takes an
  upcard.
• There is a limit to the number of buys
  allowed.
• There is a limit to the number of jokers used in
  a set or sequence.
• If you “go out blind”
  (discard all your cards in one play), you earn a bonus of 25 points (50 if
  you haven’t used a joker). Note that a bonus subtracts points from your
  score, not adds them.
• Number cards count as 5 points each
  for scoring, rather than the face value of the
  card.

Contracts:
Each deal has a different contract, which consists of some combination of
sets and sequences:

• DN 1, C: Two Sets of
  3
• DN 2, C: One set of 3 and one sequence of
  4
• DN 3, C: Two sequences of 4
• DN 4,
  C: Three sets of 3
• DN 5, C: One set of 3 and one sequence
  of 7
• DN 6, C: Two sets of 3 and one sequence of
  5
• DN 7, C: Three sequences of 4
• DN 8,
  C: One set of 3 and one sequence of 10
• DN 9, C: Three
  sets of 3 and one sequence of 5
• DN 10, C: Three sequences
  of 5

Buying: A
“buy” is when an out-of-turn players takes the upcard. It works
basically the same as it does in Contract Rummy. The player has to draw an
extra card from the stock, and cannot play the cards immediately, but must
wait for his turn. If more than one player wants it, the one closest to the
dealer’s left has precedence. There is a limit to the number of buys allowed.
In contracts 1 through 8, each player is only allowed 3 buys per hand. In
contracts 9 and 10, each player is allowed 4 buys per hand.
Jokers: There is a limit to the number of jokers
used in a set or sequence:

• 1 joker may be used
  in a set of 3, or a sequence of 4
• 2 jokers may be used in
  a sequence of 5
• 3 jokers may be used in a sequence of
  7
• 4 jokers may be used in a sequence of
  10

The Draw: The
player in turn may draw either the top card of the discard pile, or the top
card of the stock. If he does not want the discard, he may decline it, and
any other player may take it. The right to take it passes to the palyer’s
left (clockwise around the table). If an out-of-turn player takes the top of
the discard pile, he must also draw the top card of the stock (as a penalty),
but he may not yet meld, lay off, or discard, since it is not yet his turn. Once
the fate of the discard has been decided, the in-turn player must take the
top card of the stock. Since he has refused the discard, he cannot take the
top of the discard pile, even if a new card has been revealed.
Fulfilling the Contract: Once an in-turn player
has drawn a card, he may fulfill the contract by laying down the appropriate
melds. He may only lay down the precise melds as called for in the contract.
He may not lay off any additional cards at this time. Laying
Off: In the subsequent turns after a player’s contract has
been met, he may lay off additional cards to any meld on the table, whether
his own or his opponents. However, he may not create any new melds of his
own. A player may not lay off any cards until he himself has met the
contract. Jokers: A joker is a wild card, an may
be used to in place of any other card as part of a meld. When doing so, the
player must state its suit and rank. Any player in turn (providing he’s
already fulfilled his contract) may later trade the actual card for the
joker, and may then either use the joker immediately, or hold it in his hand.
Going Out: When a player has discarded his last
card, the hand is over, and scored. If the stock is exhausted before any
player has gone out, the discard pile is shuffled by the original dealer and
turned face-down to form a new stock. Scoring:
At the end of a hand, each player scores the sum of all cards in his hand.
For purposes of scoring, the cards remaining in the players hand have the
following values: 3-9=5 points 10-K=10 points Aces and Dueces=20 points The
player with the fewest points at the end of the seven deals wins the
game.