Is Rummy Really a Gambling Game?

Author: Neha Agrawal

Of all the card games that can be found in online casinos, the one that seldom ever seems to pop up is Rummy. Oh certainly, Rummy can be found online, and it can be played for real money. But, this more often than not tends to be at specific Rummy gaming sites, and not at the big money online casinos. This must surely make one ask the question, is Rummy really a gambling game at all then?

Technically it is yet. One shouldn’t go as far to call Rummy a casino game; but Rummy certainly is a gambling game. Rummy has a certain amalgamation of gambling qualities about it that make it entirely unique. Few other online gambling games combine aspects of skill and luck, and to a certain degree memory (if you don’t shuffle the discard pile); aspects Rummy all seems to have.

Rummy when played as a gambling game is played against real to life opponents as opposed to against the dealer, which is common with a lot of other gambling games found in online casinos. When it comes to wagering on Rummy, the situation however becomes a lot more complicated.

There are several variants of Rummy out there on these Rummy gambling sites, most of which accept real money wagers and pay out real money stakes. However, the betting table is typically complicated with such wagers as corner aces, poker hands, and rummy hands if you are playing Royal Rummy, Michigan Rummy or Calliente Rummy.

Other variants offer different wagering strategies too, but the one thing you must remember when placing these sorts of wagers is that these are not common to the typical and generic game of Rummy. Instead these are variants, which will require you to learn an additional set of rules – largely due to the betting aspects of the game – and because of that, you need to learn those on a per variant basis.

Simplistic wagering on Rummy is easy enough to understand. You could decide to all put in the same stake, and the winner of the hand takes the money. Alternatively a prize pot could be paid out to the overall winner after the predetermined number of games have been played. Whatever way you want to wager, everything must be agreed between all of the players before the first hand is dealt when playing Rummy.

Although wagering in Rummy is certainly not as conventional as in other gambling games, it is certainly a card game that can be played for real money. So in short, yes, Rummy is a gambling game.