They may either pick up one new card from the top of the stock or take the upcard. Each player has a choice at the beginning of their turn. Play always progresses in this clockwise direction. The first player to play is the player to the dealer's left. This card is called the upcard and becomes the beginning of the discard pile, else known as 'dead', or no longer in the game. One card is taken from the top of the stock and placed face up next to it. The rest of the deck is then placed face down in the middle of the players this is referred to as the stock. Each player is dealt ten cards for the first four rounds and then 12 for the last three. One player begins as dealer for the first hand, and then the player to the dealer's left becomes dealer for the next hand, and so on. Each game is based on 7 rounds of hands, and the rules for each hand are unique.

The number of decks varies from 2 to 4 and is based on the number of players (see chart). Aces are high and low (above a King), and Jokers are wild cards. The game is also known as Combination rummy, Deuces Wild Rummy and Joker rummy, and a proprietary version of the game called Phase 10 was published in 1982.Ĭontract rummy is played with multiple decks of 54 standard playing cards, including the Jokers. It appeared in the United States during the Second World War. Contract rummy is a Rummy card game, based on gin rummy played by 3 to 8 players.