Scala Quranta is a Rummy type game of Italian origin. It is also often written as Scala 40, with Quaranta being Italian for the number forty. Scala Quaranta is designed to be played for 3 to 6 players each playing independently and uses two standard 52 card decks shuffled together and the addition of four Jokers total (108 cards in all).
The ranking of the cards in the deck are as follows, from highest to lowest; Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. It should be noted that the Ace is considered both high and low, as for purposes of sequence melds that contain an Ace, the Ace can either be the highest card in a meld consisting of the Queen and King, or it can be the lowest card in a meld consisting of three, and two. An Ace can never be part of an "around the corner meld", which is a meld in which a King is on one side of the Ace and a two on the other. Also, for purposes of scoring and determining the value of a player's first meld, each card in the deck has a specific point value, as per the following chart:
| Card Denomination | Point Value Left in Player's Hand | Point Value Within a Meld |
| 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 | Value as marked on card | Value as marked on card |
| Jack, Queen, King | 10 Points Each | 10 Points Each |
| Ace | 11 Points Each | 11 Points unless in a sequence meld in which the Ace is the lowest card (i.e. A, 2, 3), in which the Ace
then has a point value of 1 |
| Joker | 25 Points Each | Point Value of card it represents in the meld |
Determination of the first dealer and seating positions can be performed in a variety of methods, with draw for high cards a commonly used method. Using this method each player would draw a card from the shuffled deck, and the players take their choice of seats at the table in order of cards drawn from highest to lowest. If multiple players draw cards of the same denomination, those players should discard the cards drawn and redraw, continuing until they draw a card not drawn by any other player. The player drawing the highest card of all is set as the first dealer. After each hand, the role of dealer rotates in a clockwise direction around the table.
Once the players are seated and the deck has been shuffled and cut, the dealer should then begin dealing the cards in a clockwise direction around the table, starting with the player at his left. He deals the cards one at a time and face-down, continuing until each player has a total of 13 cards. The dealer then places the remainder of the deck in a face-down pile at the center of the pile as the stock. He then removes the top card from the stock and places it face-up next to the stock to start the discard pile. The player to the immediate left of the dealer has the first turn, and the turns rotate around the table in a clockwise direction.
Each turn consists of several actions that a player can take, some mandatory, others optional:
- A players starts his turn by drawing a card (this is mandatory). This
usually consists of the top, face-down card from the stock pile. However, in certain cases the player may also opt to draw the current top card from the discard pile. He may do this only if he has already Opened (made a legal meld to the table) and providing he uses that top card from the stock immediately on his turn, either creating a new meld or adding to an existing meld already on the table.
- The second action a player can take is to make any melds, if able and willing. A meld consists of playing a legal combination of cards to the table. The legal melds in Scala Quaranta are as follows:
- Sequence: A Sequence is a collection of three or more cards, all of the same suit, directly in sequence (i.e. 8, 9, and 10, all in the suit of Spades). As mentioned previously, an Ace can be used in a sequence meld as either the top card of the meld containing the Queen and
King, or the bottom card in a meld consisting of the two and three. A meld may never contain two Aces, however, a particularly long sequence meld containing an Ace and a Joker substituting for a Joker (in the appropriate location) is still considered a valid meld.
- Set: A set melds is three or more cards all of the same denomination (i.e. four of
clubs, four of diamonds, four of spades), all of different suits. A specific Set can never contain two or more cards of the same suit, although there can be multiple legal set melds of the same denomination on the table.
The same physical card can never be part of two different melds. Jokers are considered wild cards and can be substituted for any other card in a valid meld. Each specific meld can never contain more than one Joker. When a Joker is melded, it should be clearly states by the player of the Joker, the suit and rank of the card the Joker is intended to
represent. Players should place the melds in an orderly fashion near the center of the table.
In addition, if a player has previously Opened (see below), they may also, during this phase of the turn, existing melds already on the table by adding cards to these melds, regardless of which player initially made that meld. If player has the proper card in his hand in which a Joker is substituting for in a meld on the table, he may thus exchange that card for the Joker, adding it to his hand or playing it to a meld on the table. This action too requires that the player has
previously opened.
- The last required action on a player's turn is a discard. The player may discard any existing card from his hand, placing it face up on the top of the discard pile. However, if a player has not yet Opened, he may never discard any Joker or a card which could be used to extend an existing meld that is already found on the table. A player must always make a discard to end his turn, even when Closing, thus a player must leave one card for his discard when depleting his cards to win the hand on a turn.
