How is Rummy scored?

Scoring is where the Rummy family splits into camps: some games count what your opponents are stuck holding, others count what you managed to lay down. Here is how the main systems work.

Quick answer: In most Rummy games the player who goes out scores points equal to the total deadwood left in the other players' hands. Face cards count 10 each, number cards their pip value, and Aces usually 1. Variants differ: Rummy 500 scores the melds you lay down, and Gin Rummy adds bonuses for knocking, going Gin and undercutting.

Penalty-based scoring

In basic Rummy, when a player melds their whole hand and goes out, they score the sum of the deadwood left in everyone else's hands. The card values are face cards 10, numbers at pip value and Aces low. Play continues until someone reaches an agreed target, often 100 or 500.

Meld-based scoring

Rummy 500 flips this around: you score the value of the cards in the melds you lay down and lay off, then subtract any deadwood left in your hand. First to 500 wins. This rewards laying down lots of cards rather than simply going out first.

Gin Rummy scoring

Gin Rummy has its own system with bonuses: the winner scores the difference in deadwood, plus 25 for going Gin or an undercut. Full details are in our Gin Rummy scoring answer. Compare your results on the leaderboard.

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Related questions

How is Gin Rummy scored?

In Gin Rummy, when a hand ends the player with less deadwood scores the difference between the two deadwood totals. Going Gin adds a 25-point bonus, and an undercut adds 25 to the defender. Games are played to 100 points, after which the winner adds a 100-point game bonus plus 25 for each hand won.

What are the card values in Rummy?

In most Rummy games, number cards are worth their pip value (a 7 is 7 points), face cards - Jack, Queen and King - are worth 10 each, and the Ace is worth 1. Some games change the Ace: in Rummy 500 an Ace played in a high run counts 15, and in Canasta the values are different again.

What is Rummy 500?

Rummy 500, also called 500 Rum, is a variant for 2 to 8 players where you lay your melds face up and score the point value of the cards in them. The first player to reach 500 points wins. Its signature rule lets you draw more than one card from the discard pile, as long as you immediately use the deepest card you take.