"Norwegian Rummy."
Use multiple decks - for 4 players use 2 decks and for 5 or 6 players use 3 decks including Jokers.
Deal 11 cards to each player. The object of the game is to lay down (meld) all of your cards on the table. The first player in each hand to do so wins.
1st hand: in order to go down you need to lay down 2 sets (a set is 3 of a kind minimum) and you can only lay down 2 sets (but they can be more than 3 of a kind, they can be 4, 5, or 6 of a kind.) To go out (lay down all of your cards) you need to lay down the rest of your cards on your sets or on other players sets after they have laid down. This holds for the entire game until the last hand. I say this because on the last hand the player that lays down has to have no discard and the hand is over. No one else gets the opportunity to play when the winner lays down and goes out. He (or she) is usually the winner.
2nd hand: lay down one set and one run (a run is a 4 {or more} card straight flush.) Again to win the hand you need to lay the rest of your cards down on your or the other players melds.
3rd hand: lay down 2 runs - everything else is the same.
4th hand: lay down 3 sets
5th hand: lay down 1 run and 2 sets
6th hand: lay down 2 runs and 1 set
7th (and final) hand: lay down 3 runs with no discard. You have to draw and have the card that you draw work into your hand to allow you to lay down (meld) your entire hand.
When someone goes out in each hand the players remaining with cards count the cards in their hand and score appropriately. The player with the LOWEST cumulative score at the end of the game wins.
Counting your score:
2 thru 9 = 5 points
10 thru king = 10 points
Ace = 15 points
Joker = 50 points.
There are some fine points, but simply the ace can be used high (J,Q,K,A) or low (A,2,3,4) but not both (K,A,2,3.) The other thing is that the player with the joker in a meld can move the joker from where he used it (as in 6, 7, Joker, 9) if he had the Jack and drew the 8, he could replace the joker with the 8 and move the Joker to the 10 and play the Jack. If it isn't your meld, you cannot do this.
The person after the dealer can either pick up the card turned over after the deal or draw the top card and then discard. If another player after the player who's turn it is to draw, wants the discard they can "buy" the discard out of turn. If they buy the discard they also have to take the next card from the top of the deck and they aren't allowed to discard. They have effectively increased their hand from 11 cards to 13. A player is allowed to make 3 buys and increase their hand to a maximum of 17 cards at which time they cannot make any more buys. Also, after you lay down (meld) you are not allowed to make a buy.
If anyone wants further lessons in the finer points of Norwegian Rummy, Bonnie and I will be standing by at:
742 Lake Metigoshe Park
from early May thru the middle of October to take your quarters and show you the intricacies of the game. Just send me a PM when you will be there with your bag of quarters.
Steve.
ps: It's a really good game that only takes 30 minutes or so to play!
