Shanghai Rummy Rules: How to Play Step by Step

Welcome to our lesson all about how to play Shanghai Rummy. In this lesson you will learn the seven-round version of the game from the deal to the final score, so you can sit down, follow the contract, and know exactly when a card is legal, and when it is about to cost you.

Even though we play for fun, the cards left in your hand become penalty points. Winning the game means finishing with the lowest total across all seven rounds, not winning the most individual hands.

This guide explains the seven-round Shanghai Rummy version documented by Pagat. Ten-round and other versions also exist, so use the complete rules below together rather than mixing contracts or scoring systems from different games.

If you are completely new to rummy-style games, play a few ordinary hands first so sets and runs feel familiar. Then come back here. Shanghai Rummy is the same family of ideas with a changing challenge each round.

What you need before anyone deals

Shanghai Rummy at a glance, for the seven-round rules used in this lesson:

You also need a score sheet. Two counters per player make it easier to track buys: move one aside each time a player buys a discard.

Shuffle the decks and jokers together. Choose a dealer and deal the cards individually, face down. Put the undealt cards in a face-down stock pile, then turn over its top card to start a separate discard pile. The player on the dealer's left begins. The deal passes left after each round.

Keep your hand hidden. Only cards that have been melded, laid off or discarded belong face up on the table.

Sets, runs and the seven contracts

Shanghai Rummy is built around a changing challenge. In one round you need two sets of matching cards. In another you need runs of consecutive cards in the same suit. Completing that requirement lets you put cards on the table, but the round continues until someone empties their hand.

A meld is a valid combination placed on the table. Your first meld must fulfil the current round's contract.

What is a set?

A set, also called a book, begins with three cards of the same rank. The suits do not need to match.

In this seven-round version you cannot split six cards of one rank into two separate sets for your contract. If the round requires two sets, collect two different ranks.

What is a run?

A run begins with four consecutive cards of the same suit.

Aces are high only in this version.

Two runs of the same suit cannot sit directly next to each other in your initial contract. 2♣ to 5♣ and 6♣ to 9♣ cannot count as your two runs. They need a gap, or an overlap supported by separate physical cards. Different suits avoid this particular restriction.

Shanghai Rummy round chart

Everyone advances to the next round together, including players who did not complete the previous contract.

The contract describes the cards you must put down first. It does not mean every card in your hand must be used immediately in rounds one to six.

In round two, three queens and a four-card heart run fulfil the requirement. You may still have other cards to remove afterwards. A single set of queens, however, cannot be laid down while you continue collecting the run.

How jokers work

A joker can stand in for a missing card, with a maximum of one joker in each set or run in this version.

Jokers remain part of the meld after it reaches the table. Under the inherited Contract Rummy exchange rule, a player who melded on an earlier turn may replace a joker in a run with its natural card during their turn. The recovered joker must be played again that turn. Jokers in sets cannot be reclaimed.

How to take a turn

Every ordinary turn has the same shape: draw, optionally lay down or lay off, then discard.

Draw a card

Start by taking the top card of the stock or the top discard. If you decline the discard, give eligible players the opportunity to buy it before you continue with the stock draw.

Taking the discard on your own turn is your normal draw. It does not use a buy and does not require the two extra cards charged for buying outside your turn.

Lay down your contract

If you have the required combinations, you may place the complete contract face up. You may also wait. You cannot put down only part of it.

Round three requires two runs. Holding 3♥, 4♥, 5♥ and 6♥ gives you one completed run, but it does not let you lay down until the second is ready.

Lay off extra cards

After completing your contract, you may add suitable cards to your own melds or other players' melds. This seven-round version permits laying off on the same turn you first lay down.

An extra eight fits a set of eights. A 3♣ or 8♣ fits the ends of a club run containing 4♣, 5♣, 6♣ and 7♣. An additional 6♣ does not extend that run, because it repeats a position already present.

You cannot create an unrelated extra set or run simply because you have the cards. Your remaining cards must leave through permitted laying off or discarding.

