Rummy Deck – A Pack Of Cards

What is a deck of playing cards?

A deck of playing cards is a pack of cards with different pack sizes and symbols. A laying card is usually made using thin cardboard, heavy paper, or thin plastic and is palm-sized made for convenient handling. A set of 52 cards is called a deck or a pack, and grouping these cards in different games is called by various names such as melds, hand, sets, sequences, runs, etc. 

The most common of all playing cards is the standard 52-card deck made of French-suited playing cards. The standard 52-card deck is mainly used for playing card games such as Rummy. 

A standard deck of 52 cards comprises:

  • 13 cards of four French suits - spades (), hearts (),  diamonds (), and clubs ()
  • The 13 card ranks include: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2
  • The pack also consists of 2 or 3 additional cards, which are printed jokers

Playing Cards Design

The most popular design of a standard 52-card deck is the English pattern also called the Anglo-American pattern or the International pattern. In this design of cards, the face side of every card contains card ranks and the suit of the card. For instance, K, or 9♠. The backside of the whole deck is printed to be identical so that the players cannot distinguish the cards in the opponents’ hands. The back design of cards often advertises a brand.

Rummy Deck & Card Values

Rummy is a popular card game generally played with a standard deck of 52 cards along with 1 or 2 jokers. The Indian Rummy variants and Gin Rummy games are played using a standard deck of 52 cards. In the Indian rummy games, two rummy decks are usually used for a 2-player game and three decks for more than two players.  While the Indian Rummy games use wild cards and jokers, the Gin Rummy variant is played without them. 

Rummy Cards Name in the Rummy Deck:

Face cards - Also called court cards, face cards include Kings, Queens, and Jacks.

Wild Cards or wild joker - In rummy, the card randomly chosen at the beginning of the game to act as a substitute for any card in a set or sequence is called a wild card or wild joker. A wild joker can be any card from the deck. 

Jokers - Jokers are the printed jokers in the rummy deck.

Honour cards - All Aces and Face cards are honour cards.

Numerals or pip cards - The numbered cards from 2 to 10 are called numerals or pip cards.

Deuces - The 2 cards in a deck are called deuces.

Card Ranking in Rummy Deck:

The rummy cards name and ranking in the Rummy deck from highest to lowest are: Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. In different variations of rummy, the Ace card may be valued as a low card, a high card, or both.

The card values in Indian Rummy are as follows:

  • Face Cards (King, Queen, Jack) are worth 10 points.
  • Ace is worth 10 points.
  • Numbered cards (2 to 10) are worth their face value. For example, the 2 cards will have 2 points, the 5 cards will have 5 points, and the 10 cards will have 10 points.
  • Jokers are worth 0 points.

The card values in Gin Rummy are as follows:

  • Face Cards (King, Queen, Jack) are worth 10 points.
  • Ace is worth 1 point.
  • Numbered cards (2 to 10) are worth their face value. For example, the 2 cards will have 2 points, the 5 cards will have 5 points, and the 10 cards will have 10 points.