Royal Rummy

Royal Rummy is a game which is known under many different names. Depending on the region of the world where it’s played, it may be known as Tripoli, Poch, Caliente, Michigan Rummy or Royal Rummy.

A game of Royal Rummy always begins with the appointment of a banker. The banker will be the one responsible for distributing the chips that will be used for wagering. Chip denominations used should be 1, 5 and 10. After they get their chips, each player is required to place a chip on every square on the playing mat. The dealer is then assigned. This involves a special ritual too. Each player draws a card from the deck and the player with the highest card becomes the dealer. Make sure you decide before the draw whether the Ace will be counted high or low. It will be the privilege of the dealer to deal out all the hands involved. The interesting thing about this stage is that the dealer will hand out one hand more than the number of players. This will be a spare hand that may or may not be involved in the game eventually.

After everyone takes a look at their hands, the dealer may choose to discard his initial hand and to pick up the spare one instead. If he doesn’t want to use it, he can attempt to auction it out among the other players. The chips that he picks up this way will remain his. The dealer or the player who decides to use the spare hand may only take a look at it after he’s discarded his initial hand.

If the dealer doesn’t want to use his hand and if there are no takers for it among the other players either, the hand will remain face down, not used.

 After the setting up of the game round is over, an optional phase begins. There are four aces in the four corners of the playing mat, on which players can opt to wager.

The dealer is the one who kicks off the corner ace betting action. He may choose to bet on any of the corner aces, after which players can choose to cover that bet. All this wagering takes place before the cards are overturned. After the bets are made, the cards are turned over and the player who has the ace on which the chips were wagered has to declare it. If he does indeed have the ace, he wins all the chips placed on that corner field. If none of the bettors have the ace, the chips remain there for the next round.

As I said above, this betting round is an optional one. The dealer may decide not to initiate any betting action, in which case the round is skipped.

The poker round is the next one. This one’s also optional, although most of the time it is played.

Players are required to make 5-card poker hands using the cards they picked up at the beginning of the game. The person on the dealer’s left is the one who begins the betting round. Each player has the option to bet or to fold. After the highest bet has been called by all those who stayed in the game, the hands are shown. The player with the best poker hand wins the chips wagered in this round only.

 The rummy hand is the only compulsory round of the game. The player who won the poker round is the one who kicks off the action. If the poker round is not played, the person on the immediate left of the dealer will begin. He’ll have to lay his lowest spade or club down. The following player has to lay down the next card of the same suit or he has to pass. Once a field on the playing mat is filled up, the player who completes it can take the chips that were placed on it. Players can discard several cards too, provided they’re in the right sequence.

The main pot for this round is called the kitty. If a suit runs out (it can’t be played anymore) the player whose turn it is to act has to lay down his lowest card of the opposing color. If players find it impossible to switch color, they all need to add a number of chips to the kitty, corresponding to the number of cards they have left in their hands.

The first player to lay down all is cards wins and takes all the chips from the kitty.

 The losers all have to give the winner one chip for all the cards they still have in their hands. The chips that are on the board remain there for the next round of Royal Rummy action.