Opening: Opening is the act of a player making his first meld, which a player does during one
of his turns. This first meld a player makes, must consist of legal new
melds (one or more) which create a total value in points of 40 or more.
Once a player has made this first meld, he may make any additional legal
melds (on this or future turns) to the table and add cards to existing
melds already on the table. This initial meld may contain one or more
legal new melds and may also contain one Joker per meld. This initial
meld may not consist of extending any existing melds already on the table.
Closing: Closing is when a player, on his turn, plays all the but the last of his cards, which he then discards leaving him with no cards. This immediately ends the game, and scoring occurs. A player may never Close on his very first turn of the game, but may so Close on his second or subsequent turns, as able.
If during play, a player draws the last card from the stock pile, the
discard pile is immediately picked up, thoroughly shuffled and placed
face down to start a new stock pile. A new discard pile is thus begun by the current player's discard at the end of his turn.
Once any player Closes, the game immediately ends. The Closing player earns a score of 0, and each other player must add to their ongoing accumulated game score a number of points equal to the total card points for all cards left in their hand (regardless of whether they can form legal melds or not). If any players score, after calculation of the points at the end of the hand, exceeds 100, that player must then drop from the game, with the game continuing with the remaining players. The entire game continues until there is just one player remaining, who is declared the overall game winner.
Classic Rules: In some of the printed rule
sets for this game, there is an additional stipulation placed on sequence melds. This stipulation states that no sequence meld may contain greater than five cards. However, a player who would cause the meld to so extend beyond five cards may
add his necessary card or cards and split the meld into two different melds, each of less than five cards, if the split melds still form legal melds.
First Player Draw: Some players allow the first player, on his first turn, may take the first, top card of the stock, even if he is unable to use it immediately in a meld and despite the fact that he has not yet opened.
Opened and Closed: Many players add a rule in which a player, if he Opens and Closes on the same turn, the scores accumulated by all the other players on that hand are doubled.
Penalty for No Open: Another optional rule that is sometimes adopted by players of Scala Quaranta is that any players who failed to Open before another player closes receive a fixed 100 point penalty rather than the total number based on the points in the player's hand.
Rumino: Rumino is another Italian Rummy type game, similar to Scala Quaranta. However, it is believed Rumino was developed by Italian Immigrants to the United States in the 1940's, after they merged some of the rules of Scala Quaranta with the
distinctly American game, Gin Rummy. This game is also known as Ramino and Rumina.
Similar to Scala Quaranta, Rumino is played using two standard 52 card decks with the addition of four total Jokers. Rumino features play by two to six participants with each player playing independently. The ranking of the cards in Rumino is as follows (from high to low): King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace.
The four Jokers in the deck are wild cards and can thus be used to substitute for any other card in a valid meld. A meld may contain any number of Jokers.
Determination of first dealer is usually performed by drawing cards
from a shuffled deck. The player drawing the highest card (tying players
draw again) is set as the first dealer. Thereafter, after each hand, the role of dealer rotates in a clockwise direction around the table.
After the shuffle and cut, the designated dealer than begins dealing the cards, one at a time, and face down. He starts with the player at his left and continues in a clockwise direction until each player has a total of seven cards. He then places the remaining cards in a face-down pile on the table and slightly spreads this stack in an extended pile formation. He takes the top card from this stock and places it face-up next to the stock to start the discard pile. The player to the immediate left of the dealer starts the hand with the first turn, and thereafter the turns rotate around the table in a clockwise direction from player to player.
Like in most Rummy type games a player attempts to form his hand into
legal melds. However, in Rumino, as with Gin Rummy, the player retains the melds in hand and does not play them to the table. The following are the legal melds in Rumino:
- Set: A set is three or four cards all of the same denomination,
regardless of suit. A set may never contain more than four cards.
- Sequence: A sequence is three or four cards, all of the same suit and in consecutive order. A sequence may never contain more than four cards.
- Rumino: A Rumino is a special seven card meld. There are two types of Rumino. The first is a sequence of seven cards all of the same suit and in direct sequential order. The second type of Rumino is a hand of seven cards, all of the same denomination.
A player usually starts each turn by drawing a card from the stock. He may opt to draw either the top, face-up card of the discard pile or the top face-down pile from the stock, adding the card to his hand.
