Shell Rummy

How to play

2 to 6 players, with the classic deck of 52 cards: clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades, from the ace to the king. Each player gets 10 cards with two players, 7 with three or four, 6 with five or six. One card turns face up to start the pile; the rest is the stock.

A turn

• Draw the top card of the stock, or take the top card of the pile.
• Then lay melds from your hand if you wish: a set is three or four cards of one rank; a run is three or more cards of one suit in a row (the ace only below the 2). You may also add cards to any meld on the table, yours or another player's.
• End your turn by discarding one card on the pile, but never the card you just took from it.

The end

The first player out of cards wins. When the stock runs out, the pile under its top card is shuffled into a new stock, twice at most; the next time, the game ends and the fewest points in hand win: the ace counts 1, the 2 to 10 their number, the jacks, queens and kings 10.