Liverpool Rummy

Liverpool rummy is a multi-player, multi-round card game similar to other variants of rummy that adds features like buying and going out. It is played the same as Contract rummy.

Overview
The game consists of seven deals of the cards. The objective is to be holding the lowest valued cards at the end of each deal. At the end of each deal the score for each player is written down, and the player with the lowest total score at the end of the seven deals wins the game.

In each deal, the players reduce the value of the cards held in their hands by laying Sets and Runs on the table.

A Set consists of three or more cards of the same rank, such as 8♥ 8♣ 8♠.

A Run consists of four or more cards in sequence, all of the same suit (hearts, clubs, etc.), such as 3♥ 4♥ 5♥ 6♥ 7♥.

Cards
The game is played with standard 52-card decks plus the Jokers: 2 decks for three or four players or 3 decks for more than four players. The ranking from low-to-high is 2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-J-Q-K-A. Aces can be high or low, but the not both positions in the same meld.

Dealing
The dealer deals 11 cards to each player for the first 6 rounds, then 7 cards are dealt on the last round. After all the players’ hands have been dealt, the rest are placed face down as the stock and its top card turned face-up to start the discard pile.
The player to the immediate left of the dealer plays first.

Play
On each turn, a player may:
     Allow any player to buy the top card from the discard pile.
     Draw either the face-up top card of the discard pile or one card from the stock.
     Meld their completed round-appropriate collection of sets and runs.
     Play off other players who have laid down once they have laid down themselves.
     Discard one card from their hand onto the discard pile.

Play continues, in alternating turns, until one player goes out, or has no cards left in their hand. Points are tallied and recorded by a score-keeper. All of the cards are shuffled and the next round of play commences.

Laying Down
The objective in Liverpool rummy is to improve one’s score by laying down to reduce the number of cards in hand, and eventually going out before other players. Within each round there are two types of card groupings that are required:

Sets: 3 or more cards sharing the same rank, i.e., 8♥ 8♣ 8♠.
Runs: 4 or more cards of the same suit in sequence, i.e., 3♥ 4♥ 5♥ 6♥.

Aces rank as high or low, but one cannot create a run that loops around, also known as “turning the corner.” A 2 3 4 is allowed, J Q K A is allowed, but K A 2 3 is not.

Requirements for laying down
The requirements for each round of play are as follows:
     First - 2 sets of three (6 cards)
     Second - 1 set of three & 1 run of four (7 cards)
     Third - 2 runs of four (8 cards)
     Fourth - 3 sets of three (9 cards)
     Fifth - 2 sets of three & 1 run of four (10 cards)
     Sixth - 1 set of three & 2 runs of four (11 cards)
     Seventh - 3 runs of four with no remaining cards in hand, no final discard (12 cards)
          (Only two “buys” are allowed on the seventh round.)

Buying Cards
After each player has finished his/her turn by discarding, if the next player should decline to pick up the new top card of the face-up discard pile, any other player may “buy’ it. The “price” to pick up this extra card out of turn requires that the buyer draw an additional card from the face-down pile. If more than one player desires to buy a card, whoever is nearest (clockwise) to the player about to draw gets precedence.
The option to buy ends when the next player picks up a card from the top of the face-down deck.
Only two “buys” are allowed on the seventh round.

Wild Cards
Jokers are wild cards, and can represent any card (suit and number). However, there are restrictions on their usage. A Joker must always be played “with” another card. It can never be played alone.

During their turn, a player may replace another player’s laid Joker from within a run or set, with the card it is substituting. A Joker can only be traded one time. In example, if a player trades for a Joker, when that player uses that Joker in their run or set, it must be placed face down, so it is not available for trade again.

Playing off other players
Once a player has laid down, they can then attempt to further reduce the number of cards in their hand by adding to other players’ laid cards.

For example, a 3♥ could be added to an existing set of 3s (3♦ 3?♣ 3♠) or a suitable a run of hearts (4♥ 5♥ 6♥ 7♥) from another player.

Evaluation of the hand
At the end of each round when a player goes out, the rest of the players total their scores by counting up the value of the cards remaining in their hands. Cards are valued as follows:

     2 through 9 are 5 points each.
     10, J, Q and K are 10 points each.
     Aces are 15 points each.
     Jokers are 20 points each.

The player with the lowest point total at the end of the final round wins, so players usually work to lower their scores by going down, playing off other players who have gone down and, secondarily, replacing high cards in their hand (such as face cards and aces) with lower ones.

Going out
A player gets to this point by laying down and then playing off their and other players’ hands.

A player goes out when they successfully discard the only remaining card in their hand, marking the conclusion of the round for all players. Round is over at this point, no extra plays for the other players.

At no point in time is it acceptable to draw a card from the up pile and discard the same card during the same turn.


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