21 Cards Rummy Rules - How To Play 21 Cards Rummy Online

Rummy Rules to Play 21 card games at KhelPlay Rummy
Rummy Rules to Play 21 card games at KhelPlay Rummy
21 Card Rummy is played only with Point Rummy variant. This game is played between 2 to 6 players with three decks of cards and makes use of an extra group of Up & Down Jokers apart from the standard set of Printed and Wildcard jokers. However, before you begin to play, you need to familiarize yourself with some new terminologies & other 21 Cards Rummy rules. Check out the following aspects below to understand the 21 cards rummy rules:

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  • Upper and Lower Joker

    Upper Joker: The card which is one rank above the wild card Joker and is of the same suit as the wild card Joker is called the Upper Joker. For example, 6♣ will be the Upper Joker if 5♣ is the wild card Joker.

    Lower Joker: The card which is one rank below the wild card Joker and is of the same suit as the wild card Joker is called the Lower Joker. For example, 4♣ will be the Lower Joker if 5♣ is the wild card Joker.

    Note: The Upper and Lower jokers can also be used in place of any other card to complete a sequence or a set. Wild card joker can also be part of pure sequence for e.g. 2♣ 3♣ 4♣ is Pure sequence, where three of club (3♣) is a joker, yet it’s a pure sequence.

    Example 1: In case an Ace of club (A♣) is picked as the Wild Card Joker Then (K♣) will be lower joker and 2♣ will be upper joker. However, it should be noted that a sequence of K-A-2 is not a valid sequence even if Ace is a Joker.

    Example 2: In case a Printed Joker is picked as the Wild Card Joker then all Aces (A♠ A♥ A♣ A♦) will be considered as Wild Card Jokers. In this case, then K♠ will be lower and 2♠ will be upper joker (as ♠ is considered to be the highest suit)
  • Tunnela or London A group of three identical cards of the same value and same suit is called a Tunnela (or London) in 21 Card Rummy E.g. - 5♥ 5♥ 5♥

    A valid Tunnela can be formed out of three Printed Jokers grouped together. Two identical cards with a joker is not a valid Tunnela or London E.g. - 6♦ 6♦ K♦ (where K♦ is a joker), a Joker cannot be used to make a Tunnela.
  • Dublee: Two identical cards of the same value paired together is called a Dublee E.g. - 5♥ 5♥.Note:
    • A valid Dublee can also be formed with two printed jokers grouped together.
    • One card plus a joker, such as 6♦ K♦ (where K♦ is a joker), is not a valid Dublee.
    • Joker cannot be used to make a Dublee, unless used as a regular card and not a Joker, e.g. K♦ K♦ (here K♦ is a joker yet a valid Dublee).
  • Value Cards: The cards of same suit that are upper and lower to the wild card joker are called value cards. The cards of same value and suit as the one picked randomly as wildcard joker will be called value cards. A card higher to this selected card and a card lower will also be considered as Value Cards and will have same attribute as Joker and thus referred to as Upper Joker and Lower Joker respectively. Besides this, all the three Value Cards (8♣ 9♣ 10♣ - here 9♣ was the randomly picked wild card joker)

    Like for example: If 9♣ is the wild card joker then 10♣ will be upper joker and 8♣ will be lower joker. These 3 cards (8♣ 9♣ 10♣,) are called value cards.
  • In 21 card Rummy, you have 3 decks of 53 cards each including 3 printed jokers.
  • In 21 card Rummy game, we have upper and lower joker. An example of the same is explained in the information mentioned above.
  • 21 Card Rummy is played as the traditional Rummy keeping in mind the standard gameplay of picking and discarding cards but it additionally includes concepts like Dublee, Tunnela, upper and lower jokers along with printed jokers.

Minimum Three (3) Pure Sequences

You have to declare at least (3) pure sequences (minimum of 3 cards or above) and the rest of the cards arranged in sets or sequences. Tunnela is also treated as pure sequence.

3 Pure Sequence at 27 Card Rummy - KhelPlay Rummy
3 Pure Sequence at 27 Card Rummy - KhelPlay Rummy

Minimum Three (3) Tunnelas

You have to declare at least (3) tunnelas- the rest of the cards need not be arranged in any order, either remaining cards need not be grouped or can be clubbed into single group.

3 tunnelas at 27 Card Rummy - KhelPlay Rummy
3 tunnelas at 27 Card Rummy - KhelPlay Rummy

Minimum Eight (8) Dublees

You have to declare at least (8) dublees- the rest of the cards need not be arranged in any order. Each pair of dublees should be arranged in individual groups during declaration.

8 Dublees at 27 Card Rummy - KhelPlay Rummy
8 Dublees at 27 Card Rummy - KhelPlay Rummy

Minimum Eight (8) Jokers

You have to declare (8) jokers in a single group- the rest of the cards need not be arranged in any order. All the jokers should be arranged in one group during declaration.

8 Jokers in 27 Card Rummy - KhelPlay Rummy
8 Jokers in 27 Card Rummy - KhelPlay Rummy
Value Cards Calculation

VALUE CARDS POINTS Single Card Two Cards Three Cards
Same Suit joker 10 30 50
Upper joker 10 30 50
Lower joker 10 30 50
Point Calculation for Marriage or Jackpot:
  • 1 Upper + 1 Same Suit + 1 Lower = 100 points
  • 2 Upper + 2 Same Suit + 2 Lower = 300 points
  • 3 Upper + 3 Same Suit + 3 Lower = 500 points

Calculations of points for different combination of Value Cards

2 Upper Jokers – 30 Points
1 Upper Joker, 1 Lower Joker – 20 points
2 Upper Jokers, 1 Lower Joker – 40 points
2 Same Suit Joker, 2 Lower Jokers – 60 points

Thus the score for a player can be simplified by the formula below:

21 cards rummy rules tip & tricks - KhelPlay Rummy



Drop Points Calculation
Drop points are those points that a player loses during the game. The chart below describes the number of points that a player loses when he/she drops followed by an example.

DROP POINTS 21 Cards
First drop 40
Middle drop 80
Max points earned (without value cards) 160
Max points with value cards 300
Max points lost by player in Wrong show 120
Cases where player loses 2 points
  • Player loses only 2 points if all the cards are arranged in valid sets and sequences including of 3 mandatory pure sequences.
  • Player loses only 2 points if he has grouped 6 or more Dublees and if each of the Dublee is grouped separately.
  • Player loses only 2 points if he has 7 or more jokers and if all the jokers are grouped together separately from other cards.

Now that you’ve learned how to play 21 cards rummy, Enjoy!

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