Michigan Rummy
Michigan Rummy is a classic family card game played around a payout board. Everyone puts chips on the board, then races to play the payout cards and to be the first to run out of cards. Here the chips are simply points: they are never bought or exchanged for anything.
How to play Michigan Rummy
- Every player starts with 50 point chips. At the start of each hand, everyone puts one chip on each of the eight spots of the payout board: 10♥, J♥, Q♥, K♥, A♥, the K♥ Q♥ pair, the 8 9 10♥ sequence and the kitty.
- The whole deck is dealt one card at a time to the players plus one extra spare hand that nobody sees. The dealer may swap their own hand for the spare hand before play starts.
- The player to the dealer's left starts a run by playing their lowest card in any suit. Whoever holds the next higher card of that suit must play it, then the next, and so on. Aces are high.
- A run stops when it reaches the ace, or when the next card is in the spare hand (or was played earlier). The player who played the last card starts a new run with their lowest card in a different suit (the same suit is allowed only if it is all they have).
- Play a payout card (10♥, J♥, Q♥, K♥ or A♥) and you take every chip on its spot. Play both the K♥ and Q♥ yourself and you also win the pair spot; play the 8♥, 9♥ and 10♥ yourself to win the sequence spot.
- The first player to play their last card goes out, takes the kitty and collects one chip from each opponent for every card still in their hand.
- Spots nobody won stay on the board and grow for the next hand. After the chosen number of hands (or when someone cannot cover the board), the player with the most chips wins.
Controls
- When it is your turn to start a run, tap one of the highlighted cards (your lowest card in each allowed suit) or use the suit buttons.
- Following cards are played for you automatically, since the holder of the next card must always play it.
- As dealer, choose Keep my hand or Swap for spare. Scores shows everyone's chips after each hand.
Tips
- Start runs in suits where you hold several cards in a row: you keep playing and keep control of the next lead.
- An ace stops a run, so a suit that ends with your own ace hands the lead straight back to you.
- Holding the K♥ and Q♥ is doubly valuable: you win both card spots and the pair spot if you play them both.
- As dealer, swap for the spare hand when your own hand is full of scattered low cards and has no payout cards.
FAQ
How do you play Michigan Rummy?
Put a chip on each spot of the payout board, deal out all the cards plus a spare hand, then play runs: the lowest card of a suit starts a run and the holder of each next higher card must play it. Play a payout card to win its spot, and go out first for the kitty.
What are the payout cards in Michigan Rummy?
In this version the payout cards are the 10, jack, queen, king and ace of hearts, plus two combination spots: the king and queen of hearts played by the same player, and the 8, 9 and 10 of hearts played by the same player.
What stops a run?
A run stops at the ace, or whenever the next card is not available because it is in the spare hand. The player who played the last card starts the next run in a different suit.
What are the chips for?
The chips are only a way to keep score. Everyone starts with the same number, nothing is bought, and the player with the most chips at the end wins.
Is Michigan Rummy a rummy game?
Not really: despite the name, there is no drawing or melding. It belongs to the family of "stops" games, where you play cards in sequence until a missing card stops the run.