Here’s a fun game my family plays frequently.  We call it ‘Dimes’ because we use dimes as kind of a reward or counter.  The number of dimes each person has shows how many times they went ‘out’.  Another name for it is ‘Texas Rummy’, although I haven’t found the exact rules online under the name ‘Texas Rummy’.  Rules for ‘Texas Rummy’ that I’ve found online are similar, but none include the ‘Dimes’ rules.

This game could, I suppose, be considered “gambling” because one can win or lose a trivial amount of money.  Maximum loss for a game of 11 hands is 50 cents if you didn’t go ‘out’ at all and didn’t have the lowest score at the end of the game.  Maximum gain would be if you went out all 11 hands, which is extremely unlikely, and your ‘haul’ would be 50 cents times however many people you’re playing with (excluding yourself).

Here are the rules and here is a PDF of the rules that include a score sheet for up to 6 people on the last page.

Texas Rummy

Introduction

At the beginning of each game each player contributes 5 dimes to the pot. The player who goes out in each round gets one dime from the pot. The player with the lowest score at the end of the game gets the remaining dimes in the pot.

Players

Two or more players

Cards

Normal playing cards. One 52 card deck plus 2 jokers for two players, two decks plus 4 jokers for three to six people. Three decks plus 6 jokers for up to 10 players. More than 6 players gets a bit unwieldy, though

The Deal

This game has eleven rounds. The first dealer is chosen at random and the turn to deal passes to the left after each round. In the first round three cards are dealt to each player, in the second round four cards are dealt and so on until the eleventh and last round in which thirteen cards each are dealt. The remainder of the cards are placed face down on the table to form a stock pile. The top card of the stock is being flipped face up and put beside the stock pile to start the discard pile.

Object of the Game

The object of the game is to form all the cards in your hand into sets (called ‘melds’). There are two types of meld:

1. A group of three or more cards of the same rank, such as four 5s.
2. A sequence of three or more cards in the same suit, such as 4-5-6 of hearts.

Melds can contain more than three cards – for example four sevens or 8-9-10-J-Q of a suit, but you cannot count the same card as part of more than one meld.

Aces can be either high or low in this game, so both A-2-3 and Q-K-A are valid melds.

Wild Cards

In each round there are three wild cards, deuces, jokers and the card equal to the number of cards dealt. Wild cards can be used in place of any other card in making a group or sequence. You must have at least as many naturals as wild cards, though. For example, 5-5-2-2-2 is not legal, but 5-5-2-2 is legal except in round 3 (when Fives are wild). Below is a list of wild cards by round:

* Round 1 – 3 cards dealt – Threes, deuces and jokers are wild.
* Round 2 – 4 cards dealt – Fours, deuces and jokers are wild.
* Round 3 – 5 cards dealt – Fives, deuces and jokers are wild.
* Round 4 – 6 cards dealt – Sixes, deuces and jokers are wild.
* Round 5 – 7 cards dealt – Sevens, deuces and jokers are wild.
* Round 6 – 8 cards dealt – Eights, deuces and jokers are wild.
* Round 7 – 9 cards dealt – Nines, deuces and jokers are wild.
* Round 8 – 10 cards dealt – Tens, deuces and jokers are wild.
* Round 9 – 11 cards dealt – Jacks, deuces and jokers are wild (points are doubled).
* Round 10 – 12 cards dealt – Queens, deuces and jokers are wild (points are doubled).
* Round 11 – 13 cards dealt – Kings, deuces and jokers are wild (points are tripled).

The Play

The player to dealer’s left begins, and players take turns clockwise around the table. A turn consists of drawing one card – either the top card of the face down stock or the top card of the discard pile – and then discarding one card face up on top of the discard pile. Note that only the top card of the discard pile can be taken.

Going Out

You can go out at your turn to play if, after drawing the top card of the stock or the top discard, you are able to arrange all the cards in your hand except one (your discard) into complete melds. In this case, you announce that you are out, lay down all your melds and discard your discard. You MUST have a discard. Each of the other players lays down their melds and the scores are calculated on the remaining cards in each player’s hand. The person who goes out takes a dime out of the pot.

Scoring

At the end of the round, players arrange as much of their hand as possible into melds. Any cards that are not included in a meld are counted as penalty points against the holder as follows:

In rounds 9 and 10 (Jacks & Queens wild) the penalty points are doubled, in round 11 (Kings wild) the penalty points are tripled. This makes it possible for someone to have the lowest score the whole game, get caught with a hand full of unmelded high point cards the last hand and wind up with the highest score of the game.

The scores are accumulated from round to round, and whoever has the lowest score at the end of the eleventh round is the winner. The winner gets the remaining dimes in the pot.