Farmers Rummy Rules - How to Play Farmers Rummy

Other Fun Card Games

Traditional Rummy is one of the most popular card games in the world, and Farmers Rummy is a fun variation of the game.

Contracts in Farmers Rummy

Like standard Rummy, a game of Farmers Rummy will have contracts that the players must meet during each round. For this variation, they are:

Round 1 –3 cards of the same rank (i.e. three aces, jacks, tens, etc.)
Round 2 – two sets of 3 cards of the same rank
Round 3 –4 cards of the same rank
Round 4 –3 cards of the same rank and a run of 3 cards of the same suit
Round 5 –3 cards of the same rank and a run of 4 cards of the same suit
Round 6 – two runs of 4 cards of the same suit
Round 7 –4 cards of the same rank and a run of 6 cards of the same suit

How to Play Farmers Rummy

To play a game of Farmers Rummy requires two standard decks of playing cards, including their jokers, seven chips for each player and a way of tabulating the scores at the end of each round.
The dealer gives each player eleven cards and the remainder of the deck is placed in the center of the table. A single card is turned over from this deck, and this now serves as the discard pile for the round.

Buying Cards and Discarding

Beginning with the player at the left of the dealer, a single card is taken from the draw pile in the center. If the first card in the discard pile is one that the player wants, they can take it, but they must “buy” it with a single chip in the pool. Additionally, they must still also take a card from the draw pile as well.

Each player must lay down any runs or ranks they have in their hand when it is their turn, and they may also play on any runs or ranks the other players happen to have in front of them as well.
When a player is done with their turn, they must place a card from their hand into the discard pile. It is important to remember that a player must meet the contract for the round before they rid themselves of all of their cards.

Calculating Points in Farmers Rummy

Once a player has met the contract and run out of cards the hand ends and the points must be tabulated. This is done by counting up the value of the cards a player still has.

The points are:

Jokers: 15 points
Aces: 11 points
Face cards: 10 points
Numeric cards: face value

A player who did not fulfill their contract, even if they rid themselves of cards, receives 25 points.
A game continues through seven rounds, and the player who has the lowest score at that point is the winner of the game.

Rummy has a huge range of variations, some are simple and include: more than seven chips to the players, point rewards for certain moves, no discard during one round, and several discards at the opening or another round, among others.