Instead of drawing on his turn, however, a player may elect to knock, if he so chooses (and is able). To knock a player must be able to form the majority of the cards in his hand into legal melds, and the remaining cards in the hand must have a total point value no greater then seven. The player does this by either rapping with his knuckles on the table or stating as such. If a player thus legally knocks on his turn, the hand immediately ends and scoring for the hand begins. Each player (including the knocker) then places all his legal melds face-up on the table. He then adds the values for all the remaining unmeldable cards (called deadwood) in his hand. Each player then adds this total of unmeldable cards to their current ongoing game score. The following chart shows the value of each card in the deck for these unmatched cards:
| Card | Point Value |
|---|
| Ace | 1 Point Each |
| 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 | Value printed on card |
| Jack, Queen, King | 10 Points Each |
| Joker | 10 Points Each |
A player may never knock on his very first turn of each hand.
If a player manages to match all seven cards in his hand (called Going Gin), the player
thus Going Gin is entitled to subtract 10 points from his current ongoing score, and each of the players must add the points from their unmeldable cards as normal. The player announces this by shouting "Gin" or "Ten Less". If the same player manages to go Gin on the three first three consecutive hands of a game, that player is automatically declared the entire game winner.
If a player manages to collect a Rumino (see above) he immediately announces this, shouting "Rumino" and immediately wins not only the current hand, but the entire game. Similarly, if a player has all but one card in forming a valid Rumino, and another player discards the needed card, the player can, even if not his turn, announce "Rumino" take the card and show the hand to win the game.
The last action of a player at the end of his normal turn is to discard a card from his hand to reduce his hand back to seven cards. He selects any card from his hand and places it face-up on the top of the discard pile.
If, at the end of any hand, one or more players have a score exceeding 100 points, those players must then drop from the game. The last player remaining, with a score under 100 is declared the overall game winner.
After each full game, the winner of the last game is first dealer to start the next game.
Chinchón: Chinchón is a game from the Rummy family which is very popular in Spain, Argentina, and Cape Verde. Chinchón is also commonly played under the name Txintxon. The game has some similarities to other Rummy type games such as Gin Rummy and has the same end goal. Unlike that game, however, Chinchón uses a 40 card Spanish pack.
Thus, traditionally the game is played using this Spanish suited deck. This deck contains cards in four suits (coins, glasses, batons, and swords) in each of the rankings of Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Jack, Knight, King. If such a deck is not at hand, it can easily be played using a reduced standard deck. To create this deck, remove all cards in the ranks of 8, 9, and 10 from a standard 52 card deck. The ranking of the cards in this deck would then be as follows (from highest to lowest); Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. It should be noted that, for the purpose of sequences, the Jack is directly next in sequence after the 7 using this Spanish deck. The standard game of Chinchón is designed for play by 2, 3, or 4 players.
Determination of seating positions and first dealer can be performed using a variety of methods, with draw for high cards a common method. Using that method each player draws a card from the shuffled deck, with players then taking a remaining seat of choice at the table in order of cards drawn from highest to lowest. The player drawing the highest card of all will be the player who has the first turn, and the player to his immediate left, is set as the first dealer.
The player having the first turn is called the "hand" or "mano".
 |
| It should be remembered that, for the purposes of sequences in Chinchón, Jack is the next highest card after seven. |
Once the players are seated, the dealer then thoroughly shuffles the cards and offers it to the player at his left to cut. After the cut, the dealer then begins distributing the cards in a counter-clockwise direction around the table, starting with the player at his immediate right. He deals the cards one-at-a-time and face-down until each player has a total of seven cards. After each player has been dealt the requisite number of cards, the dealer then places the remaining cards of the deck in a face-down pile in the middle of the table as the stock, and then turns over the top card from the stock and places it beside the stock to start the discard pile.
The player at the immediate right of the dealer (hand) has the first turn, and the turns then rotate around the table in a counter-clockwise direction from player to player. On a players turn he then takes several actions:
- Draw: The first action a player takes to start each turn is to draw a card. The player may opt to either draw the top face-up card from the discard pile or the top face-down card from the stock pile.
- Close:
After drawing a card, a player may optionally, if the total point count of his unmatched cards in his hand is 5 or less, may opt to
knock (also called Closing). The player then places all of his legal combinations on the table in front of himself such that all the players can see them. The legal combinations in this game, as in most games of the Rummy family, consist of set and runs. A set is a collection of three or four cards, all of the exact same rank (such as three Kings or four fives). A run is a combination of three or more cards in direct sequence and all of the same suit.
After the player shows his legal melds, he places any other cards which cannot be formed into such combinations to the side, face-up. The total point value of these unmatched cards cannot exceed 5 points. However, the player also must discard one card face-down to the discard pile in closing. Once a player Closes this immediately ends the hand for all players and scoring of the hand occurs. A player is never required to Close even if his unmatched point count is five or less.
