Carioca rummy

Carioca rummy is a variant of Contract rummy most fashionable in Argentina and Chile.

 

The major variations between Carioca Rummy and Contract Rummy are:

 

  1. Contract Rummy is played with 3 or more players, Carioca is with 2 players.
  2. Contract Rummy engages jokers, in Carioca, use of jokers is optional.
  3. In Contract Rummy, players are dealt with different numbers of cards, depending on the contract;

in Carioca, players are always dealt 12 cards, There are 7 contracts in Contract Rummy, 8 in Carioca, and In Carioca, sequences may go “round the corner” (K-A-2); in Contract Rummy they may not.

 

Carioca Rummy uses two decks of 52 cards each, for a total of 104 cards. The cards are ranked (hi) K-Q-J-7-6-5-4-3-2-A (lo). To decide who deals first, the deck is shuffled and cut, and each player draws a card. The player drawing the lowest card deals first. Each player is dealt 12 cards. One card is shown as the upcard, and the rest of the deck is turned face-down to be the stock.

 

Players should complete certain melds, called “contracts”, which differ from deal to deal. Once the contract is met, players may lay off on the melds (both their own and their opponents), the aim being to dispose of all your cards. The first player to do so wins the hand. Each meld consists of either a set (called a Trio in Carioca) consisting of 3 or more cards of the same value, or a sequence (called an Escala in Carioca) consisting of 4 or more cards of the same rank and consecutive value.