Liverpool Rummy is a multi-player, multi-round card game

Card game

A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...

 similar to other variants of rummy

Rummy

Rummy is a group of card games notable for gameplay based on the matching of similar playing cards. The Mexican game of Conquian is considered by David Parlett to be ancestral to all rummy games, which itself is derived from a Chinese game called Khanhoo and, going even further back,...

 that adds features like buying and going out. It's the same as Contract Rummy, except that if a player manages to cut the exact number of cards required to deal the hand and leave a face-up card, then the cutting player's score is reduced by 50 points.

The deck

The game is played with multiple (typically 2, for four to five players, 3 decks for more) standard 52-card packs of playing cards. The ranking from low-to-high is A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-A. Aces can be low or high.

Dealing

Dealership rotates to each player from round to round. The dealer to the first round is usually determined by cutting the deck. Low card deals. The dealer deals a ten-card hand to each player. (In some circles, a 12-card hand is dealt, this variant is sometimes called Peruvian rummy) After all the players' hands have been dealt, another card (the upcard

Upcard

An upcard is a face up playing card. A number of card games incorporate upcards:*In stud poker, a card dealt face up to a player that other players can see.*In blackjack, the card the dealer deals to themself for all the players to see....

), is placed face-up in a central location known as the discard pile. The remainder of the pack is called the deck.

The player to the immediate left of the dealer plays first.

Gameplay

On each turn, a player:

• May allow any player to buy the top card from the discard pile.
• Draws either the face-up top card of the discard pile or one card from the deck.
• May lay down their completed round-appropriate collection of books and runs.
• May play off other players who have laid down once they have laid down themselves.
• May discard one card from their hand onto the discard pile. If the discard could have been played off on either their own or another player's laid cards then any other player can call rummy and every player then gives the offending player one card from their hand. If the next player commences their turn by either drawing or allowing buying then the opportunity to call rummy has passed.

Play continues, in alternating turns, until one player goes out, or has no cards left in their hand. Points are tallied and recorded by a score-keeper. All of the cards are shuffled and the next round of play commences.

Laying down

The objective in liverpool rummy is to improve one's score by laying down to reduce the number of cards in hand, and eventually going out before other players. Within each round there are two types of card groupings that are required:

• Books of 3 or more cards sharing the same rank, i.e., 8 8♣ 8♠.
• Runs of 4 or more cards in sequence, of the same suit, i.e., 3 4 5 6 7.

Aces rank as high or low, but one cannot create a run that loops around, also known as "turning the corner". A 2 3 4 is allowed, J Q K A is allowed, but K A 2 3 is not.

Requirements for laying down

The requirements for each round of play are as follows:

• First - 2 sets (6 cards)
• Second - 1 set & 1 run (7 cards)
• Third - 2 runs (8 cards)
• Fourth - 3 sets (9 cards)
• Fifth - 2 sets & 1 run with only 1 final card immediately discarded (10 cards)
• Sixth - 1 set & 2 runs with no remaining cards in hand, no final discard (11 cards
• Seventh - 13 card run with no discard (12 cards-you must buy to complete this round)

Buying

After each player has finished their turn by discarding, any player may then buy the top card from the discard pile. The "price" of picking up these extra cards is drawing an additional card from the pile. If more than one player desires to buy a card, the player who is nearest (clockwise) the player about to draw gets precedence.

Wild cards

2s are wild cards, and can represent any card (suit and number). However there are restrictions on their usage.

• Sets must include at least 2 non-wildcards.
  • Legal Example: 7 7♣ 2♠.
  • Illegal Example: 2 2♣ 3♣.
• Runs must include at least 3 non-wildcards in an original 4 card grouping.
  • Legal Example: 7 8 2♣ 10.
  • Illegal Example: 7 8 2♣ 2 J.

During their turn while playing off another player, a player may replace that other player's laid 2 from within a run with the card it is substituting, so long as that 2 is placed somewhere else before the player concludes their turn. An easy way to "waste" the extra 2 if it doesn't allow you to lay additional cards is to simply add it to a set, as this prohibits another player from performing the wild card substitution trick again.

Playing off other players

Once a player has laid down, they can then attempt to further reduce the number of cards in their hand by adding to other players' laid cards. If another player has laid down a set of 3's (3 3♣ 3♠) and you have a 3 in your hand, you may add lay it down on his pile. A player who has laid down a run of hearts (3 4 5 6), you may add a 7 to their pile.

Calling rummy

Once a player has laid down, their discard must not fit into either their own or any other player's laid cards.If this is the case, every other player has until the commencement of the next player's turn to call rummy on the offending player, in which case every player gives that offending player one card from their hand. Once a player lays his cards down to 'go out' of a round, rummy rules no longer apply.

Evaluation of the hand

At the end of each round when a player goes out, the rest of the players total their scores by counting up the value of the cards remaining in their hands. Cards are valued as follows:

• Ace and 2 are 25 points each.
• 3 through 9 are 5 points each.
• 10, J, Q and K are 10 points each.

The player with the lowest point total at the end of final round wins, so players usually work to lower their scores by going down, playing off other players who have gone down and, secondarily, replacing high cards (such as face cards and aces) with lower ones.

