Rommé – Robber Rummy

Player: 2–6 · Cards: 2 French decks + 6 jokers (Rommé deck), 110 · Type: Rummy family

Objective

Be the first to get rid of all your cards; have the fewest minus points over several rounds.

Equipment & setup

Everyone gets 13 cards, the player left of the dealer 14 (they start by discarding). The rest = stock; sometimes one card is placed face up as the discard.

Card ranking & card values

Ace 11 (as 1 in A-2-3), face cards 10, 2–10 face value; a joker has the value of the card it replaces. Penalty for cards left: joker 20, ace 11, otherwise card value.

Gameplay

1) Turn: draw a card from the stock or take the top card of the discard pile.

2) First meld as in classic Rummy: total ≥30 (house rule 40).

3) Once down, you may also “rob”: take cards from any melds (your own and others’) and meld them with hand cards or other taken cards as new combinations, or lay them off on other melds. Runs may also be split.

4) Finally discard a card.

Special rules & special cards

Robbing: at the end of the turn no card taken from the table may remain in your hand, and no meld with fewer than 3 cards (or an invalid meld) may lie on the table. If you cannot manage that, the turn must be taken back. Jokers on the table can be taken too – they must also be melded again in the same turn.

Scoring & points

Winner 0; other players pay the value of their remaining cards (double after a Hand Rommé). Alternatively: whoever hasn’t laid out anything yet pays 100.

End of game & winning

After an agreed number of rounds or when a player exceeds a limit (e.g. 500).

Origin & history

American Rum/Rummy (early 20th century, from the Mexican Conquian) came to Germany in the 1920s–30s and became a family classic as 'Rommé' with 110 cards. According to an Ipsos study, Rommé is one of the Germans’ favourite games.