How to Play Crazy Rummy

Crazy Rummy: Crazy Rummy is a draw and discard type Rummy game in which the wild cards change on every hand. The game is designed for play by 3 to 6 participants and uses one standard 52 card deck. The ranking of the cards used in this deck for the play of Crazy Rummy are as follows (from high to low): King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace.

Any number of wild cards are allowed in melds in Crazy Rummy

In Crazy Rummy, a meld may contain any number of wild cards. In this example meld, on the first hand of the game, this sequence meld contains two such wild cards.

Determination of seating positions and first dealer can be performed using a variety of methods, with drawing for high cards commonly used. Using that method, each player would draw one card from the shuffled deck, and the players take seats in order of preference from highest card drawn to lowest. If multiple players draw cards of the same denomination, those players would each set that card aside and draw a new card, continuing until each player draws a distinctly ranked card. The player drawing the lowest card of all is set as the first dealer. After each hand, the role of dealer rotates around the table in a clockwise direction.

Once the players are seated the dealer then thoroughly shuffles the deck and offers it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut, the dealer then begins dealing the cards in a clockwise rotation around the table. The cards are dealt face-down and one-at-a-time.

Crazy Rummy is played over the course of thirteen total rounds or deals. Each player receives a seven cards on each deal. However, on each of these deals a different card is considered wild for that hand. On the first round, all Aces are considered wild cards, on the second all twos, on the third all threes, all the way up to the twelfth in which all Queens are wild and on the thirteenth and last hand, all Kings are wild cards. A wild card can be used in a meld to represent any other card in that meld. A meld can contain any number of wild cards, however if there is any doubt as to what a specific wild card is representing within a meld, the player of that meld must state the replacement card (or cards) for the wild cards are meant to represent.

A player's turn consists of three actions; a draw (either the top face-up card of the discard pile or the top face-down card from the stock pile, optionally melding as able and willing, and finally ending with a mandatory discard.

As in most forms of Rummy, valid melds consist of Sets and Runs. A set is a collection of three or four cards (never more than four) all of the same rank. A run is a sequence of three or more cards all in direct sequential order and all of the same suit. In melds, although a specific rank of card might be considered as wild on that round, that card can also be used as the normal natural card which is marked on that card (i.e. a wild card nine of diamonds could be used as a natural nine in a meld of 8, 9, 10 of diamonds).

The first meld each player makes in a round must be a new run or group meld. On subsequent turns (or later on that same turn) that player may, in addition to new melds, also add cards to existing melds already on the table, made either by himself or an opponent. If a player has the natural card for which a wild card in a meld on the table represents, that player may, during their turn, take the wild card into their hand, replacing it with the appropriate natural card. However, this can only be done providing that player has already made at least one full meld to the table on this or a prior turn.

A player completes his hand either by playing all but one of the cards remaining in his hand to valid melds and then discarding his last card as his normal required discard to end the turn (which also immediately ends the hand). A discard is always required to end a player's turn. Thus, for a player who, at the start of his turn, finds he only has one card remaining in his hand, there are several restrictions on his play during that turn. First, he must start the turn with a draw from the stock pile (he may not draw from the discard pile on that turn). They may then, if able, meld one of the two cards currently in their hand, and then discard the other card to end the hand. If the player cannot (or elects not) to meld one of the two cards in hand, he must retain the new card drawn in his hand and discard the card that was already in hand at the start of that turn.

Once any player manages to deplete his entire hand, that hand ends and the remaining players must then add their ongoing accumulated total a number of points based on the cards remaining in their hands as shown in the following chart:

Card Denomination	Point Value
Designated Wild Card for that Hand	25 Each
Jack, Queen, King	10 Each
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10	Value as marked on card
Ace	1 Each

Similarly, if the stock pile runs out, the game also ends after the completion of the turn of the player drawing this last card from that stock pile. In this case, the hand then immediately ends after the completion of that player's turn and each player then adds to his accumulated total a number of points based on the cards remaining in his hand as per the chart above.

The game ends after thirteen such hands have been completed, and the player with the lowest accumulated score is declared the overall game winner.

Variations and Optional Rules

Biddies: Biddies is a Rummy variant that is played identically to Crazy Rummy, described directly above, with the following few differences:

Biddies is designed for play by 3 or 4 players.
The first dealer is usually determined by dealing cards face-up from the shuffled deck around the table until the first Jack is dealt, with the player so dealt this card set as the first dealer for the hand.

Around the corner melds are not permitted in Biddies

Aces can be used in Sequence melds (Runs) either as a high card, after King, or as a low card before two. However, a sequence may not go around the corner (as an example, King, Ace, 2, 3.
If a player finds, after his normal discard that the only card he has in his hand is a two, and the twos are not the designated wild card for that round, may optionally elect to immediately end the hand (called "up for 2"). The player with the 2 scores two penalty points and the other players each score as normal for the cards remaining in their hands.
Any Aces found remaining in a players hand after the end of play have a scoring value of 10 points.
The designated wild cards in each hand are called "Biddies" and melds are called "downers".

Other than these differences Biddies is played identically to Crazy Rummy and is commonly played in Southern Wales as well as reportedly being one of the card games regularly played in prisons.

