The origins of the game of
rummy are a bit convoluted and
there has been little
consensus on when and where
the game first appeared. The
game is a pretty standard with
few convoluted rules and
exceptions that are found in
games like poker and
blackjack. Rummy has a fairly
basic draw and discard format
and the end goal is simple –
get rid of all of the cards in
your hand before your
opponents by forming runs and
sets with the cards in your
hand (or the discard pile).
The term rummy refers to a
family of games including Gin
Rummy, Canasta, and Mah Jong.
The most popular and well
known of these games is Gin
Rummy and this variation of
the game is often also
referred to as solely “rummy.”
Some of the rumored and
highly contested origins of
the game date back several
hundreds of years to Mexico
(and before Mexico the game
was possibly brought over from
Spain). The Mexican game of
Conquian resembles rummy and
is most widely noted as the
ancestor to modern forms of
rummy. Other origin theories
subscribed to less frequently
include rummy as an offshoot
of poker gambling or Asian
games. The history of poker
gambling is linked to the
United States south, and
similarly, some believe that
rummy games were born from the
game of poker. Justification
of this belief is found in the
fact that the games of poker
and rummy have similar card
shuffling and grouping
strategies. It would also be
remiss to leave out the
connections between modern
rummy games and the Japan
based game of Mah Jong. Mah
Jong dates back more than
1,000 years and also has
similarities to rummy games
and modern Mah Jong is, in
fact, in the family of rummy
games.
The most popular
version of the game in the
Untied States is Gin Rummy and
this game can be precisely
traced back to 1909. Elwood T.
Baker invented that game – at
that time it was called “Knock
Rummy.” Gin Rummy is one of
the most recognizable games in
the rummy family and this game
skyrocketed to popularity
during and after the Great
Depression. Families enjoyed
Gin Rummy during the great
depression as a way to pass
the time with an entertaining
and easy-to-play game that
children can also play. The
real “fad” of Gin Rummy hit in
the 1940s when the Hollywood
elite latched onto the game as
a way to pass time on set
between takes. With the
approval of movie stars gamers
across the Untied States
became addicted to this card
game. The popularity of this
version of the game has
scarcely faded over the
decades and it still the most
prominent card game in the
U.S.
No matter which
version of rummy is played,
the concept is the same and
all rummy games conform to the
conceit of “draw and discard.”
Some of the other conceits of
the game include a scoring
systems of the deck that
actually closely resembles
poker gambling according to
some. Additionally, the object
of a game of rummy is for a
player to “meld” all of the
cards into their hands into
either runs of the same suit
or matching four cards of the
same rank. Players lay out
their matches and runs on the
table in front of them and
continue game play until they
are able to discard the last
card in their hand.
This is the point at which the
game begins to diverge. Some
versions of the game award the
win to the player who went
out, others make all players
count up their cards and
subtract points for any cards
remaining in their hand
(remaining cards are termed
deadwood).
Other forms
of the games use cubes rather
than cards and have variations
on scoring procedures as well
as the way that runs and
matches are formed. Canasta is
a version of rummy that is
quite popular but not as easy
to learn as Gin Rummy or some
of the other versions of the
game. Canasta has a strict set
of rules and a different
scoring system than Gin Rummy.
Other games in the rummy
family include: Baker’s Gin,
Hollywood Gin, Cocquian, and
Whiskey Poker.
