Rummoli Rules and Cheat Sheet
Rummoli is a Canadian family game played on a board with nine pots, an ordinary deck and a pile of chips. Every hand has a poker round, won by the best five-card hand, and a play round in which cards are laid in rising order within a suit until the run stops, when the last player leads the lowest card of the opposite colour. Playing a card that matches a pot wins the chips on it, and the first player out of cards takes the centre pot. This page is the whole game on one sheet.
CardCouch does not offer Rummoli to play online: it is a board-and-chips game for a table. If you came for the rummy part, Rummy 500 is here to play free; for a four-player evening without chips, Hearts is the nearest in feel.
The board: nine pots and how each is won
The classic Copp Clark board (sold since 1940). Other editions and the American Tripoley board carry different pay cards, so read the board in front of you; the way the pots are won is the same.
| Pot | How it is won |
|---|---|
| Rummoli (centre) | Be the first player to run out of cards in the play round |
| Poker pot | Win the poker round with the best five-card hand (or everyone else folds) |
| Ten of spades | Play the 10♠ during the play round |
| Jack of diamonds | Play the J♦ during the play round |
| Queen of clubs | Play the Q♣ during the play round |
| King of hearts | Play the K♥ during the play round |
| Ace of spades | Play the A♠ during the play round |
| Ace and King of diamonds | Play both the K♦ and the A♦ yourself, one after the other, in the same run |
| Sequence 7-8-9 | Play the 7, 8 and 9 of one suit yourself, one after the other, in the same run |
A hand of Rummoli, in order
- Ante
- Every player puts one chip on each of the nine pots. Chips nobody won last hand stay where they are.
- Deal
- One card at a time, clockwise, one hand per player plus one extra hand, the widow. Hands may be unequal by a card.
- The widow
- The dealer may swap their hand for the unseen widow. If not, the widow is auctioned: the highest bidder pays the dealer and must take it. The widow then stays face down, out of play.
- Poker round
- Each player picks their best five cards. Betting starts left of the dealer and runs as in poker; the best hand (or the last player not to fold) takes the poker pot. Everyone keeps all their cards.
- Play round
- The poker winner leads the lowest card in their hand. Whoever holds the next card up in that suit plays it, and so on up to the Ace or until nobody holds the next card. The last player to play leads again with their lowest card of the opposite colour.
- Winning pots
- A pay card wins its pot when it is played. The two combination pots need all their cards played by one player in one run.
- End of hand
- The first player out of cards takes the Rummoli pot and one chip per card still held from each other player. The deal passes to the left.
The play round, card by card
- Ace is high. The lead must be the lowest card the leader holds; with two equally low cards, either.
- A run climbs one suit: whoever holds the next card up must play it, whether they want to or not.
- A run stops at the Ace, or when the next card is in the widow or already on the table. Played cards are out for good.
- After a stop the same player leads again, with the lowest card of the opposite colour: after a spade or club, the lowest heart or diamond, and the other way round. Tripoley families let the leader pick any other suit instead; agree which before you start.
- A leader with no card of the required colour passes the lead to the left, and so on round the table.
- Lay a pay card and take its pot at once. Lay it by mistake, or out of turn, and the chips stay put.
- The Ace-King of diamonds and the 7-8-9 pots go only to a player who lays all the cards of the combination, one after the other, in a single run. Nobody manages it most hands, which is why those two pots grow.
Ending the hand and the evening
- The first player to lay their last card ends the hand, takes the Rummoli pot and is paid one chip per card left in every other hand.
- If nobody can lead at all, everyone pays one chip per card held into the centre; the winner of the next hand takes the lot.
- Pots nobody won stay on the board and grow. The deal passes to the left and everyone antes again.
- Finish when you agreed to. Chips still on the board are played for in one last poker hand, or one per pot, smallest first. Most chips wins the evening.
Rummoli strategy, briefly
- Low cards are leads, high cards are pots. A hand of Twos and Threes leads often and goes out early; a hand of face cards waits to be called. Both win chips, in different pots.
- Count what is gone. Once a suit has been run up to the Nine, say, and the Ten has not appeared, the Ten is in the widow or in a hand that is hiding it. Pay cards that never appear are in the widow, and their pots will carry over.
- Bet the poker round on your cards, not your hopes. You keep all your cards for the play round, so a poor poker hand costs nothing if you check and fold; a bluff that works wins one pot, and a bluff that fails feeds it.
- Take the widow only when your hand is dreadful. You must take it unseen, and a hand with a pay card in it is a hand worth keeping.
- Watch the opposite-colour rule. A hand with cards of both colours keeps the lead when a run stops; a one-colour hand hands the lead away. When you have a choice of equally low cards, lead the one that leaves you a lead in the other colour.
Where Rummoli comes from
Rummoli was first sold in 1940 by Copp Clark of Toronto and has been a Canadian kitchen-table fixture since, usually played for dimes or pennies. It belongs to the family of "stops" games that includes the American Tripoley (also sold as Michigan Rummy), the older European Poch, and the chip-free Michigan. Boards differ between editions and brands, which is why two families can both be sure of their rules and both be right; the ante, the widow, the poker round and the rising runs are common to all of them.
Frequently asked questions
What are the rules of Rummoli?
Everyone antes a chip on each of the nine pots, the dealer deals the cards plus a spare hand called the widow, and the hand is played in two rounds. First a poker round: each player picks their best five cards and bets, and the best hand takes the poker pot. Then the play round: starting with the poker winner's lowest card, players lay cards in rising order within a suit, and whenever a run stops the last player leads their lowest card of the opposite colour. Playing a card that matches a pot wins the chips on it. The first player with no cards left takes the Rummoli pot plus a chip per card from everyone else.
What is on a Rummoli board?
The classic Copp Clark board has a centre pot marked Rummoli and eight pots around it: the poker pot, the Ten of spades, the Jack of diamonds, the Queen of clubs, the King of hearts, the Ace of spades, the Ace and King of diamonds together, and a 7-8-9 sequence of any suit. Other editions, and the American Tripoley board, use different pay cards (Tripoley uses the Ace to Ten of hearts, the King-Queen of hearts and 8-9-10), so check the board you have.
How many players do you need for Rummoli?
Two to eight can play, and four to six is the usual sweet spot: enough hands that runs stop in interesting places, few enough that each hand is still large. The widow makes the game work with any number because it takes cards out of circulation.
What is the widow in Rummoli?
The extra hand dealt to nobody. The dealer may swap their own hand for it unseen; otherwise it is auctioned to the highest bidder, who pays the dealer and must take it. Once the hand starts the widow stays face down. Its cards are the reason runs stop: when the next card up is in the widow, nobody can play it.
What happens when nobody can play in Rummoli?
If a run stops because the next card is in the widow or already gone, the player who played the last card simply leads again with their lowest card of the opposite colour. If that player has no card of that colour the lead passes to the left. Only when nobody at the table can lead at all does the hand stall; then everyone pays a chip per card held into the centre and the winner of the next hand collects it.
Can I play Rummoli online on CardCouch?
No. Rummoli needs a board and chips and is a social game for a table of players, which is not what CardCouch builds. If you like the rummy name, Rummy 500 is here to play free against the computer; if you want a four-player card game with no chips, Hearts is the closest in feel.