The main rule of this world is survival of the fittest. And to survive you need to be on the upper half of the economic ladder, and to do that, gambling is an interesting option. Gambling is a short term, high-risk activity. Out of all the gambling methods, one game which uses more skills than most other games is rummy.
Rummy is a family gambling game played throughout India as either a leisure game or aggressively to earn money. Like any other gambling game, it consists of a lot of luck together with calculated strategies and timed maneuvers. Being invented in 1909, rummy has had a stronghold in the gambling field ever since.
How is rummy played?
It is a game in which you try to improve your hand you are originally dealt. You can do this only in your turn. You can do this either by drawing a new card from the pile, or by taking the card your opponent has discarded, and discard one card of your own. It is played with two or more players
The main objectives of rummy are-
- Runs- having three or more consecutive cards of the same suit
- Sets- having 4 cards of the same rank.
When you play rummy with 2-4 players, each player is dealt with 10 cards. If there are 5 players, you are dealt with 6 cards each. And for more than 5 players, 2 decks must be used and each player gets 7 cards.
Designating a dealer and a scorer at the start of the game eases things up. The dealer deals out the cards, and places the undealt cards face down on the table.
The player on the left of the dealer starts first. This player can either pick up a card from the undealt card stack, or the discard pile of other players. Once that is done, the player has to discard one of his own cards. The next player has two choices: The last card discarded by the previous player or the card at the top of stock. He can then set some or all of his cards down in combinations. The play continues clockwise around the table. As soon as you run out of stock, shuffle the discard pile and repeat.
How is online rummy different from offline rummy?
The only difference is that the dealer is digitized, and there is no need for a scorer as all of this work is done by the software. Playing online has also made it easier to play rummy sitting at your house while removing the inconvenience of finding and identifying good players.
Origin of rummy
Most probably rummy is said to be originated in Spain. This is the most accepted place of origin. It is said that they then moved to North America and then is game got famous there. the game got originated in Spain while the other variants of the game were made in North America. Some people also believed that it was originated in Asia, but this theory is not as widespread. Some people also believe that it evolved from a game called whiskey poker.
Rummy and world war 1
While the people were in despair of the world war one and the countries were highly damaged, rummy was popular in these countries amongst the common fellows, as a means to forget their fear and pass their time?
Why did Rummy get so popular?
Being a game, which has easy rules and a new characteristic feature, while being a type of gambling, Rummy gained tremendous amounts of popularity. Also, nothing more than a deck of cards was required to play the game, making it very easy to play. With new emerging challenges in this game, and also the possibility of adding variations to the types of challenges, rummy challenged the mental capabilities of the players, while keeping them hooked to the game. In its era where the means of entertaining oneself was limited, it was one of the most entertaining games. The game gained popularity when it was played by Hollywood stars in 1930. It lost a lot of its popularity during the great depression.
Why did this game end up being called rummy?
It is believed that the word rummy originated from the word ‘rum’ which means odd, strange or peculiar. Maybe when this game was first made, the British might’ve believed it to be this way. It is also believed that it originated from rum poker, and this is assumed to be the originating game of all types of rummy. On the other hand, it is believed that the people who lot were supposed to get drunk from rum after they lose in this game.
Types of rummy
It is also known as Indian Rummy and is believed to be a fusion of Gin Rummy and Rummy 500. It is a game comprising 2 to 6 players. In this game, every player is dealt 13 cards. Players have to put the card into valid sequences and/or sets by picking and discarding cards. The game also allows the use of Jokers, which can be used as substitutes for any card. One pure sequence without the use of Joker and one impure sequence i.e. which uses Joker, are necessary for an acceptable victory.
Points rummy
This is the most common version of rummy played. It is a simple game of 80 points, where the money earned by the winning player is calculated according to the point earned by the losing player. This is the variant of rummy commonly used online and for beginners because it has simple concrete rules and is easy to understand.
Deals rummy
You only have a fixed number of deals to play in Deals rummy. Same number of chips are distributed to every player when the game starts. When each deal ends, the losing players surrender their chip to the winner. When all the deals are done with, players are ranked according to their chip count. The player who has accumulated the maximum chips is the overall winner.
Fantasy rummy
Fantasy rummy is not a type of rummy. It is a type of investing or betting on other rummy players or team, where if the team you bet on wins, you get a multiple of your money invested back. If you are not as adept in rummy, but still want to gamble, fantasy rummy is the right choice. The game involves equal amounts of risks as rummy, but the clear advantage is the capability of studying the team you are investing in, making your choice planned rather than impulsive.
Conclusion
Having a history of over 100 years, rummy has had more success than most other gambling games. Having started just like a normal friendly game, gambling has turned into a full-fledged business/ e-sport scenario. Earning money through Rummy is quite feasible now, and there are many pro players in this field.