- Discard:
The final action a player must take to end his turn is to discard any card from his hand face-up to the top of the discard pile.
The game continues with these actions turn by turn and player by player until one player opts to Close (by knocking on the table), which ends the hand and begins the scoring.
 |
| A player is entitled to knock (or Close) once they have a deadwood count from unmatched cards in their hand of 5 points or less. |
There are two potential endings for the hand. Either the Closer ends the game by melding all seven of his cards, and having no unmatched cards (after his discard) or the Closer has one or more unmatched cards still in hand (totaling
5 or less points).
If the player Closes and manages to match all seven of his cards (called Chinchón), that player is entitled to subtract 10 points from his ongoing game score. Each other player must then also lay down their own full melds, and must then add to their score a number of points equal to the total point value in unmatched cards remaining in their hands. These players may not lay off cards on any other player's combinations, including those
of the Closer. If the Closing player manages to form a combination of exactly seven cards all in sequence of the same suit, that player immediately wins the entire game,
regardless of his current score or that of any other player.
If the Closing player has one or more unmatched cards remaining in his hand, that player must add to his current score a number of points equal to the point sum total of all his unmatched cards. Each other player in turn, starting with the player to the immediate left of the Closer then lays their own legal combinations face-up on the table. That player may also extend cards from their hand on the Closers melds
if any cards from their hand can legally be played on those melds. The total point value of any unmatched cards in that players hand are then added to that player's ongoing game score.
Once a player knocks the remaining players each, in clockwise rotation around the table, starting with the player next in turn from the player who Closed, then places their legal combinations on the table and is also normally entitled to add any cards to extend melds from the Closer, if able. He then replaces the If the player who Closed manages to meld all seven of their cards on the table, that player is entitled to subtract ten points from his current ongoing game score.
The point values for each of the cards left in the player's hands, for purposes of contributing to a player's score are as follows:
| Card | Point Value |
|---|
| Ace | 1 Each |
| 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 | Value as Marked on Card |
| Jack | 8 |
| Queen | 9 |
| King | 10 |
If the last card of the stock is drawn, all but the top card from the discard pile (which is left in place) is thoroughly shuffled and turned over face-down to start a new stock pile.
Once one or more player reaches or exceeds 100 points the game immediately ends and the player with the lowest total game score is declared the winner.
Variations of Chinchón: As this game is played in a wide variety of locales it is no surprise that a number of variants of the game are found. The following are some of the common variant rules which are often encountered:
- Jokers:
Some games allow the addition of two Jokers into the game. These Jokers can thus be used to replace any other card in the deck for forming sequences and runs. A combination may never contain more wild cards than natural cards. A Joker has a point scoring value of 25 points if somehow found unmatched in a player's hand.
- 48 Card Pack:
Some players prefer to use a slightly larger deck. This version adds the eights and nines back into the deck. The ranking of the cards in this deck are as follows (from high to low); Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Jack, Queen, King. Each 8 is worth eight points and each 9 has a value of nine points. If a player manages to create a sequence of seven cards in his hand that includes any wild cards, this does not automatically win the game for that player but is still regarded as a Chinchón for that player, entitling him to subtract 10 points from his current game score.
- Additional Players:
Although the standard game is designed for up to four players, additional players (up to a total of eight) can be
accommodated using a double deck (two of the normal 40 card decks as used for the game shuffled together). Other than the additional number of players and larger deck, the game is played exactly the same as the standard game.
La Conga: La Conga, or sometimes just "Conga" is a form of Chinchón which is most commonly played
in and around the country of Uruguay. The game is played almost identically to standard Chinchón with the following differences:
- The first player (mano) receives eight cards in the deal rather than seven. The top card from the stock is not used to start the discard pile and instead this first player's turn simply consists of him discarding any one card of choice to start the discard pile.
- A player may never Close with a number of points that would cause that player, after adding his unmatched cards to cause his score to reach or exceed 100 points.
- Once a player reaches or exceeds 100 or more points, he must then drop from the game, with the game continuing until only one player remains with a score less than 100, with that last remaining player declared the game winner.
A popular optional rule with Conga is the ability for a player to reenganche (return). This rule allows each player, the first time his score reaches or exceeds 100 points, to reenter the game. The reentering player's score is reset to the highest remaining player's score in the game (that is
still under 100). Each player has the opportunity to so reenganche one time.
In all other aspects La Conga is played identically to Chinchón.
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