Florida Rummy

Florida Rummy, also called Ten Step, is a multi-player, multi-round card game

Card game

A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...

. variant of Rummy

Rummy

Rummy is a group of card games notable for gameplay based on the matching of similar playing cards. The Mexican game of Conquian is considered by David Parlett to be ancestral to all rummy games, which itself is derived from a Chinese game called Khanhoo and, going even further back,...

 similar to Liverpool Rummy

Liverpool Rummy

Liverpool Rummy is a multi-player, multi-round card game similar to other variants of rummy that adds features like buying and going out. It's the same as Contract Rummy, except that if a player manages to cut the exact number of cards required to deal the hand and leave a face-up card, then the...

.

• Deck: Full 54-card decks including jokers are used. Jokers are similar to twos as they act as wild cards.
• Deal: 11 cards are dealt to each player.
• Evaluation of Hand: Aces, Twos, and Jokers are worth 15 points each.
• Buying: Only the top card in the discard pile can be bought.
• Wild Cards: There are no limitations on the use of wild cards. A set or a run can contain any number of wild cards when it is put down.

Requirements for laying down

Each step (round of play) has its own requirements as follows:

• 2 Sets of 3
• 1 Set of 3 and 1 Run of 4
• 2 Runs of 4
• 3 Sets of 3
• 1 Set of 3 and 1 Run of 7
• 2 Sets of 3 and 1 Run of 5
• 3 Runs of 4
• 1 Set of 3 and 1 Run of 10
• 3 Sets of 3 and 1 Run of 5
• 3 Runs of 5

Going Out and Floating

A player goes out when he successfully discards the only remaining card in hand, marking the conclusion of the step for all players. A player gets to this point by laying down and then playing off his and other players’ hands.

A player is floating if he exhausts his cards and is not able to discard. In this case, the hand continues until somebody successfully goes out. At no point in time is it acceptable to draw a card from the up pile and discard the same card during the same turn. It follows that a floater must draw an unplayable card from the deck (down-pile) in order to go out.

It is customary to knock on the table when there is only one card left in your hand. This alerts other players of closeness to going out.

I Buy

I Buy Sausages is a variant of Liverpool Rummy with some significant changes.

Two to three 54-card decks including jokers are used, depending on how many people are playing. Jokers and twos are wild cards. In the first hand, 6 cards are dealt to each player. In each subsequent hand, one more card is dealt. The game ends after the 8th hand, in which each player is dealt 13 cards. A player may take a card from the deck, or a single face-up card from the discard pile. If you take a card from the discard pile you must take two cards from the deck.

• Evaluation of Hand: Twos and Jokers are worth 25 points each. Aces are worth 15 points. Face cards and 10s are worth 10 points. All other cards are worth 5 points.
• Buying: Each player starts the game with 10 coins, counters or chips. After each turn, players may buy the face-up card on the discard pile. Only the top card can be bought, all cards deeper are "dead." They must pay 1 coin and take an additional card from the deck. If more than one player wishes to buy, the one closest to the player who just discarded (clockwise) has first claim. Your 10 coins must last you all 8 hands.
• Wild Cards: Wild cards cannot be the majority in any set. You may play off of other players' sets, and you may "steal" wild cards if you can use it immediately. If you lay down a 3 on another player's set of 3-3-Joker, you may take the Joker as long as you can lay it down within a set of your own immediately.

Requirements for laying down: The requirements change in each round of play and are as follows:

• First - 1 set of 3 (6 cards)
• Second - 2 sets of 3 (7 cards)
• Third - 1 set of 4 (8 cards)
• Fourth - 2 sets of 4 (9 cards)
• Fifth - 1 set of 5 (10 cards)
• Sixth - 2 sets of 5 (11 cards)
• Seventh - 1 set of 6 (12 cards)
• Eighth - 2 sets of 6 (13 cards)

Me

Me derives its name from a player out of turn buying a card from the discard pile. The player calls "me" and then picks up the discarded (bought) card and a penalty (the price for buying the card). The difference from Liverpool Rummy is that whoever calls "me" first gets the card as opposed to the player who is nearest (clockwise) the player about to draw.

Gameplay

• Deck: Full 54-card decks including jokers are used. Jokers are the only wild cards.
• Deal: 12 cards are dealt to each player.
• Evaluation of Hand: Jokers are worth 20 points, Aces are worth 15 points, face cards are worth 10 points and number cards are face value.
• Buying: Only the top card in the discard pile can be bought.
• Wild Cards: There are no limitations on the use of wild cards. A set or a run can contain any number of wild cards when it is put down.
• Aces only rank as high.

Requirements for laying down

The requirements for each round of play are as follows:

• First - 2 sets (6 cards)
• Second - 1 set & 1 run (7 cards)
• Third - 2 runs (8 cards)
• Fourth - 3 sets (9 cards)
• Fifth - 2 sets & 1 run (10 cards)
• Sixth - 1 set & 2 runs (11 cards)
• Seventh - 3 runs with no remaining cards in hand, no final discard (12 cards)