Treize Brasses: Treize Brasses (translated from French as Thirteen Shuffles) is another game which is played similarly to Crazy Rummy. The game, which is found in Canada, played mostly by the French speaking populace there, is played identically to Crazy Rummy with these differences:

The game is played with a double deck consisting of 104 cards, consisting of two standard decks shuffled together.
The game can be played by two to eight players.
Each player receives a total of 13 cards during each deal.
Despite there being a total of 8 cards in every denomination, a set may never contain more than 4 total cards, although these cards may consists of cards in that denomination from any suits.
If a player draws the top card from the discard pile, he must use that card immediately in a meld to the table, he may never add it to his hand.
The scoring value for cards left in a player's hands is as follows:

Card Denomination Point Value

Designated Wild Card for the Hand 25 Each

King 13 Each

Queen 12 Each

Jack 11 Each

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Value as marked on card

Ace 1 Each

Card Denomination	Point Value
Designated Wild Card for the Hand	25 Each
King	13 Each
Queen	12 Each
Jack	11 Each
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10	Value as marked on card
Ace	1 Each

Other than these differences, Treize Brasses is played identically to Crazy Rummy as described further above.

Beanie: Beanie is a variant of Crazy Rummy which is most commonly found in Canada. It is played identically to Crazy Rummy, with the following differences:

A player may never meld on his very first turn of each hand.
After the first turn, however a player may make legal melds from his hand at any time, even when not his turn. This includes completely new melds or laying off cards to melds already found on the table.
If a player has the correct replacement for a Beanie wild card found in an existing meld he can replace that card, taking the Beanie card into his hand.
The cycle of wild cards is the opposite as in Crazy Rummy. In other words, on the first hand in Beanie, the Kings are the wild card, on the second hand, Queens, all the way down to the Aces on the last hand. The wild cards in this game are called Beanies.
Once a player manages to completely deplete his hand of cards, he loudly announces "Beanie", with the hand ending immediately and the other players must add points to their current ongoing score based on the cards still remaining in their hands. This player is said to "Beanie Out".
The point value for cards remaining in a player's hand are as follows:

Card Denomination Point Value

Beanie Card (Designated Wild Card for that Hand) 25 Each

9, 10, Jack, Queen, King 10 Points Each

Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 5 Points Each
If a player elects, on his turn, to draw from the face-up discard pile, he must take the entire discard pile into his hand.
The hand does not immediately end once the draw pile is exhausted. As long as each succeeding player is willing to draw from the discard pile, the game can continue, however once any player refuses to draw from the discard pile, the hand immediately ends and is scored.

Card Denomination	Point Value
Beanie Card (Designated Wild Card for that Hand)	25 Each
9, 10, Jack, Queen, King	10 Points Each
Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8	5 Points Each

Other than these differences, Beanie is played identically to Crazy Rummy.

Thanasis: Thanasis is a Greek card game of the Rummy family which has a number of similarities to Crazy Rummy and it's variants as well as featuring a number of distinct and unique differences. Thansis is designed for play by 4 to 7 players.

Thanasis uses two standard 52 card decks with the addition of four total Jokers. The ranking of the cards in this deck are as follows (from highest to lowest); King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. The four Jokers are considered wild cards and can be used to replace any other card in a valid meld.

All the wild cards in play if a four was the initial upcard dealt

All the wild cards in play if a four was the initial upcard dealt

Determination of first dealer and seating positions and first dealer can be performed using any method. Once the first dealer is selected, that player should then thoroughly shuffle the deck and offer it to the player at his left. After the cut, the dealer then begins dealing the cards in a counter-clockwise direction around the table, one at a time and face-down. He continues dealing in this manner until each player has a total of ten cards. He then lays the deck in the center of the table, and removes the top card from the stock and places it face-up, near the stock pile. This card thus determines the rank of the wild cards to be used during the hand. Thus, all the remaining cards of that same rank are considered wild cards (along with the Jokers) on that hand and can thus be used as replacements for any other card in a meld. if the card so turned up is a printed Joker, the dealer places this card randomly back into the middle of the deck and draws another card to replace it. The player to the immediate right of the dealer has the first turn, and the turns rotate in a counter-clockwise direction around the table.

As in most Rummy type games, each turn consists of three parts, as follows:

Draw:
Optionally Going Rummy:
Discard:

The game continues in this manner, from turn to turn, until a player manages to Go Rummy, which immediately ends the hand. Once a player manages to Go Rummy, the other players are entitled to remove any full melds they have from their hands (but may not lay off cards on other player's melds). Once all players have thus placed any legal melds, scoring occurs. All the unmeldable cards in the other player's hands are then counted and added to the current score of the player who managed to Go Rummy. Each card in the deck has a scoring value as per the following chart:

Card Denomination	Point Value
Jokers and Wild Cards	25 Points Each
Jack, Queen, King	10 Points Each
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10	Value as Marked on Card
Ace	1 Point Each

The game continues over multiple hands until one player manages to accumulate his score to some predeermined total, such as 100 or 150, with that player then set as the game winner.

Dynamitis: Dynamitis is another game of Greek origin and which is player very similar to it's parent game of Thanasis. In fact, Dynamitis is played identically to Thansis, with one major difference.

In addition to all the same selection of wild cards as used in Thansis, Dynamitis additionally includes all twos as wild cards as well. Thus, in addition to the Jokers and the card faced by the dealer at the start of play, all twos are also considered wild cards. Any two found in a players hand at the end of the hand has a scoring value of 25 points. If the card initially turned up for determining the wild card to be used for the hand is a Joker or two, this card is shuffled back into the middle of the deck and a new card thus exposed. Other than this difference in the wild cards used for the game, Dynamitis is played identically to Thanasis.