Discard to finish

Finish an ordinary turn by placing one card face up on the discard pile. Play continues clockwise until someone goes out.

Round seven has a different finish: all cards must be played as part of the complete hand, without a final discard.

If the stock runs out during play, retain the top discard and shuffle the rest of the discard pile into a new stock.

Buying and calling Shanghai

How to buy a discard

Buying, also called "May I?", lets you request the top discard outside your turn. The active player has first choice. If they decline and several players want to buy, priority follows the order of their upcoming turns.

In this version, each player has two buys per round. A buy adds three cards to your hand: the requested discard and two cards from the stock. It does not give you a turn to meld or discard.

Suppose Emma holds 11 cards, including two kings, and Henry discards a king. If Emma's buy is allowed, she takes that king and two stock cards, bringing her hand to 14 cards.

On her next turn she still makes her normal draw. She now has 15 cards before melding or discarding. If she cannot put anything down and simply discards one, her hand returns to 14 cards.

What does calling "Shanghai" mean?

This seven-round version includes a special rule for a discard that fits an exposed meld.

If you deliberately discard such a card, calling "Shanghai" protects it from being taken. If you fail to call, another player may call Shanghai, place that discard on the matching meld and make you draw a random card from their concealed hand. This call takes priority over a buy.

A set of tens is already on the table. You have not completed your contract, so you cannot lay off your 10♦ normally. If you choose to discard it, announcing Shanghai protects that discard. Forgetting the call gives another player the chance to move the ten onto the set and pass you one of their cards at random.

Some other Shanghai Rummy versions omit this rule entirely. Use it only when your table has adopted the version described here.

Going out and scoring

How a round ends

In rounds one to six, empty your hand through your contract, permitted laying off and discarding. The round ends immediately when you have no cards left. Other players do not receive an extra turn.

In round seven, you must put down the complete hand at once as three runs, without a discard. If buying has enlarged your hand, longer runs must accommodate the extra cards while satisfying the run restrictions. Do not put down three minimum runs and keep spare cards for a later turn.

Shanghai Rummy scoring

Add each round's penalty to your running total. Cards already on the table do not count against you.

Finishing with 4♣, 8♦, K♥ and a joker gives you 5 + 10 + 10 + 50 = 75 points. If your previous total was 110, your new total is 185.

A completed set still in your hand also counts. Holding three kings when someone goes out costs 30 points, even though those cards could have formed a valid meld.

A complete winning turn

It is round two, requiring one set and one run. Emma begins her turn with these 11 cards:

Henry has already laid down a set containing Q♥, Q♦ and Q♠, plus the club run 6♣, 7♣, 8♣ and 9♣.

Emma draws 5♣ from the stock, bringing her hand to 12 cards. She can now complete the following sequence:

1. Lay down 9♣, 9♦ and 9♥ as her set.
2. Lay down 4♥, 5♥, 6♥ and 7♥ as her run. The contract is complete.
3. Add 5♣, then 4♣, then 3♣ to the bottom of the exposed club run.
4. Add Q♣ to the exposed set of queens.
5. Discard A♠ as her final card.

Seven cards went into the contract, four were laid off and one was discarded. Her hand is empty, so the round ends and she scores zero. Everyone else counts the cards they still hold.

After all seven rounds, compare the cumulative totals. Totals of 145, 190 and 225 give the game to the player on 145, regardless of who won the most individual rounds.

So there we have it: the seven-round Shanghai Rummy rules, from the first deal to the last penalty. We hope you found this lesson useful. Deal a hand, keep the current contract in front of you, and remember that the lowest total at the end is the one that wins.

How the game on this site differs

The rules above describe the full table game. The version you can play here follows the same seven contracts, but a few rules are simplified so it can run against three computer opponents without a pre-deal conversation. Worth knowing before the scoring surprises you.

Ready to try it? Play a hand, read the seven tips, or take today's challenge.