Frederick Jace
Rummy is perhaps the most popular card game after poker. And just like poker, it comes with numerous variations. The variation we are going to discuss today is London Rummy or Kalookie. London Rummy is popular in many parts of the world, especially in the United Kingdom and that’s why Kalookie is also known as London Rummy. While the game holds many similarities to a basic rummy game, there are differences in it, which makes it unique from the others. Also, popular terms like stock pile and discard pile are part of it. So in order to understand all of them properly, let us understand the nature and rules of London Rummy.
London Rummy is a popular variation of Rummy played in different parts of the world.
How to Play London Rummy?
Like Rummy, you have to meld the 13 cards in London Rummy as well:
- A total of 13 cards are dealt out to each player. The minimum number of players who can play London Rummy is 2 while the maximum limit is 5 with 2 decks of cards being dealt out.
- The remaining cards are placed face down on the table. This is known as the stock pile. The card at the top of the stock pile is taken out and placed face up. This discarded card now belongs to a new pile called the discard pile.
- The player sitting on the left side of the dealer starts first and then the game moves in a clockwise direction.
- As the game goes on, and your turn shows up, you will have to pick one card either from the stock pile or from the discard pile. In return, you will have to place one card from your end on the discard pile.
- What you have to do with these cards is place them in a set or sequence. This process is known as melding.
- Once your melded cards reach the total value of 40 points or more, you can lay these cards face up as declared. This is the most popular part of the game and it goes by the name ‘coming down’.
- The purpose of ‘coming down’ is that it reduces the points in your hand and thereby avoids the risk of paying a penalty.
- The interesting thing about London Rummy is that you can choose to come down as and when you want.
- When you pick a card from the discard pile, you cannot save it for future use. You will have to use the card there and then. But if you pick a card from the stock pile, you can save it for future use in the coming rounds.
As it turns out, London Rummy is a simple game to play and with proper experience, you can easily get a hand on victory. But the most important thing to learn about any game is its rules. With London Rummy it is the same as well.
Rules of London Rummy
London Rummy is a card game that comes with its own sets of rules. If you want to play this game either for entertainment or for money, then you will have to grasp the rules first. They are as follows:
- The first set of cards must hold a value of 40 points or more but not less. Once you have made a declaration of the first set consisting of 40 points, you can then lay down sets of any value.
- Once the set has already been dealt down, you can still add points to it. This is usually done to avoid the penalty points that keep on accruing with each card.
- Joker also plays an important role in London Rummy. You can use the joker as a replacement for any other card and it will take up the value of the card it replaces. However, if you have failed to use the joker till the end and it is the only card you are left with, 15 penalty points will be added to your score tally.
- The joker can be reused by taking it out from the declared set. But for this to happen, you will have to replace the joker with an actual card and only when the total has reached 40 points. Moreover, you will have to use the joker in the next turn and cannot save it for future use.
- If a player deals out all of the 13 cards in his hand and then discards one, he is declared the winner. The player who wins gets 0 points. The other players will have to add up the cards of the winning player in their hand and have to share the points of the cards.
- If a player crosses the threshold of 150 points, he is automatically taken out of the game and he cannot be a part of it any further. On the other hand, the player who manages to stay till the last without crossing 150 points is declared a winner.
Knowing the rules of London Rummy is important if you want to excel in it.
These are rules of the London Rummy which you must keep in mind while playing the game. An important thing to note about this card game is that if the stock pile runs out, then you will have to pick a card from the discard pile and keep it face down. Then take the rest of the discard pile and shuffle it. Now, keep these cards face down and they become the new stock pile. You can repeat this process only once. If the stock pile runs out once again, you cannot repeat this process. The game will be declared void there and then with no winners.
Conclusion
London Rummy is an interesting game to get going with if you love to play card games. If you are planning to play this game online, then it is important to choose the right platform like GetMega where you get a smooth UI and a minimalist theme, so you can focus more on the game. Also, if you are thinking of making money out of this game, then it is pertinent that you join a gaming platform where customer support is good so you can get the right guidance if any issue arises.
