Rami classic

An annotated round

In brief

Two players, Rami 51, reference rules, both controlled by the app’s AI at Intermediate level. The round lasts 16 turns: North makes the initial meld first, South follows, then South lays down their last cards and wins. North scores 23 points.

This round was not written by hand. The app played it itself, starting from a fixed shuffle; the site then replayed every action using its own rules to check that it was legal. Both hands are shown here, something you never see during a real game.

The starting hands

  • South king of clubsnine of diamondseight of heartsseven of heartssix of diamondsking of heartssix of spadesfour of spadesace of spadesjack of clubsfour of diamondsjack of spadesnine of hearts
  • North, dealer queen of clubsthree of heartsten of heartseight of clubsking of diamondsace of heartsjack of heartsace of diamondseight of clubsten of clubssix of diamondsseven of heartsfive of spades
  • Face-up card four of spades

South goes first, as they are seated to the dealer’s left. Each player has 13 cards.

The two initial melds

North opens on turn 4, with 2 melds worth 62 points, above the threshold of 51:

  • ten of heartsjack of heartsnine of hearts
  • ace of heartsace of diamondsace of spades

South responds on the very next turn, with 64 points. They took the 7♥ their opponent had just discarded and use it immediately:

  • eight of heartsseven of heartsnine of heartsten of hearts
  • king of clubsking of heartsking of diamonds

Both initial melds contain a pure run, a run without a joker, as required in Rami 51.

Turn by turn

  1. Turn 1, South draws from the stock ten of hearts; discards ace of spades
  2. Turn 2, North takes the discard ace of spades; discards king of diamonds
  3. Turn 3, South takes the discard king of diamonds; discards jack of spades
  4. Turn 4, North draws from the stock nine of hearts; melds ten of heartsjack of heartsnine of hearts; melds ace of heartsace of diamondsace of spades; discards seven of heartsInitial meld: 62 points.
  5. Turn 5, South takes the discard seven of hearts; melds eight of heartsseven of heartsnine of heartsten of hearts; melds king of clubsking of heartsking of diamonds; discards jack of clubsInitial meld: 64 points.
  6. Turn 6, North takes the discard jack of clubs; melds queen of clubsten of clubsjack of clubs; discards six of diamonds
  7. Turn 7, South draws from the stock seven of diamonds; discards seven of hearts
  8. Turn 8, North draws from the stock five of diamonds; discards three of hearts
  9. Turn 9, South draws from the stock queen of spades; discards queen of spades
  10. Turn 10, North draws from the stock seven of spades; discards five of diamonds
  11. Turn 11, South takes the discard five of diamonds; melds six of diamondsfour of diamondsfive of diamonds; adds seven of diamonds to one of South’s melds; discards nine of diamonds
  12. Turn 12, North draws from the stock king of diamonds; discards king of diamonds
  13. Turn 13, South draws from the stock eight of spades; discards eight of spades
  14. Turn 14, North draws from the stock seven of clubs; discards seven of spades
  15. Turn 15, South draws from the stock two of hearts; discards two of hearts
  16. Turn 16, North draws from the stock three of diamonds; adds three of diamonds to one of South’s melds; discards five of spades
  17. Turn 17, South takes the discard five of spades; melds six of spadesfour of spadesfive of spades; has no cards left

Adding to an opponent’s melds

Once you have opened, you can add to any meld on the table. In this round, there are 2 additions: for example, North adds the 3♦ to one of South’s runs, leaving North with one fewer card in hand.

Going out and scoring

On turn 17, South takes the discard and lays down their final meld, six of spadesfour of spadesfive of spades. Their hand is empty: the round ends without a final discard, which the app allows. North is left with:

eight of clubseight of clubsseven of clubs

North has opened, so they simply incur the value of these cards: 23 points. South scores zero. The game continues until a player reaches 100 points, the target for two players.