What Is Shanghai Rummy?
Shanghai Rummy is a contract rummy game where each of the 7 rounds has a different required combination to meld. The unique feature is ‘buying’ — when it’s not your turn, you can pay to take the discard card by drawing a penalty card from the stock. This keeps everyone engaged on every turn.
What You Need
- Two standard 52-card decks plus 4 Jokers (108 cards)
- 3 to 5 players
- Score pad
The 7 Contracts
- Two sets of three
- One set of three + one run of four
- Two runs of four
- Three sets of three
- Two sets of three + one run of four
- One set of three + two runs of four
- Three runs of four
Each round, every player must complete that round’s specific contract before going out.
Setup
- Deal 11 cards per player for rounds 1–3; 12 cards for rounds 4–7.
- Flip top card to start the discard pile.
How to Play
- On your turn: draw 1 card from stock or take the top discard.
- Buying: Before the active player draws, any other player may say ‘Buy!’ They take the top discard plus draw 1 extra penalty card from stock. Only 3 buys are allowed per player per round.
- Lay down your contract (the required combination) — once down, you can also lay off onto other players’ completed contracts.
- Discard 1 card to end turn.
Jokers
Jokers are wild and count as any card in a run or set.
Scoring
- Player who goes out: 0 points
- Other players: count the points of cards in hand. Face cards = 10, aces = 15, others = face value.
- Lowest total after 7 rounds wins.
Strategy Tips
- Buy strategically — only pay a penalty card for a discard that directly completes your contract.
- Complete your contract as early as possible — players who go out first often have very low scores.
- Watch opponents’ contracts — don’t discard cards that help them.