Many different variations of the basic rummy game exist, and each has a loyal following who often only play that variation of rummy. Some of the most popular ones are Gin Rummy, Liverpool Rummy, and Mah Jongg.

Gin Rummy is a two-player version of rummy. While basic rummy can be played with two players, it can also be played with up to six. Gin Rummy, however, can have no more than two players. The goal of Gin Rummy was to create a faster version of the basic rummy game.

There are some rules in Gin Rummy that are different from basic rummy rules. The ace can only be used as a low card players may not create a Queen, King, Ace sequence. Each player starts with ten cards and, like in basic rummy, draws one card or picks up the discard, may meld or lay off each hand, and then discards to end his/her turn.

Players also have the option of knocking. To do this, a player discards and then announces he/she is knocking. He/she does this by laying all cards down with the melds clearly separated from the deadwood cards. The other player can then lay off any cards onto the melds. If the player has no deadwood, however, then he/she has Gone Gin and the game is over. There are various rules regarding when a player can knock, and these rules often change depending on which version of Gin Rummy players are playing.

In Liverpool Rummy, more than one deck of cards is used. This allows players to have ten to twelve card hands. Even though more decks are used, generally only five or six players can play at a time. The main difference between Liverpool Rummy and other versions is that players must make specific books and runs for each round of play. During round one, for example, players cannot lay down their melds until they have two books. In round two, they must make one book and one run. By the seventh hand, they are looking to make four books or three runs and have no discard at the end. These specific rules, obviously, make Liverpool Rummy a longer and more challenging variant of Rummy.

Finally, although it may not seem like it, the original Chinese game of Mah Jongg is also a type of Rummy. It is important to note that the version of Mah Jongg that is a Rummy game is not the American Mah Jongg, the one-player tile matching game that has become quite popular as a computer game. The original Chinese version was played by four players using a set of tiles. The goal, like in Rummy, is to create melds and sequences. Mah Jongg includes many more tiles than Rummy, with some tile sets featuring 152 different tiles. This means players start out with larger hands they may have anywhere from 17 to 19 tiles. In addition to three suites of numbers, a Mah Jongg set may feature Wind, Dragon, Flower, and Season tiles, and each of these has specific rules regarding their use in the game.

In addition to these three versions of Rummy, many other variations exist. In fact, you can find entire books dedicated to describing the various versions at any bookstore.

Jacob George is an Internet Enthusiast. Learn
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