Objective
Arrange your hand into melds and go out in one move. A meld is a set (three or four cards of the same rank) or a run (three or more cards of the same suit in sequence). In ordinary Rummy you can put melds down as you build them. In Queen City Rum you cannot: your melds stay hidden in your hand until the turn you can lay down everything.
Setup
Choose a dealer. The dealer deals seven cards to each player, one at a time, face down. Place the rest of the deck face down as the stock and turn the top card face up beside it to start the discard pile.
With two players, the winner of each hand deals the next. With three or more, the deal passes to the left.
How to play
The player to the dealer’s left goes first. On your turn, draw either the top card of the stock or the top card of the discard pile. You now hold eight cards.
If you cannot meld your entire hand, end your turn by discarding one card face up. You may not discard a card you just took from the discard pile.
If your cards all fit into melds, lay them down and go out. You can meld all eight cards with no discard at all, or meld seven and discard the eighth. Either way, the hand is over at once.
If the stock runs out before anyone goes out, the next player may take the top discard as usual, or turn the discard pile over without shuffling it to make a new stock and draw from that.
- 1Draw from the stock or take the top discard
- 2Check whether your whole hand now melds
- 3If not, discard one card and keep waiting
- 4Go out by melding all eight, or seven plus a discard
Scoring
Only the winner scores. Add up the cards in the hand you melded to go out, using the values below. Every opponent pays you that total.
| Card | Points |
|---|---|
| Ace | 1 |
| 2 through 10 | Face value |
| Jack, Queen, King | 10 each |
Unlike regular Rummy, you do not collect for the cards left in your opponents’ hands, and you are never paid double for going rummy. Play for chips, or keep a running score and play to a total or a number of deals agreed in advance.
Variations
Running score: rather than settling up after each hand, write each winner’s total on a score sheet and play to a target the table agrees on.
Regular Rummy: if your group finds the all-at-once rule too slow, switch back to ordinary Rummy, where you meld as you go and the winner collects for every card left in the other players’ hands.
Boat House Rum is a close relative that also has you lay down your whole hand in a single turn, with its own rules for drawing.
Tips from the table
Since you collect the value of your own winning hand, high cards are worth keeping when they are close to a meld. A hand of three kings and four face cards pays far more than a run of low cards.
Count the ways you can go out with eight cards: two four-card melds, or a three-card meld and a five-card meld. Keeping those shapes in mind helps you decide what to throw.
Nobody shows melds before going out, so the only clues are the discards. Watch what each player picks up from the pile and avoid feeding them the card they need.
Do not hold out too long for a perfect, high-scoring hand. Going out first with a small total still beats watching someone else collect from you.
Video Guides Are on the Way
We’re filming Game Guides that walk through full hands at the table, from the deal to the score.
Frequently asked
Can I lay down a meld before I go out?
No. That is the defining rule of Queen City Rum. Every meld stays in your hand until you can put down the whole hand at once.
Do I have to discard to go out?
No. After drawing you hold eight cards, and you may meld all eight. You can also meld seven and discard the eighth.
Who pays whom at the end of a hand?
Every opponent pays the winner the point value of the cards the winner melded. Cards left in the losers’ hands do not count.
What happens when the stock runs out?
The next player may take the top discard, or turn the discard pile over, without shuffling, to make a new stock.
New rules every month
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