Do you intend to win more rummy games as you play them online? Learn to accurately evaluate the starting hands you receive in an online rummy game. Read further!
Are you someone who is a complete beginner to rummy without having tried out the offline version of the game a few years back? Well, the current euphoria around the online rummy game seems to have attracted absolute beginners as well as old players of rummy to online gaming apps like MPL, where they can play their favourite card game seamlessly.
They say “Well begun is half done”: in the case of the rummy game, the starting hands that you get dealt with need to be analyzed smartly so that you can take the right decision – about continuing to play further and aiming to complete the sequences and sets, or to fold your cards in case you just do not see a way out. The overall outcome of the game could possibly depend on how well you are able to interpret your starting hands. As a player, you may fear getting weak starting rummy hands (as you cannot get strong rummy winning hands every time), but your ability to appropriately differentiate between an ‘actual weak hand’ and a ‘not so weak hand’ could matter quite a lot! Let us identify some of the different starting hands below and understand their importance.
The Dream Perfect Starting Hand
It is very rare that you would get the perfect hand at the start of the game. This is the hand where you get all the desired cards that are necessary to complete your melds (sequences and sets) within the initial one or two turns itself. All you require to do is just arrange or rearrange the cards smartly in your hand, take time to review and validate the sequences you are targeting (pure and impure one) and then make the first move. Whenever you spot the smallest of such opportunities to form your melds quickly at the start of the game, you need to be ready to get the most out of them to maximize your winnings.
The Winning Hand
In this case, you may get certain exact cards that can form a valid meld – say the pure sequence, which is your first target. Along with these exact cards, you may get a joker card. So, you can form the pure sequence in the initial one or two turns, and then use the joker card as well as subsequent strategy to complete the remaining melds. You may take more turns here (in comparison to the perfect starting hand) to be in a position to ‘declare’ and secure a win for yourself.
The Good Hand
In this case, you may not be able to form any valid meld before your first move. However, you are likely to have got a joker card and your combinations could be good enough such that you can apply smart strategies during the later part of the game to enhance your chances of winning. You can first focus on completing the pure sequence, and then use the joker card to complete the other valid melds in subsequent turns before any of your opponent declares.
The Tough / Difficult Hand
This is the hand that is likely to test your rummy skills. Here, you could be in a situation which requires you to discard many of your initial cards in order to complete your valid sequences or sets. You may get a joker to help you during the later part of the game. The challenge here is to identify the difficult hand at the beginning and devising the right strategy that is likely to test your patience, but could give the desired results. Playing online rummy with such starting hands requires a lot of practice. You may even require to pull off bluffs here to ensure a win. At times, this hand may require you to take the decision to drop your cards in the middle of the game.
The Weak Hand
Like the perfect hand, the probability of getting this as a starting hand in an online rummy card game is quite less. This is a hand where you have the worst cards at the beginning – no joker card and even no two cards that are related to two each other for any kind of meld formation. You may fear this the most, but when you face this starting hand, a good option could be to drop the game at the start itself. However, you will come across very experienced rummy players who may continue with this weak hand, especially on low stake tables.
Final Thoughts
As an online rummy game player, you cannot get rummy winning hands on numerous occasions. You have to develop the skills and the ability to snatch more wins on a consistent basis. One of the key rummy game strategies is to analyze your starting hands thoroughly before making the first move. If you intend to improve your chances of winning more games, you need to continuously improve this ability to analyze the rummy hands dealt at the start. Start playing now on MPL & experience the best-in-class poker games.
