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The Family of Rummy Games
 Rummy
Games come in almost countless forms. The many variants of Rummy make up
one of the biggest family of card games in history. And to extend the
family even further, Rummy also has some variants that make use of tiles
instead of cards. All these variants follow certain common features that
identify them as belonging to the family of
Rummy card games, but they
also have several differences that make them distinct from one another.
But one of the distinguishing factors of Rummy card games is that they
should follow the draw and discard flow of the game. In fact, games and
variants of Rummy are sometimes called “draw and discard games.” In such
games, the players are required to draw a card from the remaining pile
then discard one card from their hand all in the same turn. This pattern
of playing applies to all games that are considered part of the Rummy
family. Likewise, all games, even those that are only popular in certain
countries, are claimed as part of the family as well, so even a lot of
Rummy fans are not aware of just how big the Rummy family really is.
Western Rummy Games
Rummy variants fall into many different classifications, primarily because
there are just too many of them. To help Rummy aficionados make sense of
all the different games that are hailed as Rummy variants, these variants
are placed into groups based on their common features. First, there are
regular or basic variants, which include the standard version of Rummy as
well as Kalooki, Three Thirteen, and American Rummikub. American Rummikub,
however, plays with tiles instead of playing cards. The Conquian group of
Rummy variants, on the other hand, are based on the main game, Conquian.
Conquian dates far back before the Rummy game was officially considered.
The historical game can be traced back to Spain and is claimed by some
people to be the origin of Rummy. It is now believed to be the main root
of all Rummy variants in the West. The main feature of these games is that
the players never add cards that they draw from the stock pile or the
discard pile to their hand. The Conquian Rummy variants include Panguingue
and Pitty Pat.
Asian Rummy Games
As opposed to Western Rummy variants, there are also a lot of games in
Asia that can be considered as part of the Rummy family. These games have
the same draw and discard pattern as well as objectives as most other
Rummy variants. The difference lies mostly in the game items used in
playing. Asian games use different card decks or tiles. The most primary
of all these Asian Rummy variants is the Mah-Jong, which is even older
than the official Rummy game. Mah-Jong is said to be the root of all Rummy
variants in Asia, as Conquian is the root of all games in the West.
Mah-Jong uses Mah-Jong tiles or money tiles instead of cards. Other games
in this family includes Si Se Pai which is played with Chinese chess
cards, Quan Dui which is played with Chinese money cards, Kap Tai Shap
which is played with Chinese dominoes, and Cuajo which is played with
Spanish cards. Turkey also has its own popular game called Okey, which is
also considered as a Rummy variant. The game is played with special number
tiles and is considered very similar to Tile Rummy or
Rummikub.
Contract Rummy Games
One of the biggest sub-categories of Rummy variants is the Contract Rummy
category. Contract Rummy is a Rummy variant where the objective is the
same as in the regular game. The main difference is that, in every deal,
the players need to first meet a particular meld with a predetermined
value or nature. These are called contracts, and they increase in
difficulty with every deal. Contract Rummy became the leading game in this
group of variants, which include May I, Shanghai Rummy, Liverpool Rummy,
Progressive Rummy, International Rummy, Jamaican Kalooki, South African
Kalooki, Carioca, Telefunken, Push, and Toonerville Rook.
Kalooki 40 and
Kalooki 51 are also considered as Contract Rummy variants because the
players need to form melds with values of 40 and 51 initially.
Knock Scoring Rummy Games
Knock scoring Rummy variants are said to be the most popular variants, led
by the most popular game in Rummy, the
Gin Rummy game. These games allow a
particular special move, the knock, which allows players to go out of the
game even with cards still in their hands. Gin Rummy is the main game in
this group, though the game itself already has variants such as Oklahoma
Gin and Hollywood Gin. Another game in this group is Tonk.
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