• Flip rummy is a challenging card game.jeu de cartes image by Danielle Bonardelle from Fotolia.com
  
  Flip rummy is a card game that can be played for fun on a rainy afternoon or for money with a group of people, just as poker is. The game is simple to learn but challenging to play. It can consist of just one round or of several, and it can be played scored or unscored.
  
  

Basic Game Play

• Two to six players may play this game. Each player receives seven cards from the dealer. The remaining cards are placed face down in a pile. This is the stock pile.
  
  The first player must draw a card from the stock pile. After drawing the card, if she has a set of three of the same value card or three consecutive cards, she may put them down. This process is called melding. A player can only make one meld per turn.
  
  After melding, the first player discards a card from her hand. She places this card face up in a second pile. This pile is called the discard pile.
  
  After the first player has gone, subsequent players may take their card from either the stock or discard piles. After melding, these players may lay off cards by adding them to melds already on the table. There is no limit to how many cards may be laid off per turn.
  
  Play continues until one player discards all his cards. This player wins the round. If playing a scored game, all other players add the value of the cards left in their hand. This score is given to the winning player.
  
  Play continues until a player reaches a predetermined score or a previously agreed upon number of hands are played.
  
  

Alternate Rules for Melding and Laying Off

• Standard rules for flip rummy state that players may make one meld per turn but may lay off as many cards as they want. You may use alternate rules to make the game more challenging.
  
  One alternative allows players to make multiple melds in a turn. Some people also have a rule that players receive a scoring bonus if they go out on a single turn without having previously melded.
  
  For an additional challenge, you can also play with a rule that players may not lay off any cards until they have placed a meld. This stops players from going out completely because of a spectacular series of lay offs.
  
  Finally, you can have a rule that a player must discard a card after laying off cards so that players cannot go out by laying off all their cards.
  
  

Scoring Rules

• The standard scoring rules state that players gain points for each meld they put down as well as for cards left in other players' hands at the end of a round. There are a couple of alternative scoring rules that you can play by.
  
  Traditionally, aces are worth only one point. Some people play aces high, however, in which aces are worth 15 points. If you play this way, the ace is considered higher than the king and may be used in melds involving kings and queens.
  
  You can also have a rule that players get bonus points for going out all in one turn or entirely via layoffs. The bonus varies from game to game; standard bonuses are 10 extra points or double the score earned.