Don’t know any option other than dropping the game when you get a bad hand in online rummy? Read further to know the tips to tackle a bad rummy hand and still manage to complete winning melds.
Have you ever experienced a bad hand in rummy? Of course, you would have. It is impossible for you to always get a good hand at the start when you are dealt with 13 cards in a rummy game. There will always be one or two players on the table who get a bad hand, as the cards are dealt after proper shuffling.
Is dropping the game the only option left when you play rummy with a bad hand? Did you know that you can still win the game even if you get a bad hand at the beginning? In fact, you would do well to follow some expert rummy players who manage to move ahead after a bad rummy hand and convert it into a winning hand. This is possible with a tremendous amount of skills and the application of the right strategies, apart from the cards that you draw and discard. Let us have a look at some of the best ways in which you deal with a bad hand in rummy.
Remember Dropping is Not Always Bad
You need to understand the difference between a bad hand and a really bad hand. The latter is something that doesn’t give you any favorable odds of forming the melds (sequences and sets). You should spend a good amount of time analyzing the cards received. Then, try multiple ways to arrange them and identify any potential combinations that can work out if you get a good card or even a joker in the next few turns. If you are totally convinced that you may not be able to form the melds quickly, you can consider dropping the game so as to reduce the points.
However, if there is some arrangement of cards that tells you there is a decent chance of a turnaround, you can continue with the game and be alert to all possibilities.
Also Read: Why is responsible gaming essential for online rummy
More Practice to Get Familiar with Bad Hands
Instead of directly playing cash rummy games, you should consider playing practice games first. When you play a lot of rummy online practice games, you are likely to face different situations when you have a bad hand. Or at least situations that make you feel that your hand is bad.
But, as you play more and try different strategies to come out of such tricky bad hand situations, you realize that many of the bad hands were actually not that bad. In fact, you can get familiar with a lot of such hands where particular strategies help you to a possible win in the end. Only rigorous practice can empower you to find out newer ways of forming the sets and sequences. This is how you sharpen your rummy skills before entering competitive games or leaderboards.
Avoid Greed for High-Value Cards
Many newbie rummy card game players or less experienced ones tend to believe that high-value cards are very important if you intend to win. And this belief can sometimes lead to excessive greed for high-value cards such that when you don’t see many of them, you feel like holding a bad hand. Yes, high-value cards are important to a certain extent to form melds. At the same time, there are potential ways by which you can complete the sequences and sets using low-value cards as well.
It can be possible to form good sequences with low-value and middle-value cards like 3, 4,5,6,7, and 8. You should focus on using them to your advantage as some other players on the table who would have got a good hand, might start discarding the low-value or middle-value cards. This is where if you are alert, you can get two to three good cards that can help you to quickly form the meld. The next time you play online rummy game and see only a couple of high-value cards at the start, do not get disheartened. Depending on the situation and type of cards you are holding, you may even consider getting rid of your high-value cards if your hand is not good. This can reduce your points in a scenario where you move ahead with the objective of winning the game, and end up losing it.
Joker Card is Not Always Required to Win
You will come across certain online rummy players who consider their hands as bad if they do not see a joker card or a wildcard. Even when such players move ahead with the game, they try to depend a lot on a joker card coming up from the draw pile. Such players tend to forget that rummy is a game of skills.
You can use your game skills to form sequences (pure and impure) and any sets without using a joker card. Of course, if you have a joker card, you can make the best use of the same to form your meld quickly. Sometimes, the best use of a joker card could also be to form a sequence and reduce the points, since the joker doesn’t carry any points in the online rummy card game.
Monitoring the Opponent’s Moves
Even when your hand is bad, you can create an impression on the table that you have a really good hand. You need not panic and instead focus on the moves of your opponents as well, trying to figure out which cards they pick from the discard pile and which ones they discard. Sometimes their discarded card could turn out to be the gamechanger for you. It is how you implement your strategy to make your opponents play in your favor (unknowingly).
Final Thoughts
The most important tip when you have a bad rummy hand on the table is to have the belief that you can turn it around with your skills and strategies. So, the next time you play rummy online, do remember the above-mentioned tips and give yourself enough opportunities to win. So download the MPL app and start your online rummy journey now!
