OBJECTIVE OF CONTINENTAL RUMMY: Be the player who has the lowest penalty point after played all seven hands.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 12
NUMBER OF CARDS: Two 52-decks and add 1 joker per pack for a total of 106cards
RANK OF CARDS: A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A
TYPE OF GAME: Rummy
AUDIENCE: Both kids and adults
Do you want to play the rummy-type game? Continental rummy is the right choice to go with. It is often called double-deck and continental rummy.
This game is the forerunner of the whole family of the rummy games, which access two packs of the rummy cards as single. To win the game, the player needs to score the most points upon completing all seven hands.
The Deck
Two 52-card decks with two jokers are required to start playing this game. After shuffling the cards, every player draws one card from the deck. The player with the lowest card will start the game.
The continuing deals are passed to the left. Usually, the number of decks accessed and the base of the two are determined by dividing the number of people playing by two. If it is required, the number is often rounded. For example, 4players use 2decks whereas 8players use 4decks.
How To Play
In this game, each player is dealt 12cards. As soon as the cards have been dealt, the rest cards are placed on the center of the table. Aces and Jokers are considered wild here.
Whenever a card is drawn from the pile, one card needs to be discarded. The next players on the line will continue the game by drawing the top card or the card on the stockpile. Then, the player needs to discard the card.
When the player selects not to draw from the discard pile, anyone can take that card. If they do, it is mandatory to draw a card from the top of the draw pile.
This player never discards the card, and the extra card drawn is considered as penalty card. Do this before the player completes their turn by discarding the card. During the player’s turn, they need to form the right combination of cards. If there is no possible combination, they can drop the card.
In general, a set should contain three or more cards of the same face value, like three aces, three queens, or three sevens. Next, the run contains four or more cards of the similar suit in order.
If there is an Ace in the run, it acts as either a high or low card. However, it is not on the same run. Keep in mind that no run must contain more than 13cards.
The player who has the right combination discards the extra card and lays all their melds on the table. Now, the game is over. Other players score is calculated based on the irrelevant cards in their set. The winner always gets the lowest score on the table.
Combination of Sequences
In this game, sets are not at all valid melds. So if you want to go out, then it is necessary to create one of the following combinations of the sequences without fail.
- One 5-card sequence, two 3-card sequences and one 4-card sequence
- Five 3-card sequences
- Three 5-card sequences and one 3-card sequence
The player needs to lay down all their melds simultaneously. The player should not lay the partial combination of sequences. Even though Ace may rank low or high, the sequence may not go round the corner. For meeting the desired melding pattern, players can spilt up the long sequence into smaller ones. Jokers and deuces are wild.
The player can move the jokers, which accessed in the run and then lay the card of the original value in its place. For instance, a player with a run of A, 2, 3, Joker, 5 may move the Joker to the end of the run to add the 4 in its right place. Joker sits at the starting or end of the run may move to another run. If the run comprises only three cards, the player cannot move the Joker.
Scoring
The winner will get the following from other players at the end of the gameplay.
| Awarded points | For what |
| 1 | Winning the game |
| 1 | Every deuce used |
| 2 | Every joker used |
| 7 | Going out after drawing only one card |
| 10 | Having all melds of similar suit |
| 10 | Going out without accessing the wildcard |
| 10 | Going out without drawing a card |
The points are always calculated by the card left on the player’s hand. The player ended the hand by discarding the last card earns zero points. The players who drop their card and then discard their final card in a single turn lose 10points from their score. So, that’s all about the continental rummy game.
